How to write poetry: Colour poems

Writing poetry certainly does not have to be serious business, it can be about any subject you like. These particular poems are all about your favourite – or least favourite – colours.

What you need:

• grey lead pencil for writing
• paper
• coloured markers to decorate

Number of players:

Activity:

There are two types of colour poems that you can create. One of them is to pick a colour that comes to mind and use it at the beginning of each line of your poem. You do not need to pick your favourite colour, it could even be a colour that you don't like and have it represent things you don't like.

Here is an example:

BLACK
Black is a dark wintery day
Black is cold
Black is scary
Black is thundery clouds
Black is ready to rain
Black is how I feel in a thunder storm.

In this poem, you can see the writer use black as a colour that reminds them of a storm ready to break. The writer is telling us they are scared in storms and that black to them is a scary colour.

The other poem you can write with colour is a five senses poem. So, pick a colour again and use it at the beginning of each line in your poem but this time, only use it to describe five different things.

Here is an example:

GREEN
Green looks like a swaying tree,
Green sounds like a croaking frog,
Green smells like freshly mown grass,
Green tastes like peppermint ice-cream,
Green feels like spring.

In this senses poem, you can tell the writer loves spring and the outdoors. The writer is telling us that green reminds them of things they would do in the outdoors on a warm spring day. Each of the five senses is represented.

Give it a try. The only limit is your imagination.

Image from Shutterstock.