Welcome to Rainy Day Poems. Below you will find Haiku for kids and underneath that you will find a prompt to write your own Haiku. Haiku is a form of poetry that originates from Japan. It’s intended to be small but invokes deep vision. The Japanese used Haiku to show feelings about nature, animals, and the seasons at a particular moment in time, and then share it with others. The goal of Haiku is to capture how you’re feeling in a given moment in time and hopefully to feel compelled to share it with the world. At the very bottom of the page there is a button to submit your Haiku and we will post it on this page!
Wilford and Blue Kite Calamity Kids’ Book
Haiku 1 by Becca
Haiku 2 by Becca
Haiku 3 by Becca
Haiku 4 by Becca
Haiku by Hendrick Doeff
Haiku by Basho
Pond Haiku by Basho
Haiku by Issa
Haiku by Buson
Haiku by Ethan
In A Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound
*You may notice that some of the traditional Haiku above by renown Japanese poets Basho and Issa don’t follow the 5,7,5 syllable count. In some cases, this is because they are translated from Japanese to English and the traditional syllable count is lost in translation.
Try Writing Your Own Haiku:
Using traditional style, the first line of your Haiku will have 5 syllables, the second line will have 7 syllables, and the third line will have 5 syllables. The goal is to observe nature or the world around you and use few words to express that observation. If you’re following traditional Japanese Haiku form, then stick to the 5,7,5 syllable rule, but like all amazing art forms different countries have adopted their own way of expressing Haiku. American style Haiku has changed the structure of observation, making it looser and more up to the writer, and the syllable count varies as well. In American style, some people use 3 syllables for the first line, 5 for the second, and 3 for the third. They’ve also used a 4,6,3 syllable count and many, many other combinations. It’s up to you to decide what you like best. Below I’ve given examples of American Haiku that use the 3,5,3 syllable count and the 4,6,3 count. Have fun expressing yourself through Haiku!
American Style Haiku using 4,6,3 syllable count
American Style Haiku using 3,5,3 syllable count
