Poetry Break - Spring Poem

Spring Song

By Barbara Seuling

Introduction
Discuss with children what are some of the signs of winter ending and spring arriving. What do some of the local animals and plants do when the weather begins to warm up?
Display pictures or samples of twigs with new leaves, a bird’s nest with egg, flowering tree branch, etc.

When the snow melts
and rushes down the mountainside,
what does the black bear do?
Wakes up to greet
a swimming treat.

When the sun warms
the hard ground and makes it soft,
what do moles do?
Dig a new row
of tunnels below.

When breezes stir
the air in woodland burrows,
what do striped skunks do?
Leave their den,
to roam again.

When tall reeds grow
across the marshy wetlands,
what do bullfrogs do?
Croak the night long,
their mating song.

When buds appear
on the cottonwood trees,
what do eagles do?
Build a high nest,
where newborns will rest.

When new grass grows
in the sunny meadow,
what do rabbits do?
Hop all over
in the clover.

When cocoons burst
open and release their prize,
what do people do?
Come out to cheer,
for spring is here!

Extension
Go on a scavenger hunt outside to find signs of spring or have children look around their own yards and bring in items for sharing the following day. A possible artistic response activity might be to have children choose an animal or plant and create a picture showing what it does in the spring.

Another fun spring picture book poem:

Splish, Splash, Spring

by Jan Carr

Seuling, Barbara. 2001. Spring Song. New York: Gulliver Books/Harcourt.

Carr, Jan. 2001. Splish, Splash, Spring. New York: Holiday House.