Write Dad a Basketball Message

What You Need:

• Pencil
• Paper
• Permanent marker
• New, clean basketball
• Dictionary or thesaurus (optional)

What You Do:

1. Your family can use the structure of a haiku for the Father's Day poem. A haiku is a Japanese poem of 3 lines that each have specific numbers of syllables: line 1 has 5, line 2 has 7, and line 3 has 5 syllables. The lines do not rhyme and will describe a moment; in this case, a moment shared between your child and her dad. Help her brainstorm a funny, serious, bonding, or other heartwarming moment, that she would like to use as inspiration for the haiku.
2. She can use pencil and paper to write out several drafts of the poem, testing out different ways to word the scenario. Proofread her poem for spelling mistakes and give her gentle suggestions for improvement, or ideas to spark her imagination.
3. Let her choose a final draft of her poem to write on the basketball. She'll use a permanent marker to write the final draft. Encourage her to write slowly and legibly so that she does not smear the letters.
4. Make this a family activity by inviting all of your family members to write a haiku to Dad. There's plenty of room on the basketball, for poems galore!

When gifting the basketball to Dad, make sure to read the poems aloud with him and bond over the shared memories. He's sure to get a good smile—and maybe even shed a tear—over his personalized haiku!