Annie Besant Jon

Fat and green I am,

Hop and skip on land and water

Have you heard my croak?

Yep, it’s a frog! This simple riddle is in the form of haiku, unique short-form Japanese poetry. Haiku traditionally consists of three short lines that don’t rhyme, with themes centred on nature.

With the monotony of online classes and activities, introducing children to haiku writing is a great way to stimulate their creativity and imagination.

Haiku writing rules

The basic rule is that the first line should have only five syllables. The second seven and the last line five. A syllable is a part of a word, and most often comprises a vowel or a vowel with one or more consonants.

For instance the word haiku has two syllables —hai and ku. Or the word monkey has two syllables — mon and key. Here’s a haiku example:

Old brown dog sleeping (5 syllables)

Dreaming of chasing cat’s tails (7 syllables)

He wakes with a smile (5 syllables)

The second rule is that a haiku is non-rhyming. The focus is on capturing an emotion, mood or nature scene.

Third, haikus are written in present tense. The poem has to describe what is happening now, not what has already happened.

Getting started

Here are a few simple steps to get you started on writing your very first haiku.

1. Write down few haiku themes and ideas on a sheet of paper. For example, you could list spring, summer, winter, rose, frog, water, fire, stone, sand, sun, moon, etc as themes.
2. Once you’ve chosen the subject, think of words to describe it. If you choose moon, then the descriptive words could be: night, silver, bright, shining, peaceful, etc.
3. Put words together to make a haiku. Remember the poem has to express/stir up emotion or conjure an image. A haiku on the moon could be something like this:

The moon hung shining

Like a ball in the night sky

I dreamt of silver streams.

4. You can also write a riddle in haiku form. Follow the same steps as above, but the difference is that the haiku should be framed as a question.

A haiku book

You’ll enjoy writing haiku for your friends, parents and family members. Or pen a haiku for your teacher and see her smile! Observe everything around you — there’s a poem to be composed on every stick and stone. Compile your haiku poems into a book, perhaps with illustrations and drawings. You could also organise a haiku competition with friends!

Also read: Gift your child word power