Contests

New Poetry Contest: Holiday Tradition

There’s such a cheerful hustle and bustle this time of year as we gather with family and friends to enjoy holiday feasts and give thanks for all our blessings. To help celebrate the season, everybuggy would love to read your best poem inspired by a holiday tradition you remember and enjoy.

Will you write about singing Christmas carols with your family, or lighting candles for Hannukah, Kwanza, or Diwali? Maybe your poem will be about helping to prepare the Thanksgiving meal, or traveling over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house. You might write about a holiday parade, or performing in a school pageant, or walking down your street when it is all lit up with holiday decorations. Perhaps your poem will be about all the things you are thankful for, or about helping those less fortunate enjoy the holidays by dropping a coin in a charity collection box or working on a clothing drive. You might even imagine celebrating a holiday in past times, like along the Oregon Trail.

Whatever you decide, everybuggy will be stringing the Cricket Country mailbox with holiday lights, and wishing peace on earth to Ugly Bird, as they await the gift of your best poem—of 24 lines or fewer, please—inspired by a holiday tradition.

  • (Show Rules)
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    1. Your contest entry must be your very own original work. Ideas and words should not be copied.

    2. Your entry must be signed by your parent or guardian, stating that it is your own work, that no help was given, and that Cricket has permission to publish it in the magazine and on our website. 

    3. Be sure to include your name, age, and full address on your entry.

    4. Only one entry per person, please.

    5. If you want your work returned, enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for each entry.

    6. Your entry must be received by November 30, 2023.

    7. Send entries to Cricket League, P.O. Box 300, Peru, IL 61354. (No faxes or email submissions, please!)

    8. We will publish winning entries in the March 2024 issue and on the Cricket website.