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Best poem for a 6 year old to read and perform

18 replies

2in2022twoyearson · 11/02/2025 07:13

Hi,
My daughters school of doing a poetry performance competition for world book day. My daughter loves English and poems she does at school. Can you recommend which ones we should look for for her to choose one to perform? I'm thinking of getting a poetry book out of the library.

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foreverbasil · 11/02/2025 07:16

Furry bear A A Milne?

JimHalpertsWife · 11/02/2025 07:17

A lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton

Caferouge · 11/02/2025 07:19

Shirley Hughes wrote some great poems about weather and the changing seasons. The book is called Out and About.

SoftPlaySaturdays · 11/02/2025 07:22

My five year old loves a book called "Noisy Poems", it has lots that would be good for a performance.

Hercisback1 · 11/02/2025 07:23

The ning nang nong

Chuchoter · 11/02/2025 07:35

Michael Rosen

uk.pinterest.com/rosescowen/michael-rosen-poems/

BoleynMemories13 · 11/02/2025 12:07

Definitely borrow a book and let her find one she likes. World Book Day is meant to promote reading, so surely part of the experience should be her reading a range of poems and making a personal choice, rather than just being told what to read?

Pottingup · 11/02/2025 12:20

Surely it has to be Now We Are Six by A A Milne?

SereneCapybara · 11/02/2025 12:27

My DC (even DS2 who didn't much like reading when he was younger) loved the poetry collection 'Please Mrs Butler.'

Might be a bit dated now as DC are both grown up. But worth a look.

JimHalpertsWife · 11/02/2025 12:28

I have Please Mrs Butler! Got one second hand on ebay. The poem about the TV is my favourite.

JimHalpertsWife · 11/02/2025 12:34

JimHalpertsWife · 11/02/2025 12:28

I have Please Mrs Butler! Got one second hand on ebay. The poem about the TV is my favourite.

Actually I've just dug the Please Mrs Butler book out and the TV poem isn't there maybe its in his other book

BruisedNeckMeat · 11/02/2025 12:40

My DC’s school did this every year and there was a huge range in terms of length and complexity of poems. Around this age my DD did Dr Seuss ‘Happy Birthday to You’

The one that sticks out as most popular with the other kids was ‘The Day The Teacher Farted’

ScoobyG · 11/02/2025 13:07

Michael Rosen- Don't. Good fun and simple to remember well for a performance.

WifeImprovementWorksInProgress · 11/02/2025 13:11

The owl and the pussycat?

Slightly dated perhaps, but it's a story, she can do voices etc, and I've always loved it (and taught DC to recite it for my own satisfaction 🤔)

LaPalmaLlama · 11/02/2025 13:15

The two headed calf. Guaranteed to win and not a dry eye in the house…. May also traumatise her and the other kids but a win’s a win 🤣

LaPalmaLlama · 11/02/2025 13:21

A really good one for when she’s a bit older is False Security by Betjeman. Topical and not too long. Packs a good emotional punch if performed well.

MargaretThursday · 11/02/2025 20:04

One of my favourites and quite easy to learn:

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
(Robert Frost)
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Another nice one for a little one is:
I Once Had a Sweet Little Doll, Dears
by Charles Kingsley

I once had a sweet little doll, dears,
The prettiest doll in the world;
Her cheeks were so red and so white, dears,
And her hair was so charmingly curled.
But I lost my poor little doll, dears,
As I played in the heath one day;
And I cried for more than a week, dears,
But I never could find where she lay.

I found my poor little doll, dears,
As I played in the heath one day:
Folks say she is terribly changed, dears,
For her paint is all washed away,
And her arms trodden off by the cows, dears
And her hair not the least bit curled:
Yet for old sakes’ sake she is still, dears,
The prettiest doll in the world.

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