Many children associate reading with academics—and work—more than than fun. But reading for pleasure tin can turn into a lifelong habit that builds vocabulary and disquisitional thinking skills forth the way. Parent groups can play a key role in getting kids excited about reading considering they can support programs outside of their schools' bookish plans or budgets. Here are 12 ideas for activities that volition get kids buzzing well-nigh books.

Book-Theme Events

Bring parents and kids together for an evening of reading-related fun. A Wintertime'south Tale, Mystery Dark, Nether the Stars, and Treasure Hunt Night are just a few of many possible themes. Invite families to cozy up in their pajamas with hot chocolate or popcorn while teachers read wintertime-theme books aloud at dissimilar stations. Transform your school cafeteria, gym, or library into a "campground" and enquire families to bring sleeping bags. Or read mystery books and solve a special mystery by decoding hush-hush messages at a series of stations using invisible ink, words cut out of newspapers, and backward messages that require mirrors. For an event with a treasure hunt theme, focus the read-aloud on a favorite book and then have students hunt for hidden clues that atomic number 82 them to book-related treasure.

Hold a springtime reading event outside when the days are warmer, and ask parents to loan tents for stations with unlike book themes. Consider spotlighting authors who are on summer reading lists to promote reading during summer months. Be sure to download PTO Today'southward free Family Reading Dark planning kit for boosted themes, footstep-by-stride guidelines, a flyer, snack ideas, and more than for your event.

Musical Books

Musical books is musical chairs with a book as a prize. Inquire parents to donate gently used books or enlist businesses to assistance with donations, and crank the music for a fun game (or 20!) where every child wins. (Enlist a sharp-eyed emcee who tin assist make sure of it.) Have volunteers donate snacks and beverages, and make the event gratis then it's accessible to all families.

Volume Bingo

At that place are a few means to hold a book bingo event. 1 is to hold a typical bingo night with donated books as prizes. Another is to provide kids with a bingo card with reading challenges—for example, "Read to a stuffed animal or a existent one" or "Tell a joke yous read in a joke volume." Offering a small prize or no-cost incentive (lunch with the primary) for participants who come across enough reading goals on the carte du jour. You can notice examples of book bingo cards on Pinterest, or download our bingo template to fill in with your own reading challenges.

Volume Swap or Drive

To promote reading for fun during spare time, organize a book bandy just before winter intermission or before schoolhouse lets out for summer. Take kids bring in gently used books to swap for others. As an alternative, y'all can back up literacy by organizing a book drive for another school or for children y'all know are short on books.

Author Visit

Inviting a children'due south book author can be the result of the twelvemonth to get kids excited most reading. To narrow your search, commencement effigy out what you lot want out of a visit. For example, will you lot include a writing workshop in a modest-group setting, or would you lot rather stick to an all-school assembly? Consider asking teachers for input on new authors kids are excited well-nigh, and find out whether neighboring schools would similar to team upwardly to cut costs.

Don't forget to cheque with your local bookstore in case it's already hosting a children'due south writer, another good way to cut down on writer travel fees. Or perhaps you have a children'due south writer in your own surface area. Author schedules volume up quickly, so you'll want to go to work equally early as possible. A few practiced places to search for writer contact data include an author'south personal website, a publisher'south website, and the websites of the Gild of Children'due south Book Writers and Illustrators and the Children'south Book Quango.

School Reading Challenge

One PTO challenged students to read for 1 one thousand thousand minutes collectively, a yearlong project that students were proud of when they reached their goal. To keep kids enthused, exist prepared to get creative with evening reading events, school "read-ins," and special guest readers throughout the year. It'southward also helpful to enlist volunteers to read with kids at school then they can earn their minutes. Provide an irresistible advantage as an end-of-challenge incentive: Create a Million Minute Mystery Box to sit in a visible place where students come across it every twenty-four hour period, or hold a celebratory associates with a goofy result such as the principal getting dunked in a tank or dyeing her pilus pink. If a yearlong issue feels daunting, try a scaled-downwardly challenge during fall or spring.

Book Fair

Schools do raise money through book fairs, merely most result coordinators and booksellers agree that the master goal is improving literacy skills, non fundraising. For a successful fair, call for lots of volunteers and organize a new theme each year.

Book Fair Flyer

Readathon

Concord a readathon equally an independent fundraiser or coordinate it with the book fair to get kids fired up almost reading and raising coin for their schoolhouse at the same time. Promote the readathon schoolwide, make sure the reading packets for tracking minutes and pledges are well-organized for families, and schedule school read-ins to build in fourth dimension for all students to earn those pledges.

Book Club

Discussing books with other interested readers takes reading to a deeper level. The key is to define the purpose of the volume society and the ages information technology accommodates. Will kids all read the aforementioned book? Will they break into age groups and read together in smaller groups? Will it be held during school hours or afterward? Allowing students to determine what they want to read gives them ownership of the process. Determining your goals first will help you create a successful club from the start.

Reading Software

Talk to the chief about subscribing to reading software to help teachers. Reading software provides 1-on-ane lessons to support private reading levels and progress. For example, Reading Eggs is geared for kids ages iii to thirteen and may be especially benign for struggling or reluctant readers. Accelerated Reader enables students to choose their own books with guidance from a teacher or a librarian and then take a computerized quiz later completion. The quizzes help teachers guide kids toward appropriate reading levels.

Read Beyond America Effect

In celebration of the beloved Dr. Seuss' birthday, Read Beyond America Day is held each year on March 2. To plan your ain Seussational celebration, bank check out the Read Beyond America board on PTO Today's Pinterest page for Dr. Seuss-theme costumes, photo booths, bulletin boards, writing prompts, and snacks. Read Across America is a reading awareness and motivation program created by the National Education Clan to celebrate reading. The NEA website also offers all kinds of suggestions for making the day extra fun.

Little Free Library

Set up a free Fiddling Free Library exterior the school and invite students to take a book and exit a book. In our PTO and PTA Leaders Facebook group, leaders whose schools have set a Little Free Library say information technology's important to think well-nigh it differently than a regular library. The goals are to encourage reading and to provide interesting reading material to students. Expect that students will forget to return books or donate a volume for others to relish. When supplies run depression, yous may be able to restock the library by request families to donate books their children have outgrown, or by asking teachers to requite erstwhile books from their classroom libraries.

Originally posted in 2016 and updated regularly.