Category: Lessons

List of Rhyming Animals

There have been many times that I have been writing a poem and needed a list of animal names that rhymed with one another. To make it easier, I have collected the following list of rhyming animal names. Feel free to use these in your own animal poems.

  • Alsatian / crustacean / dalmatian
  • Auk / hawk
  • Auks / fox / hawks / ox
  • Baboon / loon / raccoon
  • Bat / cat / gnat / rat
  • Beagle / eagle
  • Bear / hare / mare
  • Beaver / retriever / weaver
  • Bee / flea / manatee
  • Buck / duck / geoduck
  • Bug / pug / slug
  • Calf / giraffe
  • Camel / mammal
  • Caribou / cockatoo / ewe / gnu / kangaroo / kinkajou / shrew
  • Chick / tick
  • Chinchilla / gorilla
  • Clam / lamb / ram
  • Cockatiel / eel / seal
  • Cottontail / quail / snail / whale
  • Cow / sow
  • Crow / doe
  • Deer / steer
  • Dog / frog / hog / polliwog
  • Drake / snake
  • Eel / seal / teal
  • Fawn / prawn / swan
  • Ferret / parrot
  • Fowl / owl
  • Gander / salamander
  • Germ / worm
  • Goose / moose
  • Grice / lice / mice
  • Grouse / louse / mouse
  • Guppy / puppy
  • Hen / wren
  • Hippopotamus / rhinoceros
  • Jay / ray
  • Lark / shark
  • Lynx / minks / skinks
  • Man / orangutan
  • Mink / skink
  • Mole / oriole / vole
  • Moth / sloth
  • Nag / stag

Click here for other lists of rhyming words.

List of Rhyming Body Parts

It has happened more than once that I have needed to rhyme various parts of human or animal anatomy – body parts – in a poem. Here is the list that I refer to when I need it. I hope you find it useful as well.

  • Back / crack
  • Beak / cheek / physique
  • Biceps / triceps
  • Breast / chest
  • Butt / gut
  • Bum / gum / thumb / tum
  • Claw / jaw / maw / paw
  • Clothes / nose / toes
  • Chin / grin / shin / skin
  • Ear / rear / sneer
  • Eye / thigh
  • Eyelash / moustache / rash
  • Feet / seat
  • Fist / wrist
  • Groin / loin
  • Hide / inside / side
  • Hip / lip / fingertip
  • Lung / tongue
  • Nail / tail

Click here for other lists of rhyming words.

List of Rhyming First Names

Often when writing a poem, I find it’s handy to have a list of first names that rhyme with one another. Here are some common first names that rhyme that you could use in your own poems:

  • Aaron / Erin / Karen / Sharon
  • Adele / Belle / Darnell / Danielle / Giselle / Manuel / Marcel / Michelle / Miguel / Nell / Rachelle / Raquel
  • Andy / Brandy / Mandy / Randy / Sandy
  • Ann / Cheyenne / Dan / Fran / Jan / Luann / Nan / Roseann / Stan
  • Anna / Brianna / Hannah / Savanna
  • Annie / Danny / Fanny / Frannie / Manny
  • Bailey / Haley / Kaylie
  • Barry / Gary / Harry / Jerry / Keri / Larry / Mary / Perry / Sheri / Terri
  • Belinda / Linda / Lucinda / Melinda
  • Ben / Glenn / Gwen / Jen / Ken / Len
  • Benny / Denny / Jenny / Kenny / Lenny / Penny
  • Bernise / Clarice / Denise / Elise / Luis / Maurice / Reese
  • Bert / Kurt
  • Bill / Jill / Phil / Will
  • Billy / Lily / Millie / Willy
  • Bo / Flo / Joe / Moe
  • Bob / Rob
  • Bobby / Robbie
  • Bonnie / Connie / Donny / Johnny / Lonnie / Ronnie / Tawny
  • Boris / Doris / Horace / Morris
  • Braden / Hayden / Jaden
  • Brandon / Landon
  • Bree / Dee / Lee / Marie
  • Brynn / Flynn / Gwyn / Lynn / Quinn
  • Brody / Cody / Dodi / Jodie
  • Cam / Pam / Sam
  • Chloe / Joey / Zoe
  • Charlene / Christine / Colleen / Dean / Eileen /  Eugene / Francine / Irene / Janine / Jean / Kathleen / Maureen / Maxine / Nadine / Pauline
  • Cindy / Lindy / Mindy
  • Clancy / Nancy
  • Clarence / Terrence
  • Clark / Mark
  • Corey / Dory / Laurie / Morrie / Tori
  • Daniel / Nathaniel
  • Dawn / Don / Fawn / John / Lon / Ron / Sean / Vaughn
  • Dick / Mick / Nick / Rick / Vic
  • Dolly / Holly / Molly / Ollie / Paulie / Polly / Wally
  • Drew / Lou / Hugh / Stu / Sue
  • Ed / Fred / Jed / Ned / Red / Ted
  • Eddie / Freddie / Teddy
  • Faye / Jay / Kay / Mae / Ray / Trey
  • Florence / Lawrence
  • Ginnie / Minnie / Vinnie / Winnie
  • Jack / Mac / Zach
  • Jim / Kim / Tim
  • Jimmy / Timmy
  • Joan / Sloan
  • Joni / Tony
  • Kayla / Layla
  • Kendall / Wendell
  • Kiley / Miley / Riley / Wylie
  • Matt / Pat
  • Mickey / Nikki / Ricky
  • Paul / Saul
  • Thelma / Velma

