A Sinterklaas poem for children
A child listens to a poem differently from an adult. They do not notice clever wordplay, but they do notice sound, rhythm and the question: is this about me? Once you know that, writing for children is actually easier than writing for grown-ups. You just have to want less.
Short lines and simple words
Keep lines under eight syllables. A child of four to seven remembers a line if it can be said in one breath. Use words the child already says: bike, shoe, carrot, horse, cake, new coat. Avoid words that need explaining, such as "modest", "undeniably" or "throughout". Put the most important word at the end of the line, because that is where the rhyme lands and where it sticks.
Avoid questions and negatives too. A child understands "you helped today" faster than "you did not forget to help".
A rhythm to clap along to
Reading aloud works best for children when the rhythm is almost a song. Try clapping the poem on the syllables. If you can clap evenly without stumbling, it works. So keep every line to the same number of beats and let the rhyme fall on a clap.
Tim, jij bent lief en jij bent groot, je helpt je zusje met haar brood. Daarom zit er wat in je schoen, dat is wat de Sint voor jou wil doen.
Roughly: Tim, you are kind and you are big, you help your little sister with her bread. That is why there is something in your shoe, it is what Sint wants to do for you.
Clap along to "Tim, jij bent lief en jij bent groot". You get four even claps and a natural ending at "groot". That is how it should be. The next lines follow the same pattern, so the child already knows how the line goes before you have said it. That is exactly what children like.
Write about what the child has done
Children want to be seen. A poem that says you helped well, made a drawing or were brave works better than a poem that is funny at the child's expense. Pick two or three things from the past weeks and turn them into couplets:
- Something the child has learned: cycling, swimming, tying a shoelace.
- Something the child has helped with: laying the table, comforting a little brother.
- Something the child likes doing: drawing, building, running, looking after animals.
A little teasing is fine, but keep it gentle and recognisable. The classics are a favourite colour, a regular cuddly toy or the food that always has to be finished. Avoid anything a child can be embarrassed about, such as wetting themselves, crying, fear or school marks. What children experience as teasing is often a lot harsher than what you mean as an adult. There is more about this in teasing without hurting.
Keeping the magic of Sint intact
The poem is Sint's story, so write as if he thought of it himself. That means a few things:
- Let Sint know things. He has the big book, he has seen, he has heard. Do not say "Mum told me".
- Do not mention shops, prices or orders. Presents come from Sint, they are not bought.
- Let the horse, the shoe, the carrot and the steamboat play a part. Children love fixed elements. (Children put a shoe by the fireplace with a carrot for Sint's horse, and Sint arrives by steamboat from Spain.)
- Use the child's name, preferably twice, so that they really feel spoken to.
- Sign off as Sint and his Piet, not as parents or grandad.
If the child is older and starting to doubt, the poem may contain a wink, for instance by saying that Sint sometimes needs help. Keep that careful. The child may decide for themselves when they know enough.
Length
The younger the child, the shorter the poem. Count on one verse of four lines per year of age, up to a maximum of four verses. A three-year-old is happy with one verse. A seven-year-old can handle four verses, as long as the rhythm is right and there is a surprise in it. Write two verses that are easy to read aloud rather than five verses that lose the child.
Read it to a child
The best test is a trial run. Read the poem to a child who is not the recipient. See whether they keep listening, whether they laugh at the right moments and whether they can guess the rhyme words before you say them. If the child can predict the rhyme word, the rhythm works.
If you want help with rhyme words that children know, use the rhyme dictionary and choose only words your child uses themselves. And for the whole process from blank page to poem, see the step-by-step plan.