When is National Poetry Day?
National Poetry Day is celebrated on the first Thursday of October every year.
In 2026, National Poetry Day will happen on Thursday 1 October 2026. The theme this year is wonder.
What is National Poetry Day?
Aiming to inspire a love of poetry, this annual event provides a fantastic opportunity to explore and celebrate poetry. From engaging with familiar poems we love, to the creative fulfilment of crafting new works, we'll be providing inspiration and accessible activities for all ages to use in your school or setting.
Discover the Wonder in the Everyday
Just in time for National Poetry Day, this creative poetry activity invites pupils to explore the theme of wonder and local community. Through observation, reflection and writing, students will uncover the hidden significance of the places, people and moments that are often overlooked, developing their own unique voice as poets along the way.
To support and inspire your class, current laureates from the Young Poet Laureate Programme share their own responses to the activity, demonstrating how ordinary experiences can become extraordinary poems. You will also find videos of the Laureates performing their work (coming soon), helping pupils engage with poetry and build confidence as they embark on the task themselves.
Whether used as a classroom lesson, writing project or National Poetry Day activity, this resource encourages children to look at their communities with fresh eyes and celebrate the stories all around them.
To make it easy to tailor the experience to your learners, you can download the appropriate resources for your age group using the links at the bottom of this page. The activity has been adapted for a range of age groups, with dedicated resources available for:
- Early Years - the focus of this poetry activity should be encouraging children to explore their senses, develop their listening and observation skills.
- Ages 5 to 7 - the focus of this poetry activity should be developing their observation skills, building their vocabulary and beginning to understand what personification is.
- Ages 7 to 11 - the focus of this poetry activity should be developing pupils observation skills, building their vocabulary and using figurative language such as personification and imagery.
- Ages 11 to 14 - the focus of this poetry activity is on developing students' observational skills and supporting them to use those observations as a starting point for deeper reflection and poetic writing.
- Ages 14 to 16 - the focus of this poetry activity is exploring identity, belonging, community and social commentary through poetry and using poetic voice.
Children and young people's engagement with poetry research
Our research in to Children, young people and poetry in 2024 found that:
- Almost 1 in 2 (48.8%) 8 to 16-year-olds are currently engaging with poetry in some form – whether reading, writing, listening to or performing it – meaning that over half are missing out on the benefits.
- Children and young people who read, watch or listen to poetry identified significant benefits for their wellbeing, confidence, aptitude for learning and empathy.
- Interestingly, more children and young people who receive free school meals say they engage with poetry in their free time than their peers who do not receive free school meals, both in terms of consuming (32.6% vs 20.9%) and creating (18.3% vs 11.3%) poetry.
- There is a significant decline in interest among older children, with only 1 in 6 (17.3%) young people aged 14 to 16 engaging in their free time compared with 1 in 2 (48.7%) of those aged 8 to 11.
Explore all of our research into poetry.
More classroom poetry resources
Build on the inspiration of National Poetry Day to continue your class journey exploring students' responses to poems and to help them create and perform their own work.
Explore these additional resources and activities which are curriculum-linked and support the the development of skills and confidence in writing, storytelling, working together and performance.
Get involved with National Poetry Day
You can find more National Poetry Day resources, learn about events and celebrations taking place, and get involved by visiting the National Poetry Day website.