Grandmother Poem. Metaphor and Figurative Language Poem for Kids.

Metaphor and Figurative Language Poem for Kids: Nan's Christmas Buffet

Nan’s Christmas Buffet

I love Nan’s Christmas buffet

she makes one every year

homemade joy and giggles dipped

in winter-wonder cheer

I love Nan’s Christmas buffet

those honey-glazed warm whiles

chunks of fun on cocktail sticks

her cranberry lipstick smiles

I loved Nan’s Christmas buffet

her fizzy winks of love

stilton veins and olive eyes

now twinkling up above

I loved Nan’s Christmas buffet

her deep-filled pies of cheer

a secret family recipe

now Mum makes every year

Mark Bird

There’s a special kind of magic that lives inside a Grandmother Poem, and Nan’s Christmas Buffet is exactly that sort of piece — cosy, familiar, and brimming with memory. When I wrote it, I wanted to bottle the feeling of walking into my nan’s house at Christmas, where the air was always a bit warmer, the laughter a bit louder, and every plate somehow overflowing with comfort. It’s funny how a buffet — something so ordinary — can become the anchor of a whole childhood. In many ways, this poem was my way of stepping back into those small, glowing moments.

What I enjoyed most in shaping the poem was leaning into imagery and symbolism, which makes it work beautifully as a metaphor and figurative language poem for kids. Lines like “cranberry lipstick smiles” or “honey-glazed warm whiles” aren’t just about food — they’re ways of showing affection, warmth, and connection without directly naming them. Children instinctively understand this sort of figurative language; they know that a “fizzy wink of love” isn’t something you can put on a plate, but something you feel. The metaphors open a door for young readers to explore emotion through playful, sensory language.

As the poem moves from present to past, it gently shifts into remembrance. That’s something a Grandmother Poem can do so powerfully — it celebrates while it mourns, holding joy and loss together in the same breath. The final stanza, where Mum continues Nan’s recipes, is really about how love doesn’t disappear; it just changes hands. When I share the poem in school settings, children often talk about the traditions in their own families, the foods that remind them of someone, or the tiny rituals that make holidays feel like home. And that, to me, is the real purpose of a good metaphor and figurative language poem for kids: helping them recognise the extraordinary hiding inside the everyday.