The change of seasons is a good time to get outside with kids to explore nature–or perhaps cozy up in front of a cold window–and decompress. Writing poetry with pencil and paper can create a mental and physical break to allow children (and adults) to process emotions and practice mindfulness. Short haiku is a great place to get started.

Classic haiku

Matsuo Basho, the 17th century haiku master, wrote what is probably the most well-known haiku:

The old pond; The frog jumps in — The sound of water

Two of my favorites from Basho are:

as I clap my hands with the echoes, it begins to dawn — the summer moon

autumn wind’s mouth at the sliding door a piercing voice

And here is another example of haiku from 20th century poet Yoshino Yoshiko:

like a ninja a crow on the paddy always alone

Modern American haiku

Haiku is still one of the most popular forms of poetry today. Many American poets have experimented with haiku, some using the traditional format and others taking a more free-form approach.

Ezra Pound’s short poem, In a Station of the Metro, about a metro station is often considered the first American haiku:

The apparition of these faces in the crowd: Petals on a wet, black bough

When you look closely, cities are full of natural and wild elements. Ask your children if they can think of times when they have noticed nature in the city. Maybe it was a pigeon, wild flowers growing through the cracks of a sidewalk, or clouds racing across the sky. What natural elements can you find?

Here are a few other modern American haiku. Notice how some of them use imagery from the city and note that some of them follow the 5-7-5 syllable format while others don’t.

Elizabeth Searle Lamb:

shiverrrring on the winter balcony first star

Gary Snyder:

A great freight truck Lit like a town Through the dark stony desert

Edith Shiffert:

A leaf of bamboo drifts down to the balcony, the old cat bites it

How to write haiku together

To begin, print a copy of this post, head outside together, and find a nice place to read these poems. Ask your children to count the syllables in the poems by Basho and Yoshino. They’ll notice that they often don’t have the prescribed number of syllables.

These poems were translated from Japanese. Because each word doesn’t have the same number of syllables in English and Japanese, the translator had to choose between capturing the poem’s essence and using words that match the syllable count. Most translators will opt to capture the essence of the poem.

You might also ask:

• What season do you think is represented in each poem? What word makes you think that?
• What changes or transformations do you notice in each of these poems?
• What emotion did you feel with each poem? What words made you feel that emotion?
• What do these poems have in common?

Then, have your kid write their poem. As you do, remind them to:

1. Aim for three lines, with five syllables, then seven, then five. Count these syllables together.
2. Stretch your senses. First, pay attention to sound…maybe you hear a motorcycle as it roars seven blocks away, or maybe you live in the country and you hear a bird in the valley below. Notice each sound as you try to hear farther and farther away. Do this with each sense: smell, sight, touch, maybe even taste if you brought a snack.
3. Notice a transformation, some small change around you that catches your attention. Then see if you can write a haiku that creates a picture of that change. Haiku in English should represent a change in a moment.
4. Incorporate kigo. Kigo is a word that references the season or the time of day to root the poem in a very specific moment. Ask your children if they can find the kigo in the poems above. Note that while examples in this post mention the season by name, most haiku kigo are indirect. For example, bamboo represents summer; dragonflies=fall; plum blossoms=early spring; hibernating animals=winter.
5. Remember the rules, but also remember that expressing yourself is important.

A version of this article originally appeared as “Screen-Free Poetry: Haiku.”