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3 Good Christmas Poems for Children
These seasonal favorites add sparkle to the holidays
Christmas has inspired more good poems than any other holiday. If your memories of your youthful favorites have grown hazy — or you’d like fresh ideas on what to read with children this season — here are a few of the most popular and where to find them online or elsewhere.
“A Visit From St. Nicholas” (“ ’Twas the Night Before Christmas”)
No poem has had more influence on children’s fantasies of Christmas than “A Visit From St. Nicholas,” first published in 1823 and generally attributed to Clement Clarke Moore. Even children too young to understand all the words are often captivated by its rousing anapestic meter, its “visions of sugarplums,” and its exciting plot, which ends with St. Nicholas wishing a “Happy Christmas” to all as he departs.
Read the full text at the Poetry Foundation, or listen to it on YouTube.
“Christmas Is Coming, The Goose Is Getting Fat”
Few American children today may know the tune that goes with the folk rhyme beginning: “Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat. / Please put a penny in the old man’s hat.” But the words stand on their own.
