There’s something so magical about summer. After the chill of winter has warmed, the promise of spring ushers in a season of new energy. Wind in our hair and sun on our faces, the world feels full of possibility. Poetry is an excellent way to share that amazing feeling with students. Here’s a list of summer poems for kids to brighten your day!
1. Golden Sun by Lenore Hetrick
“Shine down on me today!”
2. Summer’s Splendor By The Sea by Patricia L. Cisco
“Hushing rhythm of the waves.”
3. Missing Summer by Destinee
“The grass so green, the sun so bright.”
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4. It’s Hot! by Shel Silverstein
“I’ve drunk a quart of lemonade.”
5. A Bird Song by Christina Rossetti
“It’s a year almost that I have not seen her.”
6. In the Mountains on a Summer Day by Li Po
“Gently I stir a white feather fan.”
7. Summer at Blue Creek, North Carolina by Jack Gilbert
“There was no water at my grandfather’s…”
8. Summer in the South by Paul Laurence Dunbar
“The oriole sings in the greening grove.”
9. For Once, Then, Something by Robert Frost
“Looking out of a wreath of fern and cloud puffs.”
10. A Green Crab’s Shell by Mark Doty
“Preserved in kind brine.”
11. Bed in Summer by Robert Louis Stevenson
“I have to go to bed by day.”
12. Ground Swell by Mark Jarman
“Gravel and sand; my knees aching with salt.”
13. In Summer by Paul Laurence Dunbar
“In a cloak from the loom of the sun!”
14. [The cry of the cicada] by Matsuo Basho
“Gives us no sign.”
15. Fishing on the Susquehanna in July by Billy Collins
“…rowing upstream in a wooden boat.”
16. July by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz
“The figs we ate wrapped in bacon.”
17. This Is Not a Small Voice by Sonia Sanchez
“This is a large voice coming out of these cities.”
18. Still Life with Invisible Canoe by Idra Novey
“Dancing up and down.”
19. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18) by William Shakespeare
“Thou art more lovely and more temperate.”
20. I, Too by Langston Hughes
“They’ll see how beautiful I am.”
21. Summer Magic by Leslie Pinckney Hill
“She poured her sunshine on the earth.”
22. The Jungle by Megan Fernandes
“In midsummer, in Los Angeles, the night is fractured.”
23. The Seasons Moralized by Philip Freneau
“They who to warmer regions run, may bless the favour of the sun.”
24. Ode to Kool-Aid by Marcus Jackson
“Purplesaurus Rex, Roarin’, Rock-A-Dile Red, Ice Blue, Island Twist, Sharkleberry Fin.”
25. By the Stream by Paul Laurence Dunbar
“…I dream in calm delight, and watch as in a glass.”
26. Summer Haibun by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
“There are not enough jam jars to can this summer sky at night.”
27. A Night in the Field by Jay Parini
“I didn’t mean to stay so late.”
28. Road at Ache by Kazim Ali
“Better weather, the absence of bees.”
29. Summer Silence by E. E. Cummings
“Eruptive lightnings flutter to and fro.”
30. Summer Rain by Amy Lowell
“Drops fell and flattened on the tin roof.”
31. In Summer Time by Paul Laurence Dunbar
“The world is in the magic thrall.”
32. Summer in Winter in Summer by Noah Eli Gordon
“Diving bell in a glass of water. Cacti atmosphere.”
33. August by Helen Hunt Jackson
“Save hum of insects’ aimless industry.”
34. Muffin of Sunsets by Elaine Equi
“The sky is melting. Me too.”
35. Mist Valley by James Longenbach
“At the end of August, when all the letters of the alphabet are waiting.”
36. Goodnight, Great Summer Sky by Rose Styron
“World of my childhood and the star-struck sea.”
What are your favorite summer poems for kids? Share in the comments below!
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