The idea and the poem

What are two main ways of approaching poetry?

One is with an emphasis on ideas which can be expressed poetically, the other is focusing on the structure and rhyme of the poem itself.

Where both approaches are developed at once then the impact that the poetry can make upon children can be profound.  They listen to, read and understand poems as poems and they discuss ideas that can turn into poems.

To help children develop these skills we have produced Fun with Action Rhymes and Poems contains 83 new rhymes and poems, written by Brenda Williams, the well-known children’s poet and author.

A range of different types of poetry are covered with the aim of enjoying the poetry for its own sake, and introducing new ideas and starting discussions.

The Teaching Notes provide suggestions for using rhymes to support learning across the Foundation Stage and KS1.

In this volume the rhymes are grouped by common themes used in early year settings and KS1 and cross-referenced to popular topics.  

The resultant activities foster a love of rhythm and rhyme, and create a sense of beat and rhythm, laying the foundations for understanding patterns in language, music and mathematics as well as being a starting point for discussions on the poems, on poetry and on the ideas the poems contain.

Visit our website to download sample pages from the book to try with your children; move to show how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly, or be a train rushing through tunnels and under bridges.