Wild Words: Teacher Resource Guide

2. Activities

2.2. Dandelion Poems

For this activity let's focus in on dandelions, but this can be done for any wild word!

First, let's experience some examples of dandelion poems (all links below open in a new window/tab):

Dandelion poem from The Lost Words
This poster is the original poem from 'The Lost Words' by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris. Hosted by the John Muir Trust.

A dandelion song
This is a song about dandelions from the book 'Spell Songs' - the partner to 'The Lost Words'.

Dandelion poem
This is a poem by Gerda Stevenson at the Scottish Poetry Library.

Dandelion song
A dandelion song example from Jen's Forest School

Photograph of dandelions with the word 'DANDELION'.

How to write your own

Here are some top wild tips of what to get your class to think about when writing their poems:

Where does the dandelion live?

What does it look like?

Describe the colours, shapes, roots, leaves, flowers and the clocks

How does it make you feel?

Will your poem rhyme?

Will your poem have a special rhythm?

Extend the wildness of the activity: Set your class the challenge of making it an acrostic poem where each line starts with a letter of the word DANDELION. Maybe have them illustrate their poem with a picture (check out the bonus activities section for ideas around this).