I love poetry. In fact, I still have all my old high school notebooks full of my very bad angst filled poetry. Occasionally, I still even add a new poem. And since April is National Poetry Month, I wanted to find a way to combine some poetry activities with the new MakerSpace at The Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County (Ohio). So I took some of my favorite poetry month activities and makerized them (yes, that’s probably not really a word).

Personalized Magnetic Poetry Kits

Create your own magnetic poetry kits using recycled materials. By storing your magnets inside your old Altoid (or other recycled) tin, you can also use the inside cover as a place to create your own mini-poems.

For Magnets:

• Magnets sheets or strips (I find that using the big rolls of magnet strips is difficult because they don’t want to lay flat)
• Old magazines/comic books
• Scissors
• Glue

Cut out your favorite words and glue them onto the magnet sheets. Cut the magnets to size. Tada – you have your own magnetic poetry kit. The tin works really well to hold them and you can use the tin as canvas to make your own poems on the go.

For Magnet Carrying Case:

• Old tins (Altoid tins or old lunch boxes work great)
• Your favorite picture printed on regular printer paper
• Scissors
• Mod Podge
• A sponge brush

Create or print an image of your choice. Creating an original image using a variety of photo apps at the iPad bar really ups the MakerSpace factor here. Make sure it fits onto the front of your tin. Cut to size. Glue. Cover with Mod Podge. Allow it to dry completely.

Black Out Poetry

Tear out a page in a discarded book or magazine.

Have teens use a Sharpie pen to black out words. A majority of the page will be blacked out.

The remaining words make up your poem.

Supplies needed: discarded books/magazines, Sharpies

Chalkboard Poetry

Chalkboard made out of an old frame and chalkboard paint

Give teens a chalkboard (or a sidewalk) and chalk to write a poem. They can add flourishes and doodles if they would like. (Please note: the clean lid to a discarded pizza box also works well for chalk.) You can also make your own chalkboards using old picture frames or blank canvases, chalkboard paint and embellishments.

Supplies needed: chalk, small chalkboards

Original Poetry Buttons

Now, to Makerize these. Take a photo of the poem on a chalkboard/sidewalk or of the page of black out poetry. You can use your photo apps to add filters, effects and more. Size and print them. Then, we are using our button makers to make the personalized poems into buttons.

A sidewalk poem by The Teen made into a button

Poem in Your Pocket

Make a “pocket” – aka a cell phone carrier – out of Duct Tape. This then becomes a pocket that you can carry your cell phone and a poem in.

Duct Tape Cell Phone Case Instructions can be found here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Duct-Tape-Cell-Phone-Cover-1/. There are also good YouTube tutorials

Those are just a few of my ideas. What will you be doing this month to celebrate poetry?