If you’ve ever asked a kid to write a poem, you’ve almost certainly heard them say, “But what do I write about?” Coming up with poem ideas can be the hardest part for some young poets. Give them an inspirational start with our roundup of engaging poetry prompts. There are poem ideas here for everyone, no matter what their age or interest. We promise, anyone can be a poet!
Write a poem …
Using one of these poem types:
- Acrostic
- Ballad
- Blackout poem
- Blank verse
- Cinquain
- Concrete poem
- Elegy
- Epic
- Free verse
- Haiku
- Limerick
- Narrative poem
- Ode
- Sonnet
About how you feel when:
- You watch the sun rise or set
- Your favorite song comes on
- Your team wins the game or loses the game
- You’re sleepy
- It’s your birthday or Christmas morning
- The first snow of the season falls
- You wake up on Saturday morning
- It’s the first day of summer vacation
- You eat your favorite meal
- You have to eat something you don’t like
- It’s the first day of school
- You learn to do something new
- You can’t fall asleep
- You’re playing with your pet
- Something or someone makes you mad
- Someone is mad at you
- You see a clown
- Something scares you
- You don’t get something you really wanted
- You pass a hard test or fail a test
- Someone says they love you
- You give someone a present
- You do something you’re really good at
- It’s time to say goodbye
- You’re meeting someone new
- The world seems like a scary place
- Someone tickles you
- You think about the past
- You think about the future
- It’s raining or storming
- The sun comes out after many cloudy days
- You see a rainbow
- You first wake up in the morning
- Nobody seems to feel the way you do about something
- You’re at a party
- You’re all alone
- You finish a really good book
- You’re doing your homework
- You find something you lost
- It’s very cold or very hot
- You fly on a plane
- The leaves start to change color in the fall
- It’s time to take a test
- You fight with your parents or friends
- Someone says they’re proud of you
- At midnight on New Year’s Eve
- You’re at the beach
- You’re at the top of a mountain or tall building
- You see your country’s flag
- You can’t wait for something to happen
In the style of:
- Shakespeare
- Maya Angelou
- Walt Whitman
- Sylvia Plath
- e.e. cummings
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Emily Dickinson
- Homer (The Odyssey and The Iliad)
- Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales)
- Langston Hughes
- Shel Silverstein
- Dr. Seuss
- Lewis Carroll (Jabberwocky)
- Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton)
- Your favorite singer/songwriter or band
As a tribute to:
- Your mother or father
- A grandparent
- Your brother or sister
- Another relative
- Your pet
- Your best friend
- A celebrity you admire
- Childhood or adulthood
- A historical figure
- Someone who believes in you
- A teacher
- Where you were born or grew up
- The most beautiful place you’ve ever been
- A person who helped you when you needed it
- The person you’d like to be like when you grow up
About your favorite (or least favorite):
- Season
- Color
- Song
- Book
- Game or toy
- Food or meal
- Time of day
- Animal
- School subject
- Fictional character
- Holiday
- Vacation place
- Room or place to be
- Hobby
- Outfit
- Kind of ice cream
- Age
- Movie or TV show
- Day of the week
- Flower or tree
Using these opening lines:
- “Once upon a _______”
- “There once was a ________ from ________”
- “When I look into a mirror, I see …”
- “There was a time when …”
- “If only they had listened when I said …”
- “If I had three wishes …”
- “It all started when …”
- “What does it take for something to change?”
- “To make a pot of super soup …”
- “Bang! Pop! Fizz! Kapow!”
- “Where do all the lost socks go?”
- “I dreamed a dream and it came true …”
- “One day it rained, but not raindrops …”
- “The buzzing bee once said to me …”
- “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
Using one or more of these words:
- Mellifluous
- Puzzle
- Balloon
- Outrageous
- Flippant
- Exquisite
- Sinister
- Abracadabra
- Kaleidoscope
- Insidious
- Zigzag
- Wizard
- Effervescent
- Bumblebee
- Elastic
- Lullaby
- Cherish
- Persnickety
- Bizarre
- Snap
- Serendipity
- Lagoon
- Peace
- Ripple
- Wistful
To make people:
- Laugh
- Cry
- Dance
- Tap their toe
- Shudder
- Make a funny face
- Yawn
- Get mad
- Feel inspired
- Give someone a hug
- Want to go outside
- Adopt a pet
- Plant a garden
- Change the world
- Write their own poem
Even More Poem Ideas
- Time travel
- Space travel
- What robots dream about
- If animals could talk
- Conversation between two historical figures from different eras
- The day pigs could fly
- If walls could talk
- The story of a floating balloon
- Life under the sea
- The life story of a tree
- The shapes of clouds
- Complete darkness and silence
- A shadow that escapes
- How something was invented or came to be
- When your parents met
- Reflections in a mirror
- A newspaper headline
- The life of a fish in an aquarium
- Holding your breath
- Homesickness
- Why I didn’t finish my homework
- Standing on another planet
- How an elephant learns to control its trunk
- Driving a car for the first time
- An epic journey
- The day the last dinosaur died
- Four dogs playing poker
- How a caterpillar feels when it turns into a butterfly
- A snowflake’s trip from the sky to the ground
- A bird learning to fly
- Choose the first line of a famous poem, and use it to write your own poem
- What you see when you close your eyes
- Write a poem that’s purposely bad
- How it feels to be a pair of socks or shoes
- Complete a crossword puzzle, then write a poem using as many of the answer words as you can
Looking for even more poem ideas to inspire kids? Check out What Is Slam Poetry and How Can Teachers Use It With Students?
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