Teachers and organizations such as UNICEF – “Mask not Muted: Young Poets Reimagine their World” (1) have utilized poetry as an effective tool to provide children with emotional support. The Save the Children organization reported that the Covid-19 Pandemic affected the lives of billions of children. To gain a better sense of how they feel, children from countries around the world were invited to write short poems about their experiences (2).
We understand that during this time students are busy with exams and are looking forward to the summer. We encourage you to pause and read some poems to your students. You may want to start with poems by Amanda Gorman, the first -ever National Youth Poet Laureate and role model for young people. In addition, we recommend those published here that illustrate the emotions of children during the height of Covid-19 until today.
The first poem, “Confinement”, is about the virus and the dutiful acceptance of limitations imposed by the Pandemic. The second poem “The Ballad of Spring” was written a few weeks ago and it does not even name the Pandemic. It is a hopeful ode to Spring and Summer, and as Noah the 9-year-old author says, “It’s finally time for us to play”. As you continue reading, you will discover more ideas to develop your budding poets into enthusiastic creators and poetry readers.
