In honor of National Poetry Month, here’s a starter poem for your young poet. Tell your child the name of the poem is “Rhymes with Spring,” and encourage your poet to fill in the blanks with words that indeed rhyme with spring. Remember, it’s okay to be silly! Even nonsensical rhyming words practice important phonemic awareness skills. (Think Dr. Seuss: Sneetches on beaches, Mr. Gump has a seven-hump Wump, a Thneed’s a Fine-Something-That-All-People-Need, you get the picture.)

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Rhymes with Spring

My favorite time of year is spring.
With each warm day, I want to ______.
I fly my kite up on a ______,
Then go to the park to ride the ______.
Look at this! I’ll give you a ______.
If you’ll be the queen, I’ll be the ______.
Together we’ll fly all the way to ______.
We’ll come home with too much to ______.

But I forgot to tell you one ______.
With the spring comes the bees, and they ______!
What else is bad? I can’t think of a ______.
In spring I like almost ______.

(Hint: Try these rhymes on for size: sing, string, swing, ring, king, Beijing, bring, something, sting, thing, everything.)

And be sure to share your results in the comments below or with us on Twitter or Facebook!