When students see poetry as a boring unit that’s all about love and feelings, it’s time to shake it up. Poets have always had a sense of humor, and students who appreciate sarcasm, wit, and outright jokes will love these funny poems. Put a few of these poems on the whiteboard or in their poetry packet and they’ll never look at poetry the same way again.
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Our Favorite Funny Poems for Everyone
1. The Crocodile by Lewis Carroll
“How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail …”
Themes: Deception, humor, animals
Literary devices: Anthropomorphism, rhyme
This funny poem attributes human characteristics (“grin,” “welcomes little fishes in”) to a crocodile. Younger students can imagine the sneaky crocodile, while older students can discuss whether this poem was written for adults or children and why.
2. How Not To Have To Dry the Dishes by Shel Silverstein
Themes: Mischief, humor, chores
Literary devices: Punctuation, repetition
Shel Silverstein is the master of funny poems for kids. Use this poem as a mentor text when students write their own funny poems. Silverstein uses rhyme and punctuation to set the scene and set up the punchline at the end.
3. Be Glad Your Nose Is On Your Face by Jack Prelutsky
“Be glad your nose is on your face,
not pasted on some other place …”
Themes: Gratitude, contentment, humor, imagination
Literary devices: Contrast, rhyme
A poem is a perfect place to imagine something ridiculous, like Prelutsky does in this poem. Students will giggle at all the ways Prelutsky expands on his premise that your nose could, in fact, have been placed somewhere else.
4. Don’t Go Into the Library by Alberto Rios
“The library is dangerous—
Don’t go in. If you do …”
Themes: Imagination, libraries, reading
Literary devices: Symbolism, enjambment, metaphor
This poem has a matter-of-fact style, so it’s a good one to show students who are learning how to analyze how authors insert their ideas into poems, and how they use poems to build to a final punch. This poem is also a great one to introduce students to the idea of enjambment, or when sentences continue across multiple lines, and extended metaphor—the library is not just a building but an entry point for imagination.
5. Sick by Shel Silverstein
“‘I cannot go to school today,’”
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.”
Themes: Humor, motivation
Literary devices: Rhyme, hyperbole
Every elementary schooler should read this funny poem at least once. It’s a master class in drama that ends with a joke that lets all the air out of the balloon at once.
6. My Kitten Is a Ninja by Kenn Nesbitt
“My kitten is a ninja.
He wears a black disguise.”
Themes: Humor, pets
Literary devices: Rhyme, imagery, symbolism
Another silly scenario poem. Use this poem when you’re teaching students how to analyze structure and rhyme.
7. My Next Door Neighbor Is a Witch by Samiya Vallee
“My next door neighbor is a witch,
And she lives way down in a ditch.”
Themes: Humor, absurdity, the grotesque
Literary devices: Rhyme, imagery
The humor in this poem is in the details that the poet includes, like the “big fat wart” and “seventeen pimples on her toes.” Read it aloud and talk about the details that make this poem silly.
8. The Boy Who Didn’t Like Ice Cream by Rebecca Syx
“A boy who didn’t like ice cream?
That almost seems like a crime!”
Themes: Food, humor
Literary devices: Rhyme, conversation, narrative
This poem is easy to read with a hysterical tone—a boy who doesn’t like ice cream! Students can practice reading it aloud to try to get the most humor out of each stanza.
9. Sweet Treat Dream by Gillian M. Ward
“If the world were made of chocolate
I know what I would do.”
Themes: Humor, food
Literary devices: Rhyme, repetition
Technically, this poem is a good example of how a poet uses a repeated word or phrase to drive their point home. It’s also a fun example of how to use poetry to imagine a silly scenario from every angle.
10. Don’t Be Silly by Dave Moran
Themes: Humor, questioning, absurdity
Literary devices: Rhyme, repetition, epistrophe
How often have students been told to be serious or stop being silly? This poem invites them to be even more silly. Read it and then imagine your own stanza. What silly scenes can you build into one stanza?
11. Tom Tigercat by J. Patrick Lewis
“Tom Tigercat is noted
for his manners and his wit.”
Themes: Playfulness, independence
Literary devices: Personification, rhyme
When you get to the last line in this poem, it’s a double joke. There’s the literal joke and what happens when you read “ocelot” aloud. Start to talk about the oral nature of poetry and what happens when we hear versus see a poem, and how that impacts humor.
12. Herbert Hillbert Hubert Snod by Denise Rodgers
“Herbert Hillbert Hubert Snod
was known for eating all things odd.”
Themes: Humor, nonsense, food
Literary devices: Humor, alliteration, rhyme
Alliteration and rhyme make this funny poem come to life. Students can talk about how humor can turn a disgusting situation into a funny one.
