S8 E5 Poetry and Feelings – Expressing Emotions Through Words

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Poetry and Feelings – Expressing Emotions Through Words

Helping children explore emotions through simple poetry, rhythm, and creative language.

In this episode of Mindful Moments with Miss Harrison, children discover how poetry can help express feelings in a gentle, creative, and meaningful way. Sometimes emotions are difficult to explain—but through short phrases, rhythm, and imaginative words, children can begin to share what is inside their hearts.

Through guided examples and creative prompts, children learn that poetry doesn’t need to rhyme perfectly or follow rules. It simply needs to be honest, expressive, and personal.

This episode builds emotional literacy by encouraging children to slow down, reflect, and use words as a safe space to explore their feelings.

What children will learn in this episode:

• How poetry can help express emotions clearly and safely
• That feelings can be shared through simple words and phrases
• How rhythm and repetition can support emotional expression
• That there is no right or wrong way to write a poem

Creative Expression from Miss Harrison:

• Start with a feeling: Choose an emotion such as happiness, worry, calm, or excitement
• Use simple words: Describe what the feeling looks like, sounds like, or feels like
• Play with rhythm: Repeat words or phrases to create a pattern
• Be yourself: Your poem is your own voice—there is no need to compare

Poetry gives children a quiet and reflective way to understand emotions and communicate them with confidence.

Mindful Moment Challenge:

This week, write a short poem about how you feel each day. It could be one sentence, a few words, or a longer piece. Read it aloud or share it with someone you trust. Notice how putting your feelings into words helps you understand them more clearly.

Perfect for:

• Primary school-aged children developing emotional literacy
• Classrooms exploring PSHE, SEL, literacy, or creative writing
• Families encouraging reflection and communication at home
• Teachers linking wellbeing with English and expressive arts

Quote of the Week:

“Your words can gently carry your feelings into the world.”

#MindfulMoments #PoetryForChildren #ExpressingFeelings #EmotionalLiteracy #CreativeWritingForKids #MindfulnessInSchools #SELActivities #ChildrensMentalHealth #PSHELessons #WellbeingThroughWords #PrimaryEducation #MindfulLearning

Transcript

Hello everyone and welcome back to Mindful Moments with Miss Harrison. I'm Miss Harrison and I'm so happy you're here for another episode in our Exploring Emotions Through Creativity series. Last time we talked about how we can play out our feelings using imagination and roleplay to understand emotions. Did you try your Mindful Moment challenge? I hope you had fun creating little plays and exploring your feelings through pretend. Today we're going to explore something truly magical, the power of poetry. 

By the end of this episode, you'll see how poems can help you share your feelings in beautiful and creative ways. Let's get started. Poetry is like a song made of words. It can be happy, sad, silly or thoughtful, short and sweet or long and adventurous, rhyming or free like the wind. Poems help us capture a feeling, like catching a little firefly of emotion in a jar and sharing it with others. And just like drawing or music, poetry doesn't have to be perfect. 

It just has to be true to you. Let's hear a story about someone who discovered the magic of poetry. Zara loved being outside on sunny days. One afternoon, after playing in the park, she wanted to share how happy she felt, but she didn't know quite how to say it. So she decided to try writing a poem. She picked up a notebook and wrote, sunshine in my hair, laughter in the air, happy feet dancing, my heart is prancing. 

When Zara read her poem out loud she felt her happiness all over again and her family smiled and clapped too. She realised that poems could take a feeling and turn it into a special gift. for others. What do you think Zara learned about sharing her feelings through poetry? Just like Zara, you can create poems about your feelings. Here's how. 

First, you need to choose a feeling. Happy, excited, worried, calm, proud. Any feeling is a good feeling to explore. Now, use your senses. Think about what you can see, hear, smell, taste or feel when you have that emotion. Next, play with words. 

Your poem can rhyme if you like or it can just be a few simple words that sound beautiful to you. Poetry is like painting pictures with words. You get to decide what colours and shapes you create. What feeling would you like to turn into a poem today? Let's try writing a mini feelings poem together. I'll start and you can fill in the blanks in your own special way. 

When I feel, it's like, I can hear, I can see, and I know. What words would you like to put in? There are no wrong answers. Your feelings are yours to celebrate. You've done a really great job today learning about the magic of poetry. Remember, poetry can capture a feeling and turn it into something beautiful. 

You can write poems about anything. Happiness, sadness, dreams, hopes, even the little moments in your day. Your voice matters and your poems can light up the world. Here's your Mindful Moment Challenge for the week. Write a short poem about how you're feeling today. You can keep it just for yourself, share it with someone you trust, or even turn it into a piece of art. 

Next time on Mindful Moments with Miss Harrison, we'll bring everything together by creating your own creative toolkit, a special collection of ways to express your feelings whenever you need to. I can't wait to see you then. Thank you for joining me today. Keep writing, keep feeling, and as always, keep shining.