DLTK's Educational Activities
Limerick Poetry

A limerick is a silly poem with five lines. They are often funny or nonsensical. All of the limericks on our site are family friendly (G-rated).

How to write a limerick:

The first, second and fifth lines rhyme with each other and have the same number of syllables (typically 8 or 9). The third and fourth lines rhyme with each other and have the same number of syllables (typically 5 or 6).

Limericks often start with the line "There once was a..." or "There was a..."

Example of an 8,8,5,5,8 syllable limerick:

There once was a clover named Kate,
Who sat on the edge of a plate,
The fancy folk dined,
On foods of all kind,
Then tossed her at quarter past eight.

History of the limerick:

Limericks were made famous by Edward Lear, a famous author who wrote the "Book of Nonsense" in the 1800's. This was an entire book of silly limericks.

Limericks aren't Irish (Edward Lear was English) -- but there is a Limerick county in Ireland and they are fun little poems for children to write -- so writing Saint Patrick's day limericks with the class is a fun and educational exercise for children to do. For young children, you can focus on the rhyming and ignore the syllable count.

You don't have to do a Saint Patrick's theme -- you can write limericks with any theme you like!