Weekend Fun: International Haiku Poetry Day with Cherry Blossom Craft
April is National Poetry Month and April 17 is International Haiku Poetry Day. Why not have some family fun making up haiku poems?
Haiku is a short poem that originated in Japan. It has only 17 syllables and three lines: The first line has five syllables, the second line has seven, and the third line has five. It usually captures a moment or makes an observation about something, and the theme is often about nature. Matsuo Basho was a famous poet in the 17th century who wrote many haiku poems. Here is one of them:
The Old Pond
An old silent pond…
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.
Try writing your own haiku! Pick a theme – like birds or meadows. Brainstorm with a paper and pencil, writing as many things as you can about your theme. This is fun to do in a small group, so try it with your family. You can use our template to help – make a copy for each family member who is participating. Everyone writes down the words and ideas as people say them, then set a timer for 15 minutes and see what you can do. Even though you all worked with the same words and ideas, everyone’s haiku poem will be different!
Here is how we brainstormed about meadows:
Haiku Writing Help
Prepared by Youth Services, Franklin Township Library (www.franklintwp.org)
Theme: ___________meadows____________________
Brainstorming! Write all the words and phrases you can think of about the theme:
| Breeze | Flowers | Wildflowers |
| Birds | Tall grasses | Green |
| Gold | Abundant | Animals hide |
| Grassy | Seeds | Burrow |
| Dirt | Empty | Full |
| No pattern | Pretty | Sunny |
| Rain | Colors | quiet |
| Daisies | Buttercups | Black-eyed susans |
| Coneflowers | Wild roses | bugs |
Choose some words that you like best:
- breeze
- daisies
- grassy
- abundant
- empty
- full
Draw five short lines in a row. Underneath, draw seven short lines in a row, and then draw five more on the next line. Choose some words from your list (add new ones if you wish) and write them with one syllable on each line, like this:
__emp _ty__ _field_ __dry_ __bare___
_a_ _bun_ _dant_ _dai_ _sies_ sway_ _ing__
_not_ _emp_ _ty_ _but_ _full_
And here is what it looks like when written without lines and spaces:
Empty field, dry, bare
Abundant daisies swaying
Not empty, but full
Cherry Blossom Craft
Illustrate your haiku with a cherry blossom craft! Japan is famous for its cherry blossoms.
What you need:
- crayons, colored pencils, or markers
- paper
- pink paint (or mix red and white)
- finger tip or cotton swab or bubble wrap
What you do:
- Use the markers to draw a tree branch.
- Dip your finger tip or other object in the pink paint.
- “Stamp” the paint around the tree branch to form cherry blossoms.
