National Poetry Day is a nationwide celebration of poetry usually held on the first Thursday in October. This year's National Poetry Day takes place on Thursday 2 October 2025 and the theme is 'Play'. In Scotland the Scottish Poetry Library has a bank of National Poetry Day materials which schools may find useful.
Schools entering our multilingual Mother Tongue Other Tongue (MTOT) poetry competition may wish to utilise the NPD resources for inspiration. Even if your school chooses not to take part in MTOT, you can still inspire your students to celebrate National Poetry Day and get creative. We've sourced some resources and links to websites below to help you get started.
On National Poetry Day 2025 Scots Makar, Peter Mackay, launches the 2025-26 Mother Tongue Other Tongue multilingual poetry competition in Scotland!
And here's our French poem on the 2025 National Poetry Day theme, Play.
Characteristics of poetic forms and devices with examples.
The following are general poetry resources produced by SCILT and are suitable for use across all languages.
Tongue idioms
A Chinese portrait
Acrostics
Adjective poems
Analysis grid for poetry
Cinquain graphic organiser
Diamante poems
Metaphors (there are also French and Spanish versions of this lesson plan within the relevant tabs)
Poetry techniques, forms and features (TES) - introduction to poetic forms, techniques and poetry types (acrostic, haiku, cinquain and tanka) 2015. Register for free to download.
Poetic devices (TES) - two PowerPoints to introduce basic poetic devices to senior phase learners (2018). Register for free to download.
Poetry in Language Learning - Primary Languages Network blog includes several classroom activities (and has links to some French and Spanish poems)
The following resources are not specific to languages but may be used as an introduction to poetry writing:
Poetry teaching resources (BBC) - a BBC Teach collection collection of teaching resources for primary and secondary schools, for bringing poetry to life in the classroom.
Introducing and exploring poetry (Scottish Book Trust) - classroom resource with activities to help introduce poetry to P4-P7 pupils.
Inspire with poetry! (Teacher Reboot Camp) - 20+ ideas and resources to inspire poetry writing.
Super summary - Poetry writing and analysis guide - the guide is aimed at helping teachers to teach poetry and includes a section with tips for writing poetry.
Reluctant writers: 10 top tips to help primary pupils write poetry - a Guardian Teacher Network article where children’s poet Kate Williams shares her techniques for helping young students discover their inner Wordsworth.
National Poetry Day website
Scottish Poetry Library
TES (National Poetry Day) / TES (World Poetry Day) - some resources may incur a small charge and registration required to download.
The Poetry Society
Biopoème (Jenny Kay Dupuis) - example of a biographical poem in French.
Les metaphores - there are also Spanish and English (generic) versions of this lesson plan in the relevant sections.
French poems for children - website containing famous French poems taught to children along with their translations.
La nuit - Primary Language Learning activity unpacking and exploring a challenging poem for advanced primary/early secondary learners.
People pillar portrait poem - poetry activity for primary language learners. Although the example given is in French, the activity can be adapted to any language.
Tongue twisters - French tongue twisters. Useful for creating rhymes and pronunciation practice.
Listen and sing a collection of traditional Gaelic songs with audio and transcripts on the Gaelic 4 Parents website.
Goldene Welt - this autumn themed poetry resource was adapted from the Goethe Institut’s “Four Seasons“ project.
Ein Wintergedicht - a German winter poem and resource adapted from rosered27's contribution to TES connect (July 2014).
Poetry slam - integrate poetry slam into German lessons. Video tutorials on the process of creating slam poetry step-by-step with hands-on exercises from Goethe-Insitut.
Urlaubsfahrt - German poem activity.
Elvisrunner MFL 'Sparkle in my mind' - a step by step lesson about writing love poems in German.
Dr Wha - poem in Scots along with learning resources. Written and spoken versions available.
Kidspoem / Bairnsang - poem by Liz Lochhead, written in Scots and English, adapted by SCILT. (See also poems about bilingualism).
This resource developed by SCILT combines a number of creative writing techniques to encourage a sensory approach to writing poetry. It takes as its inspiration the accessible bilingual poem “Colours Crackle, Colours Roar” by Pat Mora.
Colours lesson plan
Building blocks for Colour charts
Senses
Glossary and evaluation
What does red sound like?
This simple authentic Spanish rhyme can be used to explore language learning skills:
Tengo dos manitas (clip on Primary Language Learning Today blog, Sept 2014)
The following lesson plan has been developed by SCILT and explores the subject of metaphors:
Las metaforas you can also find French and English (generic) versions of this resource in the appropriate sections.
Poesía - a collection of Spanish poems for beginner learners with links to resources on poetry for primary learners.
Spanish poems for kids - the Spanish Playground website contains many short, easy poems about seasons, animals and the natural world. Activities included.
Little Red Languages Spanish poems - four short Spanish poems narrated by a native speaker. Resources with printable poems and audio.
Poetry Soup Urdu poems - website contains famous Urdu poets with biographies, poems and some excellent resources on writing poems.
Scottish Poetry Library - contains poems in a range of different languages (input chosen language into the search box).
Kidspoem / Bairnsang - poem by Liz Lochhead, adapted by SCILT. The poem is described by Liz Lochhead as bilingual, written in Scots and English. See a video clip of Liz Lochhead performing her poem which focuses on the issue of how power and language are intimately intertwined, and how liberation can be facilitated by giving people a voice using their own words and ways of speaking.
Search for My Tongue (BBC Video) - Sujata Bhatt's poem read by different actors.
Notes on Search for My Tongue (Poem Analysis) - summary and analysis of the powerful poem by Sujata Bhatt about identity.