Tatiana Thomas

LEI 4724
Activity: Holiday Poems
Source: Harrison, M. (2000). Make Up a Poem. Retrieved from
http://www.recreationtherapy.com/tx/txmay.htm
Equipment: Colored construction paper and Pen/Pencils, crayons/markers
Activity Description:
1. Allows for any number of participants. Objective is to write a poem with a holiday
theme. It is easy to pick holiday themes that coincide with the month you are in.
2. Have participants obtain a paper, writing utensil, and some crayons for decoration.
3. The facilitator will choose a holiday appropriate to write a small poem about (Mothers
day, Easter/Spring, 4th of July, etc.) and introduce it to the class telling of a brief history
and how it is celebrated today.
4. Have each participant write the name of the holiday down the paper vertically leaving
space to write a sentence or small phrase after each letter.
5. The participants will then write is for after each letter.
6. Then, each participant will think about what word or adjective begins with the letter of
the holiday and describes the holiday as well and write a short phrase on each line. For
example, E-A-S-T-E-R may be written vertically and the first line of the poem would be
E is for eggs that we hunt at a picnic.
7. After the poem is written, the participants may decorate the poem page.

Leadership Considerations:

1. This activity requires that participants think of words that begin with a specific letter
given. Not only that, but it requires that they relate the word or phrase to another.
Cognitive skills will be used and enhanced in this activity.
2. When a participant has a learning disability, it may be difficult to think of words easily
especially when they have to be under certain circumstances. The facilitator or assistant
may work with that participant to think of words and phrases but the participant may also
bend the rules a bit and be allowed to come up with phrases that dont particularly relate
to the holiday; they may be things the person just likes that start with that letter.
3. Dyslexia is also a disorder that may cause issues when writing this poem. Instead of
allowing the participants to write the poem and the holiday word from scratch, the
facilitator may supply printed sheets with the holiday word already prepared for the
participants. Along with that, the participant with dyslexia may be given a word bank
where they can choose words and already have the spelling. An assistant may also say the
words out loud to them and spell it aloud for memory and clarification.