Poetry Tea Time

I first learned of the idea of Poetry Tea Time from Instagram.  It looked lovely and I knew I wanted to learn more about the idea!  Julie Bogart creator of Brave Writer, the online writing and language arts program, first created Poetry Tea Time when she was homeschooling her own children.  She loved poetry from an early age but knew there was a “culture of anxiety around poetry.”  She wanted to introduce her children to poetry and thought about doing that over tea, a time when “there’s a universal urge to pause, to rest, to draw in to self and community around a soothing beverage.”

Doesn’t that just sound so lovely?

You can check the #poetryteatime on Instagram and see that thousands of families, all over the world, are now enjoying Poetry Tea Time, just like Julie and her family.  We tried it and it’s as delightful as it sounds!  We now have Poetry Tea Time once a week.  We will usually bake a small treat to enjoy with our tea and then gather at the table to read some poems!

I purchased Julie’s book, The Poetry Tea Time Companion, from Amazon (affiliate link).  It’s a great book with wonderful poems arranged by season.  But although I am happy to own it, I don’t feel you need it to make Poetry Tea Time work for your family.  You can check out her website – http://poetryteatime.com or look at Instagram for inspiration.  It’s so much fun to set a pretty table and sit down together.  I’ve picked up a few seasonal mugs at Christmas Tree Shops and my kids love this added flair of a pumpkin mug or a shark mug, depending on the season!

I definitely agree with Julie that poems and tea go well together!  I’m glad to have another time of our day when we include poetry.  It feels natural and special at the same time.

Do you have Poetry Tea Time in your house?  If you need any inspiration of good poetry books for children – check out this post or you can find a .pdf list in the Booklist section of the blog that you can download with poetry books we enjoy.