Writing poems can be a great way for kids to express how they feel and think, and to discover the possibilities of language. My own interest in poetry has stayed with me from childhood; I have now published two collections of poems, and there are more to come.

Poems can be any length and can take as much or as little time to create as you want, but sometimes it can be hard to know where to start. Here are a few tips:

• Get started by finding some poems you like. Could you make a poem that sounds like one of your favourites, or borrow its idea or theme? This can also work well with a favourite song.
• Don’t be afraid to use anything you have heard or seen. Always look at the world around you, it’s your material – you can drop anything that you find straight into your poem.
• Use some comparisons. Poets are really good at comparing things. Pick an object and think about it until you find something that it is similar to. Maybe the way your mind wanders as you daydream reminds you of a balloon floating across the sky, or your little brother or sister seems like a monkey when they play on the climbing frame.
• Use brainstorming and free writing to collect your ideas. You can later rearrange and develop these to make your poem. You can even create a ‘found’ poem using your free writing as a starting text, condensing it and taking out key words and phrases.
• If you can’t start writing, walk around your neighbourhood and stop at certain places, for example, the park, the playground, the café, and the newsstand. At each point, write a line describing what you see.

When you have written your poem, read it aloud. You might decide to change the lengths of your lines, or where they end to change how it sounds. This is all part of the process, and it’s often where you find the most interesting ideas.