Playing with Words: Cinquain Writing


In my first-ever post in this blog, I wrote about haiku writing. Another poetic form that children can have fun experimenting with is the cinquain.

A cinquain has five lines.

The first line has 2 syllables.

The second line has 4 syllables.

The third line has 6 syllables.

The fourth line has 8 syllables.

The fifth line has two syllables.

A cinquain can be about anything. It does not have to rhyme, but it can have rhymes in it.

Here is an example of a cinquain composed by Ken Nesbitt:

Ice Cream
Ice cream.
Cold and yummy.
I love its sweet richness
as it finds its way into my
tummy.
(By the way, he has a wonderful website called poetry4kids.com, which has a page of tips on how to write cinquains.)

 Here is another example which I composed just now:
Virus

Virus -
How I hate it.
It makes the people sick
And it keeps me from going out
To play.

 Now, you and your kids try it.

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