One of the artistic devices that has a tangible presence in children’s poetry is symbolism. As an aesthetic device, symbolism stimulates reflection in children’s minds and reveals layers of meaning beyond the literal meaning of words. In this context, some symbols in children’s poetry arise through animism and the personification of natural elements and objects, thereby highlighting the power of children’s imagination. The present study aims to investigate the role of animistic symbols in the poetry of Abbas Yamini Sharif, Mostafa Rahmandoust, and Afsaneh Shabannejad, while also examining the rhetorical aspects present in these poems. This article explores the factors contributing to the formation and function of animistic symbols in children’s poetry, including symbols that represent elements of nature, plants, animals, natural phenomena, and objects as living entities. The research employs a descriptive-analytical approach. To this end, selected poems by the three poets were examined, animistic symbols were identified and categorized, and their symbolic and rhetorical functions were subsequently analyzed based on the theoretical foundations of the study. The findings indicate that, compared with other categories, plants and animals constitute the most prominent category of animistic symbols and carry the greatest semantic significance in the poetry of the three poets. Natural phenomena and elements rank second in terms of the poets’ attention, while the personification of objects ranks third and plays the smallest semantic role in the three poets’ works. Overall, this study provides an opportunity for readers to gain a deeper understanding of the role of animistic symbols and to reflect more closely on rhetorical devices in poetic language, such as simile, metaphor, antithesis, and other related devices.