Funny Limericks for Kids

Funny Limericks are five line poems with a strict format. The first, second and fifth lines rhyme, as do the third and fourth. Limericks are usually funny, or at least light, in tone. 

There was a young fella from Boca
who liked to play five-dollar poka.
He'd laugh and drink booze.
Did he win? No he'd lose.
And that's why this fella went broka.

by Denise Rodgers
Copyright©Denise Rodgers
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It's not that Boca really rhymes well with anything (except maybe "polka"). But it lends itself well to funny limerick wordplay -- if you're thinking with a "New Yawk" accent. Boca, or "Boca Raton," is in Florida.

There was an old geezer from Boca
who was an unstoppable smoka.
He'd light up all day.
Would he stop it? No way!
Till of course, he did finally croaka.

by Denise Rodgers
Copyright©Denise Rodgers
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Funny Limericks of Ghent

Okay, I've never been to Ghent. And I didn't even know where it was until I checked it out on Wikipedia. (It's in Belgium.) Click on Irish Limericks if you'd like to see an entire web page devoted to just that.

It doesn't much matter where the town is. What matters is that "Ghent" is such a lovely rhyming word for a funny limerick.

There was an old lady from Ghent
who slept on a bed of cement.
Her bed was well used
and her body well bruised,
and the back of her head had a dent.

by Denise Rodgers
Copyright©Denise Rodgers
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The second "Ghent" limerick was written purely with an eye (or ear) to the rhymes.

There once was a woman from Ghent
who never liked paying her rent.
"My paycheck's so small,
when I go to the mall,
I find all my money's been spent.

by Denise Rodgers
Copyright©Denise Rodgers
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Greater Flint Funny Limericks

Flint is in the central eastern part of Michigan's mitten (lower peninsula). Grand Blanc is a suburb of Flint. Here are two funny Flint-area limericks:

There once was a young man from Flint
who worked at the circus a stint.
He flew through the air
with hardly a care,
and that's why his body's all bint.

by Denise Rodgers
Copyright©Denise Rodgers
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There was a young man from Grand Blanc
who decided to act on a prank.
He pulled out a skunk
from the back of his trunk
and that's why he stunk and he stank.

by Denise Rodgers
Copyright©Denise Rodgers
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Funny Michigan Limerick

If you go to my Michigan Poetry page, you'll see that I've written an entire book of poetry about Michigan, called 
Great Lakes Rhythm & Rhyme. The following limerick is a new poem not included in that book.

There once was a fisher from Michigan
who said, "I must go back and fish again."
He cast out his line,
caught a fish every time.
And fish was his favorite dish again.

by Denise Rodgers
Copyright©Denise Rodgers
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Edward Lear's Classic Limerick

There was an old man with a beard.
who said, "It is just as I feared!
Two owls and a hen,
four larks and a wren,
have all built their nests in my beard.

by Edward Lear
art by Julie Martin

Of course, it is impossible to talk about limericks without mentioning Edward Lear. He wrote hundreds of them, published in his Book of Nonsense. He made this form popular back in 1845 -- and these poems are still popular to this day.