Celebrating National Limerick Day In Your Own Special Way

May 2

Reading Time: 2 mins, 53 secs

Man with shaved head, beard and glasses and young boy reading a book and laughing together

Limericks are intentionally nonsensical stories meant to make audiences laugh. May 12th is the birthday of Edward Lear the grandfather of Limericks. He popularized Limericks in the mid 1800’s and they have been delighting readers ever since. His most famous Limerick is about the old man with a beard.

There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, ’It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!

Edward Lear. “Limericks By Edward Lear“ Family Friend Poems

Read to Start. It Will Win Their Heart.

Limericks tap into wordplay, expanding a child’s literacy and vocabulary. The more absurd and sillier, the better. Rhyming encourages word memory, an expansion of vocabulary, and enjoyment of reading. Limericks are best enjoyed by reading aloud.

Check out these classics as well as some newer books:

The Trick to the Limerick

Writing Limericks can be as fun as reading them. The nature of a Limerick is silly, so the pressure to formulate thoughts and be creative is easily broken down into simple rhymes that do not require logic.

The rules are simple and easy to follow.

Five lines
Line 1 introduces the story, typically a person or place
Lines 2, 3, and 4 tell a story
Rhyme lines 1, 2, and 5 to each other
Rhyme lines 3 and 4 to each other
Line 5 is the ending with a twist

There once was a puppy named Lou,
Who chewed on whatever he’d view.
Though he had toys galore,
Like sticks, bears, and more,
His favorite was always a shoe.

young girl wearing glasses, smiling, writing in an open notebook with a pencil

Limerick Timing is Mostly Rhyming

Rhyming is the key to all Limericks; it also opens up the chance to learn new words that may not occur in day-to-day conversation or regular reading. Rhymes match sounds and syllables.

Easy Rhymes are words that have the same ending in sound and spelling like chip and clip.

Complex Rhymes match sounds instead of spelling and are also easy to match, like tricks and six.

If rhyming is difficult or you want more of a challenge to expand rhyming possibilities, check out sites like Poetry4Kids and Rhyme Desk. Consider buying a rhyming dictionary Rhyming Dictionary For Kids or Webster's Rhyming Dictionary, Newest Edition, for more rhyming exploration.

More Ways to Play is the Name of the Game

If you are looking for a more guided experience, there are workbooks like Lucky Limericks that can provide more structure around rhyming schemes and poetic measures, as well as tips and tricks to get the creative juices going.

Making Limericks into a game expands the fun with friends. There are several ways to play, too. You can play with these rules without any materials, or you can pick up a Mad Libs-style game like Limerick Games.

Writing and reading Limericks is a great way to enjoy poetry for just one or with many. No matter how they are enjoyed, the benefits of this fun poem style are sure to be a favorite.

There once was a kid who liked Limericks.
At the Library, it was all their picks.
They read all the time,
They soon learned to rhyme.
Now their vocabulary sticks!