Summer Enhancement #1: Read-a-Thon
I remember my childhood summer days were almost always a combination of LOTS of TV watching and swimming. Sound familiar? School is tough and exhausting, so I definitely want my kids to have this summer time to emotionally decompress and recharge so they will be ready to return in the Fall. One of my biggest concerns during the summer is that my kids will forget critical things they’ve learned during the school year while they veg-out all summer. My solution: a few staggered activities throughout the summer that stimulate their brains in fun, engaging ways. The first activity for us this summer was a family-wide READ-A-THON.
As with any activity that I want my kids to be excited about, I told them in advance so I could build up a little hype and get them excited about it. For our READ-A-THON, I gave them a week’s notice. On Monday, I gave each boy a READ-A-THON goal sheet. I have four boys ages 8, 8, 7, and 4 (my baby girl is not yet 2, so she really didn’t know what was going on).Each boy is at a different reading level and has very different interests and tastes. This goal sheet gave them a chance to think about what they wanted to read on Friday and what sort of a goal they wanted to set for themselves (NOTE: I love to give my kids opportunities to set attainable goals for themselves. It is so great to watch them working towards a goal and to see their confidence grow when they achieve their goals.).
if you look closely, you can see the raided book shelf behind him!
During the week we talked about how they could set up sleeping bags ANYWHERE they wanted in the house and let them voice their opinions for the types of snacks we would make. All week they kept saying things like, “I can’t wait for our Read-a-Thon” or “I can’t believe it’s almost Friday!”. This was good for my soul. Visions of book-reading boys danced in my head.
On Friday, I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies while the boys set up their sleeping bags in their chosen locations. I knew that even though they’d thought about it for days, they would change their minds once the day arrived, so I made sure they had plenty of time to “set up.” My 4-year-old made a fort in the playroom, but the older boys all stuck with their sleeping bags (I didn’t really give them the fort option, but since only the youngest boy even tried to do it, I didn’t shut him down. If everyone had wanted to build a fort, I don’t think I would have been OK with that unless they had built their individual forts the day before…). We popped a little popcorn (P.S. have you ever used an air popper? It’s my favorite way to pop popcorn–my kids think it’s magical to watch!) and I put popcorn in individual cups while the cookies were baking. I set out the cookies on a plate and told them that for today only they could eat these at their sleeping bags and they could eat more without asking (I didn’t bake the whole batch for just that reason). I also set out more freshly popped popcorn and told them they could refill their cups anytime they wanted to. They were excited! The house was quiet and the boys read for about 2 straight hours! I helped my 7 year-old finish a Magic Tree House book, but my twins both read very well independently.
And then we had an unexpected visitor. All reading stamina was lost. Book piles were abandoned and little specks of popcorn dotted empty sleeping bags. The magic spell had been broken. Fortunately we had already gotten quite a bit of reading time in and I felt very satisfied with our little success. Next year I will definitely try to do this again, but I think I will plan a few games for us to play to keep everyone engaged and excited to keep going. If you are thinking of throwing a Read-a-Thon in your home this summer and you want to try to incorporate some games, here are some of my ideas. If you try any, please let me know how they go so we can all know for next year!
Game ideas:
- Game idea #1: Announce to everyone that we are looking for a particular word (you can choose if you want it to be a simple article like a/an/the or a more specific noun or verb). The first person to read that word next should jump up and yell “Bingo!” (or any other silly word you choose) and he will win a prize. You could do a few rounds of this if you want or just one every half-hour or something.
- Game idea #2: If everyone is reading the same book, you could do a quiz show with questions about the story. This would help with encouraging comprehension.
- Game idea #3: Have each reader take turns reading aloud the next sentence in his/her book to make a funny story. You could do one round or a few rounds.
- Game idea #4: Have all readers close their books (with bookmarks in place, of course) and then take turns shouting out the last thing they remember reading (for example: “Harry Potter
’s wearing his cloak!” or “James
is flying in the giant peach!”).
I think my boys would enjoy these activities next year. I will plan some breaks with a few games and prizes next year, but I think the goal sheets were great and the Read-a-Thon activity will be a new summer tradition in our home. I can’t wait to share next year’s Read-a-Thon!
If a Read-a-Thon is in your plans, I want to share my goal sheet with you! I hope it helps. Please let me know if you try it and what works for you. If you’d rather not post in the comments, you can email me. Either way, I’d love to hear about your family’s (or group’s) Read-a-Thon!
