Children love poems when given a chance to engage with them. Children respond to many things in poetry but particularly to rhythm and rhyme. This is particularly so when they are encouraged to listen to and read poems out loud then learn the ones they like. Categorizing poems according to age group is a tricky business however younger children will find shorter poems easier to manage. We have created some playlists below that we think will be suitable to three different age groups. This is a very general guideline and we would encourage children to browse and find what they like themselves. We have found learning poems and performing them to be a great boost to a child’s confidence. It also helps with building reading skills.

We have also included on this page poets who have written specifically for children. Again we would encourage children to browse and find what they like.