Click here for other lists of rhyming words.

 

List of Rhyming Foods

If you ever find yourself writing a poem that involves food, especially a list poem, you may find it helpful to have a list of foods that rhyme with one another. Here are some common ones that you could use:

  • Alfredo / potato / tomato
  • Almond roca / mocha
  • Apple / scrapple / Snapple
  • Artichoke / Coke / egg yolk
  • Avocado / adobado / amontillado / dorado / muscovado
  • Baloney / cannelloni / macaroni / minestrone / pepperoni / rigatoni / spumoni
  • Beans / greens / nectarines / sardines / tangerines
  • Beet / meat / sweet / treat / wheat
  • Beef / leaf
  • Beef jerky / tofurkey / turkey
  • Berry / cherry / dairy
  • Blini / fettuccine / linguine / martini / panini / tortellini / zucchini
  • Bread / sandwich spread
  • Brunch / Crunch ‘n Munch / lunch / Nestles Crunch / punch
  • Brussels sprout / sauerkraut / trout
  • Burritos / Cheetos / Doritos / Fritos / taquitos / Tostitos
  • Butter brickle / pickle / pumpernickel
  • Cake / shake / steak
  • Candy cane / champagne / grain / romaine / sugar cane
  • Cannoli / guacamole / ravioli / stromboli
  • Casserole / fillet of sole / roll
  • Chai / fry / pie / rye
  • Cheese / peas
  • Chex mix / fish sticks / Hickory Sticks / Kix / Pixie Stix / Trix / Twix
  • Chicken legs / eggs
  • Chicken wings / onion rings
  • Chip / dip / licorice whip
  • Clam / ham / jam / lamb / Spam / yam
  • Crème brûlée / curds and whey / fish fillet / Milky Way / parfait / pâté / puree / sorbet / souffle
  • Crepe / grape
  • Crumb / gum / plum
  • Coffee / toffee
  • Cookie dough / sloppy joe
  • Custard / mustard
  • Dish / fish / knish
  • Éclair / gummi bear / pear
  • Empanada / enchilada / tostada
  • Fajita / margarita / pita / Velveeta
  • Falafel / offal / waffle
  • Filet mignon / Grey Poupon / Parmesan / pecan / prawn
  • Fondue / Mountain Dew / stew
  • Fries / pies
  • Fruits / roots / shoots
  • Gazpacho / nacho
  • Ghee / pea / tea
  • Giblet / riblet
  • Glaze / maize / mayonnaise
  • Goose / juice / mousse
  • Ice / rice / spice
  • Hash / mash / succotash
  • Jell-o / Mello Yello
  • Lemon drop / lollipop / soda pop / Tootsie Pop
  • Lime / thyme
  • Noodle / strudel
  • Pastrami / salami
  • Quesadilla / tortilla
  • Roast / toast

Click here for other lists of rhyming words.

Lists of Words that Rhyme

Rhyming Word Lists

While a rhyming dictionary is always a handy tool to have when writing poems, sometimes it’s also helpful to have lists of rhyming words that are all in the same category. These rhyming word lists focus on common categories to help you write poems more quickly and easily.

For example, if you are writing a poem that involves sports, it might be helpful to rhyme kickball with stickball or biking with hiking. If you were writing a poem about foods, you might want to rhyme beans with greens, sardines, or nectarines. And a poem about geographical locations might rhyme Alaska with Nebraska, Austin with Boston, or Bulgaria with Bavaria.

Here are a few rhyming word lists that I have created.  I hope you will find them useful in your own poetry.

Rhyming Word Lists

More Rhyming Resources

If you need more rhymes than the ones on these lists, you may prefer to use a rhyming dictionary, such as rhymenow.com or rhymezone.com.

