Whether you’re an educator or an elder care professional, poem RENOVATION makes it easy and fun to bring poetry to life this April. We’ve put together engaging activities for older adults—including those with memory challenges—and exciting classroom ideas to inspire students.
Plus, every day this month, poemRENOVATION.com will feature passages centered on hope and rebirth, sparking fresh creativity and meaningful conversations.
No rules, just create!
IDEAS FOR OLDER ADULTS
- Add Art!
Activity: Print out copies of poem RENOVATION’s word bank. Have participants incorporate what they create with those words into a collage, painting or drawing. Or, simply let the words inspire their masterpiece. - Cross-Generational Inspiration
Activity: Pair older adults with younger volunteers to create collaborative poems using poem RENOVATION’s digital or printed word bank. This is sure to inspire some great cross-generational dialogue! - Poetry & Conversation Circle
Activity: After crafting poems on the digital canvas or from poem RENOVATION’s printed word bank, have participants share their creations and engage in a group discussion about the thoughts and emotions behind them.
4. Virtual Poetry Meetup
Activity: Host a virtual session that includes about 10 minutes for participants to create a poem using the digital version of poem RENOVATION. Then, allow time for discussion about the motivation behind each creation. Even though everyone starts with the same words, you can bet no two creations will be the same. This could become a monthly meet-up!
IDEAS FOR STUDENTS
- Word of the Day Challenge
Activity: Introduce a “word of the day” from the poem RENOVATION word bank. Have students craft mini poems around it and share their creations with the class.
- Team Poetry Puzzle
Activity: Have students work in small groups to build a collaborative poem using poem RENOVATION’s digital or print version, then share what they came up with. - Creative Writing Springboard
Activity: Have students use their poem RENOVATION creation as the inspiration for a short story or essay. - Poetry Relay Challenge
Activity: Assign students to teams and have them build a poem one word at a time from a super-sized, printed word bank, in a fun relay format. Once everyone’s done, compare creations!
HOW TO USE poem RENOVATION’s PRINTED-OUT VERSION
Screenshot, print out and cut up the word bank you’ll find by tapping the “word bank” button at the bottom of poem RENOVATION’s digital canvas. There are new words in the word bank daily.
ABOUT poem RENOVATION
poem RENOVATION is an arts-based word challenge that promotes creativity, mental acuity and meaningful connections. Every day, poemrenovation.com presents visitors with a scrambled snippet of literature. Users select words that resonate with them, then move them around on a digital canvas. The rules? There are none. The objective? To create. poem RENOVATION can also be used in a printed version. Learn more about our daily word challenge at poemRENOVATION.com. Tap the “TRY poem RENOVATION” button to use our free software. An enhanced, subscription-based version will be available later this year.
TECH SUPPORT
If you have questions or technical difficulties contact Kelly de la Rocha at kdelarocha@poemrenovation.com
WE’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU
Send feedback, suggestions, collaboration ideas and stories to Kelly de la Rocha, or tag poem RENOVATION on social media.