Spark your creativity with Poetry Games.

Poetry is an expressive art form and a fun way to play with language. It allows you to explore ideas and further your literary creativity. The discovery that creativity and non-creativity are learned was made by studying the differences in creative thinking between sets of twins. So, claiming that "I'm just not the creative type" is a pretty weak excuse for avoiding creative thinking. Below, I've compiled ten poetry games for individuals, groups, and classrooms that will challenge your creative muscles and bring fun to your writing practice. Have fun.

1. Exquisite Corpse

This classic collaborative game involves each player writing a line of poetry, folding the paper to hide their contribution, and passing it to the next player. Continue until the poem is complete!

2. Blackout Poetry

Grab a page from a magazine or newspaper and "black out" all the words you don't want to use, leaving only the chosen words to create a new poem.

3. Magnetic Poetry

Use magnetic words (or print your own) to craft poems by arranging them on a surface, like a fridge, and see what spontaneous ideas emerge.

4. Haiku Contest

Write a haiku (a 5-7-5 syllable poem) on a set theme and see who can creatively capture the topic's essence.

5. Acrostic Poetry

Choose a word and write a poem where the first letter of each line forms that word when read vertically.

6. Word Salad

Create a list of random words, then challenge yourself or others to write a poem incorporating all of them.

7. Poetry Slam

Host a performance poetry competition. Writers recite their poems aloud, and judges (or the audience) score based on content, style, and delivery.

8. Rhyming Chain

Start a poem with one rhyming couplet. Each person continues the poem by adding a rhyming line.

9. Found Poetry

Collect words and phrases from various sources—magazines, menus, signs—and rearrange them into an original poem.

10. Ekphrastic Poetry

Write a poem inspired by a piece of artwork. Each person can interpret the same image differently, leading to various responses. 

It's time to let your imagination run wild and have fun with words!

All of ellis wells Poetry is available on Amazon for Kindle.