Constance Laibe Hays Children’s Room

The Constance Laibe Hays Children’s Room at Poets House offers opportunities for children to experience poetry, attend unique performances and participate in creating poetry, art, music and dance. Every object in the room is intended to promote thought and creative association. Children can also compose poetry or prose on old-fashioned manual typewriters (believe it or not, a huge favorite among the digital generation) or explore our wooden card catalogue filled with different objects and related poems to be used as writing prompts. In addition to poetry experiences for children age four to ten with acclaimed artists and poets, we offer Tiny Poets Time for toddlers. From the Bronx to Brownsville, thousands of children from more than 85 public schools have been introduced to poetry. Poets House serves more than 8,000 children annually.

The Children’s Room is a whimsical, light-filled space featuring:

• the best of children’s poetry books, from classic Lewis Carroll, A.A. Milne and Dr. Seuss books to contemporary volumes by Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein and Roald Dahl to poetry collections for children with selections by such greats as William Blake, Shakespeare, Carl Sandburg, Langston Hughes and more
• a canoe-shaped bookshelf
• brightly-painted vintage school desks
• programming that includes monthly free programs with acclaimed children’s book authors and illustrators
• free school tours by appointment

A special thanks goes to Con Edison for support of the Children's Room.

Children's Room Hours

Thursday–Saturday, 11:00am–5:00pm

Special Saturday Events, for ages four to ten, starting at 11:00am. Select Saturdays feature guest poets and illustrators or other special events; a schedule is below.

Tiny Poets Time, songs and poetry readings for toddlers, Thursdays starting at 10:00am.