You will also find plenty of poetry writing lessons, including a video on how to rhyme, here on poetry4kids.com.

Creativity Exercise – Describe the Sky

Poetic Description Exercise

Writers often say that your brain is a bit like a muscle—the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. It’s good to give yourself some regular mental exercises to help build your creativity over time, so your poetry will keep developing and improving. (The good news is that brain exercises don’t make you ache as much as push-ups!)

A great exercise that doesn’t need any special equipment—and that you can do anywhere at any time—is to describe the color of the sky.

Sounds really simple, right?!

Well, it can be simple to begin with, but the reason this exercise works so well is because your descriptions can become more and more elaborate as your creative muscles get stronger. The idea is to make sure every description is different!

How to Create Book Spine Poetry

Book Spine Poetry

Have you heard of “book spine poetry?” It’s a kind of poetry that you don’t really write from scratch – instead, you “find” it by arranging book titles to make a poem. This type of poem can be serious or funny, just like in regular poetry.

Here’s the basic idea. Imagine that you’re sitting at a table with all of these books in front of you:

  • Green Eggs and Ham
  • Goodnight Moon
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar
  • Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
  • Oh, The Places You’ll Go
  • Where the Wild Things Are
  • Good Night, Gorilla
  • Stone Soup

To make a book spine poem, you would start by moving these books around into stacks with the spines together so that the titles are like the lines of a poem. You would keep moving the book titles around into different stacks until you find the “lines” that go best together to make a poem. For example, one set of titles might describe a story:

Personification Poetry Lesson Plan

This lesson plan uses descriptive examples to explain what personification means and how it is used in poetry. Students will read poem excerpts in which examples of personification are identified. Then, they will create their own poetic sentences and short poems using personification.

Personification means using human qualities or actions to describe an object or an animal. The word “personification” actually contains the word “person,” and to personify an object means to describe it as if it were a person. Instead of saying that the sun is shining, we might say that the sun is smiling down at us. Instead of describing a flag as moving in the wind, we could say that the flag is dancing.

Using a human word to describe an object can make a poetic image seem more vivid. It can also give us an idea about how the narrator (the person describing the object) is feeling toward the object. For example, “The sun was smiling down at me” seems to indicate that the narrator has positive feelings about the sunshine. On the other hand, a narrator who says “The sun was glaring down” seems to have negative feelings about it.

Poetry Writing Lessons for Kids

Poetry Writing Lessons for Kids

There are many different ways to write poems as well as lots of techniques you can learn to help you improve your writing skill. Here are many of the poetry writing lessons for children that I have created to help you become a better poet, including how to write funny poetry, poetic rhythm, poetic forms and other styles of verse, as well as lesson plans for teachers and video lessons.

How to Write Funny Poetry

Rhythm in Poetry

  1. The Basics
  2. You Can Scan, Man
  3. I Am the Iamb
  4. Okie Dokie, Here’s the Trochee
  5. More than Two Feet

Poetic Forms

A poetic “form” is a set of rules for writing a certain type of poem. These rules can include the number of lines or syllables the poem should have, the placement of rhymes, and so on. Here are lessons for writing several common poetic forms.

Other Poetic Styles

There are many different styles of poems. These are not “poetic forms” because they don’t usually have firm rules about length, syllable counts, etc., but they are common enough that many well-known children’s poets have written poems like these.

Reciting Poetry

Other Poetry Writing Lessons

Poetry Lesson Plans for Teachers

Video Poetry Lessons

Poetry Dictionaries and Rhyming Words Lists

When reading these lessons, you may come across some unfamiliar words. If you see a poetic term and don’t know what it means, you can always look it up in the Poetic Terms Dictionary. Poetry4kids also has a rhyming dictionary and a list of rhyming words you can use to help you write poems.

Other Useful Poetry-Writing Lessons

There are loads of websites on the Internet that offer helpful lessons for children on how to write poems. Here are a few you may find useful:

Writing Riddles

Making Riddle Poems

Exploring riddles allows you to be a detective and a spy, following clues, and writing in code.  Follow this lesson plan to take your creative thinking skills to the next level using riddle poetry!

What Is A Riddle?

A riddle is a statement or a question with a hidden meaning that forms a puzzle to be solved.  A “riddle rhyme” is a riddle that is written in the form of a poem. Riddles are often set out in short verse, and have been found across the world throughout history; in Old English poetry, Norse mythology, Ancient Greek literature, and the Old Testament of the Bible!

One of the most famous examples is the riddle of the Sphinx (a creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human being).  According to the story, if you could answer the riddle you were free to pass, but if you failed, the monster would eat you!  Can you solve it?