School Poem For Kids

Excuses For Not Going To School

The day I faked being sick. My mom knew I was faking.

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I thought it was such a good poem. It goes to show children will be children through the years. I had to laugh. It made me think of my own children and myself growing up, how miraculously...

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I'm Sick

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Published by Family Friend Poems May 2014 with permission of the Author.

"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann Makey.
"My glasses broke.
I think I'm going to choke.
My cat puked in my shoe,
Not to mention all the poo.
I have a hangnail on my thumb.
I hear my ear going numb.
I was up all night with a migraine;
I think there's a bug in my brain.
I keep getting a heat flash.
On my butt there's a rash.
My skin is cracked and dry.
I think there's something in my right eye.
I've got a massive leg cramp.
My ears hurt from my brother's amp.
All my hair is falling out.
All I want to do is pout.
All my clothes are too tight.
My head is filled with fright
I think I'm going to die!
Why me, oh why?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is Saturday?
G'Bye I'm going out to play!"


Based on Shel Silverstein's famous poem, "Sick."

"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more--that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut--my eyes are blue--
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke--
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is. . .Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

Poem of the Day for: 10/15/2017

Children seem to have an excuse for everything when they find something unpleasant. This poem was inspired by Shel Silverstein’s poem, “Sick,” where a child shares countless reasons why he is too sick to go to school. Has your child ever given you an outrageous excuse for something? 

Connect Over a Poem:

Ask your child to share the funniest excuses in the poem.

Fun Activities:

  • Have your child pick their favorite part of the poem and draw a picture of what it would look like to suffer from that particular ailment.
  • Invite them to write or dictate their own poem of far-fetched reasons a child can’t go to school. Maybe you have your own to suggest from when you were a child.

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Has this poem touched you? Share your story!
  • Dean WU by Dean WU
  • 4 years ago

Very funny poem. I like it a lot. My personal highlight would be the ending because it is actually Saturday, not a school day. -(plan backfired)- Keep it up! Great work! Awesome job!

I thought it was such a good poem. It goes to show children will be children through the years. I had to laugh. It made me think of my own children and myself growing up, how miraculously they can recover on a Saturday!

  • Norah by Norah
  • 9 years ago

This poem is one of the most hilarious ones I've ever heard! :)(:

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