Imagine going to summer camp. You’re sitting around a campfire singing songs, burning your fingertips on marshmallows, and looking up at the summer sunset. Get ready to capture this experience in poetry!
Have you been to summer camp before? If so, let’s take a few minutes to think back on those memories. Grab your friendship bracelets and camp letters from the friends you made. Hum or sing all your favorite camp songs (maybe that one about a moose drinking juice or the chant about oreos). You can even play a few camp games to warm you up (form a banana or tap out the beat of concentration). Surround yourself with the sights, sounds, and smells of camp.
If you haven’t been to summer camp, think about some outdoor summer experiences you’ve had. Remember the sounds and smells of telling stories around a campfire, the feeling of canoeing on the lake on a sunny day, and the peace and quiet of stargazing on a scratchy blanket while staring up into the night sky.
Out of all those memories, focus on one particular moment, memory, or scene that captures your feelings about camp. Use all five of your senses—sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound—to describe that scene. Be sure to include lots of specific details to make your poem as close to the memory as possible. Use this post on sensory poetry to help you out, and check out this post on revising poetry to help you choose the strongest details for your camp poem.
Bonus round: Write about summer camp, with a twist! Pretend you’re going to a poetry-themed summer camp where all of the activities relate to writing or reading poetry. What poetry-themed games would you play? What would be the names of some of your poetry camp foods? Write a pretend “schedule” for a day at poetry camp.