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Let Words Magnetize Your Kid's Creativity

© Roxianne Moore

Review of Kids' Magnetic Poetry Book and Creativity Kit
by Dave Kapell and Sally Steenland
Workman Publishing, 1998
0-7611-1357-6

Summer's coming (or, in some parts of the world, Winter Break)! Do you have plenty of activities rounded up for your kids? If you're like most parents, you line up day camp, play dates, anything to keep your kids active and out of your hair. But as writers, we also ought to be thinking of how we can stimulate our children's minds and foster a love of writing.

The Kids' Magnetic Poetry Book and Creativity Kit might be just the ticket. Like all the other Magnetic Poetry sets, it features tiles with a variety of words. These are smaller than the other tiles for kids, so they may not be manageable for smaller fingers. What makes this kit a good choice for summer fun, though, is its portability. With a built-in magnetic board, it's great for long car trips. I'm almost looking forward to handing my son, niece, and nephew each a kit for our annual trip to Northern Ontario.

To get things started, the first section, "Welcome to Words," discusses words in terms of beginning, middle and ending sounds. Several activities will definitely appeal to kids' offbeat sense of humor. "Sense and Nonsense" uses words that can have a variety of meanings, as well as words with no meanings. Using Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" as an example, it encourages kids to break the rules while teaching them about how words work.

The next section, "A Grab Bag of Poems" discusses the shapes of poems. Along with the traditional short forms like Haiku and Tanka, kids get a look at different ways poems can start. The "self-portrait" poem looks a lot like the Brag Poem I often use in my kids' creative writing classes. This is the kind of poetry that draws in even the most reluctant poet. The best brag poem I ever got in a class was written by a boy who was all jock. Bragging came naturally to this kid, and after that, he was hooked on poetry.

This book promises to give kids the same kind of nudge. Your kids might be reluctant to give poetry a try, but once you've walked them through a couple of these "games," they just might get hooked, too.

It goes beyond nudging, though, to give kids a good foundation for building poems. Its discussions of specific detail, metaphor and simile are clear, and easy for kids to grasp.

To add to the fun and the creative aspect, the kit comes with a number of colorful shapes. Kids

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