It’s easy to get caught up in the fun of summer and let learning slide. And that’s totally fine. But it’s important to keep learning in the mix to prevent summer slide. It’s important to keep summer reading fun!
Use these easy ideas for summer reading fun to stay sharp
Use these ideas and activities to help your children stay on top of learning this summer. They’re easy to do and mostly just require a book or a printer, and definitely your imagination!
- Keep track of your reading with a BINGO board from The Chirping Moms. It’s easy to use at all age levels and with virtually any book. You could make it a competition by giving out prizes for different BINGO patterns: vertical, diagonal, X, and blackout.
- Join the summer reading challenge at your local library! Most libraries offer incentives and prizes for tracking reading over the summer. The goals are usually super attainable and everything should be provided for free!
- Host a movie/book marathon for summer reading fun. Use the list of ideas from Inner Child Fun to build your book/movie list. Read the book with your child as a read aloud. Or you and your older child could both read the book independently. Then watch the movie together and talk about what’s the same or different.
Doing something out of the ordinary makes summer reading fun!
- Go on a reading scavenger hunt! At your local bookstore or library, encourage your child to “hunt down” books that match the descriptions on their card. Use the ones that Planning Playtime created or make your own. You can choose to either have your child just find the books or to check out/purchase titles to fully enjoy.
- Build a bookworm together as you read. Teachers use this idea all the time in their classrooms, and you can tweak and adapt it to suit your family. I love the way that Chicken Babies set hers up! Decide if you want to track total books read or minutes spent reading. As your children track their progress, set benchmarks and rewards. For example, 10 books read could earn an ice cream cone. 20 books read might get a trip to the bookstore! It’s 100% your call!
- Take a reading road-trip with books set nearby. I love the Who Was series to help find places, but any historical fiction, biography, or loosely-based-on-real-life book will work. As you read the book, pick out key locations in the story, then go visit! I’ve done this with Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and Little Men. Both are set in my home state of Massachusetts and you can still visit Alcott’s home in Concord!
Building games and art into your summer reading fun is exciting!
- Read a series of books and track your progress with a bookmark for summer reading fun. Over the Big Moon has super cute punchable bookmarks that work really well for this idea. Pick a series with a lot of books for avid early readers. I really like the Magic Tree House series or I Survived books. Both have lots of books and can be read, and enjoyed, by children across several reading levels.
- Read outside! Set up a sweet reading spot in your backyard. I love relaxing in a hammock or on a comfy blanket. Take your outdoor reading adventure on the road with a go-bag: picnic blanket, travel cup, beach chair, and a hat. No matter what, throw in some yummy snacks and a cool drink to sip.
- For little kids any reading is great! Go on word hunts as you drive around or read aloud together. Use sight word flash cards to help pick a few words to focus on each week. If you wanted to get really specific, I recommend using the Fry’s word lists for each grade.
- Create art about what you are reading over the summer. This could be literally anything. You could create a giant mural, adding a new element every time you finish a new book. Or make a new artwork, even a small doodle, everytime your child reads. Totally whatever works for you!
- Play reading games. Reading isn’t all books all the time. Reading is literally everything! Grab some board games to practice reading skills.
How do you make summer reading fun for your kids? Share your best tips!
~Meg
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