13. The Silliest Teacher in School by Darren Sardelli
“Our teacher gave detention
to the fountains in the hall.”
Themes: School, humor, poor eyesight
Literary devices: Rhyme scheme, narrative
This poem, about a teacher who makes mistakes until the principal points out her biggest mistake, is a good one to read with students who are learning how to follow poems that tell stories. In this case, you have to read to the end to fully get the joke.
14. Boa Constrictor by Shel Silverstein
“I’m being eaten by a boa constrictor,
And I don’t like it one bit.”
Themes: Humor
Literary devices: Rhyme, imagery
This poem, which can also be sung, is funny both because of the ending and because of the way it rhymes up until the Ummmph!
15. About the Teeth of Sharks by John Ciardi
Themes: Humor, animals
Literary devices: Rhyme, rhetorical questions
Similar to Silverstein’s “Boa Constrictor,” the humor in this poem happens when students put themselves in the shoes of the poet, who ends up being eaten in the end.
16. The Nest by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
“Have you heard
about the bird
Who built a nest
with zeal and zest?”
Themes: Competition, wildlife
Literary devices: Rhyme
Any student who has younger siblings can likely relate to this poem. It’s also a good one to use to talk about word choice and how word repetition contributes to a poem’s meaning.
17. Math Blues by Cindi Rockwell
“They try to give math a happier spin
‘How many times can this number go in?’”
Themes: School, math, humor
Literary devices: Rhyme, punctuation
Who says you can’t use math in poetry? This poem is a fun one to use when students express frustration with math. Can they create their own math blues poem?
18. Homework by Mariam Traore
“Homework, o homework
All kids say it stinks …”
Themes: Homework, school, humor
Literary devices: Rhyme
The ending question, “don’t you?” throws the rest of the poem into question. It’s a great example of how a poem can set up a premise and then bring it all into question with a twist ending.
19. My Doggy Ate My Essay by Darren Sardelli
“My doggy ate my essay.
He picked up all my mail.”
Themes: Homework, absurdity, pets
Literary devices: Rhyme, personification
Another poem about homework that has a twist ending. Read this one and talk about how poets can create short stories one line at a time.
20. The Parakeets by Alberto Blanco
Themes: Pets, humor
Literary devices: Punctuation, repetition, personification
How are the parakeets like your students? The more talkative a class you have, the more funny this poem will be. A great opportunity to talk about how poetry can connect with real life.
21. Mother Doesn’t Want a Dog by Judith Viorst
“Mother doesn’t want a dog.
Mother says they smell …”
Themes: Humor, pets
Literary devices: Rhyme, anaphora
This poem is fun to read aloud, as it has a clear rhyming structure. It’s also a good example of how poets structure funny poems to throw out a punchline in the last stanza.
22. My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson
“I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me …”
Themes: Imagination, shadows
Literary devices: Rhyme, personification
You have to read the entire poem to see the humor in a shadow personified as busy until it’s time to get out of bed. This poem is also good to teach vocabulary, with words like “notion,” “proper,” and “coward.”
23. Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne
“When I was one
I had just begun”
Themes: Growing up, ages
Literary devices: Progression, rhyme, repetition
This sweet ode to childhood was written by the creator of Winnie the Pooh. Students can think about what Milne is saying about childhood, and how he uses structure to create a poem that sounds like it was written by a 6-year-old.
24. Help Wanted by Timothy Tocher
“Santa needs new reindeer.
The first bunch has grown old.”
Themes: Humor, holidays, Santa Claus and his reindeer
Literary devices: Allusion, rhyme
A great poem to read during the holidays, Tocher imagines what might happen if Santa needed to recruit more reindeer. In terms of teaching, talk about the background knowledge students bring to the poem that makes it funny.
25. Summer Camp Souvenirs by Richard Thomas
“When I got home from camp today
My parents almost died.”
Themes: Camp, humor
Literary devices: Rhyme, hyperbole
The dismissive, ambivalent tone of this poem is what makes it funny. Talk about how the poet uses phrases like “The poison ivy’s not too bad” and “And all these bruises, scabs, and cuts? I haven’t got a clue” to make the poem more silly than serious.
26. Adventures of Isabel by Ogden Nash
“Isabel met an enormous bear
Isabel, Isabel, didn’t care”
Themes: Humor, bravery
Literary devices: Repetition, rhyme, juxtaposition, personification
“Adventures of Isabel” reads like a fairy tale in poem form. Analyze how the poet creates absurd scenes using familiar fairy tale characters.
