Get into the Christmas spirit with the best Christmas poems to kids! Poetry is so often underrated, but it can be a very useful tool for aiding your child’s communication and language skills. Plus, Christmas poems can be really fun and educational!
Read on to discover the very best Christmas poems to read with your kids in the run up to Christmas this year. You can also explore our entire range of children’s Christmas books to really get the whole family in the Christmas spirit! Don’t listen to what anyone says – it’s never too early to get excited about Christmas!
Image: Great British Life
Easy Christmas Poems for Children
I’ve Been Waiting For Christmas
Author Unknown
I’ve been waiting for Christmas,
And it’s almost here.
I’ve been waiting for Christmas,
Santa’s getting near.
Can’t you hear the sleigh bells ringing?
Reindeer up so high.
Can’t you hear the children singing,
As they watch the sky?
I’ve Been Waiting For Christmas is one of the best short easy Christmas poems that’s perfect for getting your little one excited for Christmastime. The gentle rhythmic pattern will be easy for them to follow, especially from a young age!
Little Tree
By E.E. Cummings
little tree
little silent Christmas tree
you are so little
you are more like a flower
[…]
then when you’re quite dressed
you’ll stand in the window for everyone to see
and how they’ll stare!
oh but you’ll be very proud
Everyone wants to have the best dressed Christmas tree, so enjoy this poem all about the wonders of the Christmas tree tradition. Little Tree is a classic Christmas poem that your child is bound to love, as it will get them excited for Christmas tree decorating this year!
Christmas
By M.E. Miro
Christmas is more than a day in December
It’s all of those things that we love to remember
It’s carolers singing familiar refrains
Bright colored stockings and shiny toy trains
Streamers of tinsel and glass satin balls
Laughter that rings through the house and its halls
Christmas is more than a day in December
It’s the magic and the love
That we’ll always remember
This heartwarming poem is another easy one for kids to follow, as it is short and sweet but still teaches them the true meaning of Christmas. Yes, we all look forward to Christmas Day, but we can all relish in the Christmas spirit year round. As Miro says, ‘Christmas is more than a day in December’!
Funny Christmas Poems for Kids
How The Grinch Stole Christmas
By Dr. Seuss
“And they’re hanging their stockings,” he snarled with a sneer.
“Tomorrow is Christmas! It’s practically here!”
Then he growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming,
“I must find some way to keep Christmas from coming!
[…]
He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.
Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!
Who doesn’t love the Grinch? Try as he might, he cannot ruin Christmas for the Whos down in Whoville. This hilarious poem is perfect for kids, as they can learn alongside the Grinch what the real meaning of Christmas is!
Snowball
By Shel Silverstein
I made myself a snowball
As perfect as could be,
I thought I’d keep it as a pet,
And let it sleep with me.
I made it some pajamas,
And a pillow for its head,
Then last night it ran away,
But first—it wet the bed!
Snowball is one of the best Christmas poems for children out there, as it caters to their funny sense of humour! Everyone dreams of a white Christmas and this poem is great at capturing how much kids love snow and always wish for a snow day.
Twas the Night Before Christmas
By Clement Clarke Moore
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
[…]
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!
“Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!”
[…]
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”
The most famous Christmas poem of all! Originally named ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’, Clement Clarke Moore’s Twas the Night Before Christmas is easily the most well-loved Christmas poem out there. Kids will absolutely adore this poem, with it’s fun imagery and rhyming scheme keeping them engaged at every turn.
In The Book’s version of Twas the Night Before Christmas!
Religious Christmas Poems for Kids
On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity
By John Milton
This is the month, and this the happy morn,
Wherein the Son of Heav’n’s eternal King,
Of wedded Maid, and Virgin Mother born,
Our great redemption from above did bring;
For so the holy sages once did sing,
That he our deadly forfeit should release,
And with his Father work us a perpetual peace.
John Milton’s On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity is a wonderful religious Christmas poem, as it is all about the morning of Christ’s birth. Written in 1629, it is the quintessential traditional poem, as it describes Christ’s Incarnation and connects it with Christ’s Crucifixion.
The Three Kings
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Three Kings came riding from far away,
Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar;
Three Wise Men out of the East were they,
And they travelled by night and they slept by day,
For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star.
Teach your child about the Three Kings who are said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem The Three Kings. They are regular figures in many retellings of the nativity, so this poem is the perfect way to teach them about their role in Christian tradition.
And there are plenty more Christmas poems out there, all primed and ready to get you feeling festive and ready for the holiday season! Whether you read them together each night in December, or perhaps as bedtime reading after coming back from seeing the Christmas lights get turned on. Whatever you’re doing, there’s always time for a quick festive poem to spur on some Christmas excitement!