Rhyme Time

Rhyme Time

An activity in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday

We've been reading a lot of Dr. Seuss books lately in preparation for National Read Across America Day.  The kids have had "Dr. Seuss Night" at school and our local high school is even performing Seussical the Musical!

In keeping with the theme, we've been trying out a new Moonlit Minds quiet, thoughtful activity before bed.  We call it "Rhyme Time" and it's essentially an improvisational word-play game.  Here's how it works:

Warm up

Start by picking a random word and take turns finding its rhymes until you run out.
Example:

Door
Floor
More
Wore
Galore
Chore
Snore

Repeat with another word.  Take turns picking the starting word.

Get a little Seussy with it!

Now do the same thing, but the rhymes need to be a made-up "Seuss" kind of words.
Example:

Singer
Doozelringer
Humdinger
Fleaflinger
Snufflebringer
Snappyfinger
Trapeezyswinger

Poetic finish

One more fun idea for the activity is to build a poem together.  We really enjoyed a "setup and knock down" approach.  In other words, the parent would start the line and the child would finish or the other way around.
Example:

Parent: I woke up today and went to the zoo
Child: It was all the way in Kalamazoo
Parent: When I got there I made a friend
Child.  It was an elephant.  The end!

Switching the order...

Child: I like to climb up really high trees
Parent: Except when the trees are full of bees
Child: The bees make honey that is yummy
Parent: But I don't want to get stung on my tummy.

You may be a poet and not even know it

This activity gives you a real appreciation for the poetic art and how challenging it can be.  We had so much fun creating and playing the game before bed and we hope you enjoy playing too.  Please share this activity with your friends and family and let us know some of the wacky rhymes you create!  Leave a comment below or hits us up on Twitter or Facebook!  Happy rhyming and...mind the nap!