27. Sarah Cynthia Silvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out by Shel Silverstein
“She’d scour the pots and scrape the pans,
Candy the yams and spice the hams …”
Themes: Humor, responsibility, chores
Literary devices: Alliteration, hyperbole, imagery
Another classic Silverstein funny poem, this one is about a girl who refuses to take the garbage out until it reaches the ceiling and takes over the floor. It’s the imagery and absurdity of the situation, as well as the rhymes, that makes this poem giggle-worthy.
28. The Dentist and the Crocodile by Roald Dahl
“The crocodile, with cunning smile, sat in the dentist’s chair.”
Themes: Absurdity, humor
Literary devices: Narrative, rhyme, personification
Did students know that Roald Dahl wrote poetry too? His poem “The Dentist and the Crocodile” has all the humor of Dahl’s novels, with an exchange between a dentist and a crocodile who have very different goals.
29. Daddy Fell Into the Pond by Alfred Noyes
Themes: Absurdity
Literary devices: Contrast, repetition
This poem shows how a dismal day can be turned around by one funny event. Talk about juxtaposition and how the poet sets up two contrasting situations to create the humor.
30. The Vulture by Hilaire Belloc
“The Vulture eats between his meals
And that’s the reason why …”
Themes: Animals, absurdity
Literary devices: Rhyme, personification
This classic poem uses humor to get to the moral of not eating between meals. Use it to discuss the best way to “teach” kids through literature.
31. How To Paint a Wall by Joanna Fuchs
“While I went off to work one day,
She decided to paint the wall”
Themes: Humor, absurdity
Literary devices: Narrative, rhyme
Language and the nuances of language are at the heart of funny poems. This is a great example of that, when someone decides to paint a wall and “puts on two coats.”
32. Working From Home by Phil J. Johnson
Themes: Humor
Literary devices: Repetition, rhyme
Students can analyze the structure of this poem—a list with a common ending line. And they can create their own poems about the challenges of doing homework or logging into online classes on a snow day.
33. Our Imperfect Dog by Cynthia Naspinski
“We love our dog with all our hearts,
But not so much her stinky farts.”
Themes: Pets, humor
Literary devices: Hyperbole, rhyme
This poem is more complicated than the title lets on. Use it to analyze, line by line, what the poet is telling us about her dog that “wages war with the lawnmower” and “to baths she has a strong aversion.” The humor comes in the dog’s antics and the question: Will the family still love her?
34. Pizza the Size of the Sun by Jack Prelutsky
“I’m making a pizza the size of the sun
a pizza that’s sure to weigh more than a ton”
Themes: Absurdity, food
Literary devices: Hyperbole, rhyme, simile
In “Pizza the Size of the Sun,” Prelutsky imagines what it would take to make a pizza with mountains of cheese that would take a year and a half to bake. The pizza lovers in your class will have fun imagining what it would be like to dig in this enormous pie.
35. The People Upstairs by Ogden Nash
Themes: Humor, noisy neighbors
Literary devices: Contrast, rhyme, symbolism, hyperbole
Read this poem and talk about the vocabulary (“abate,” “conducted”) and imagine what experiences the poet had to inspire this poem.
36. Messy Room by Shel Silverstein
“Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.”
Themes: Chores, humor
Literary devices: Contrast, rhyme
This poem by Shel Silverstein uses the classic technique of building a scene and then turning it back onto the reader. Whose room is this? Oh, it’s mine!
37. Yes, I’ll Marry You, My Dear by Pam Ayres
“Yes, I’ll marry you, my dear and here’s the reason why;
So I can push you out of bed when the baby starts to cry …”
Themes: Humor, relationships
Literary devices: Rhyme
Older students can see the humor in this poem about the dual roles in a relationship, and the sometimes unequal tasks in a marriage. Note: This poem is written for an older audience.
38. Granny by Spike Milligan
Themes: Humor, wind
Literary devices: Imagery, rhyme
Use this poem to talk about how poets use repetition to build a stanza line by line. You can also talk about the silly images that the poet creates in this poem about a windy day and granny.
39. Eating Habits by Alan Balter
“Tomato sauce I’m at a loss
I simply don’t know why …”
Themes: Food, humor
Literary devices: Imagery, rhyme
This poem is about how clothing never stands a chance against food, from tomato sauce to cheese. It’s a great read, especially if you have a class that can relate to the feeling of always having stains that seem to appear after lunch.
40. Monosyllabics by Laura Richards
“The black cat sat
In the fat man’s hat …”
Themes: Animals
Literary devices: Rhyme
This poem is an easier read than its title suggests. It’s written with words with one syllable, which means that it’s a good one to use with younger students who can decode most of the words to build comprehension as they read.
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If you liked these poems, check out our must-share poems for elementary school students.
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