Summer is a great time to introduce fun reading activities. School is out, schedules are a bit looser, and everyone is ready for a change. Take advantage of some of these ideas for encouraging your child to read:

1. Get a box of colored chalk, and have fun writing notes on the sidewalk with your child.

2. Get a library card and visit the library each week.

3. Listen to books on tape.

4. Provide a quiet atmosphere for reading.

5. Write a note for your child to discover. Put it under his pillow, in his backpack, or next to his dinner plate.

6. Help your child find a pen pal.

7. Start a garden and keep notes about what vegetable varieties you planted.

8. Encourage your child to make up a treasure hunt, complete with written clues.

9. Make a new recipe with your child. Help him or her read the recipe and make it.

10. Clip out a comic strip. White out the words, and let your child create new dialogue for the characters.

11. Give your child a subscription to a magazine that would interest him or her.

12. Cut individual words out of a newspaper or old magazine. Arrange them into sentences with your child.

13. Read the instructions for a new game together and have a good time playing it.

14. Play Boggle, Scrabble, or Upwords together.

15. Plan a trip. Look up books at the library, map out the route.

16. Get a pad of Mad Libs and have fun reading them to each other.

17. Limit TV and video games to provide more free time for reading.

18. Show interest in what your child is reading. Read the same book as your child so you can have a good discussion about it, or ask what the main character is up to.

19. Help your child start a scrapbook and write captions under the photos. Read them to other family members and friends.

20. Let your child pick out books to buy at garage sales or library used book sales. You can often get good books for $.50 or a dollar.

21. Sign up for the reading programs at your local library.

22. Make space on a bookshelf for just your child’s books, to encourage book ownership.

23. Go on a nature walk with your child and have him bring a sketchbook. Encourage him to draw sketches of insects, flowers, and other things he observes, writing the names of them under the sketch. It is interesting for kids to read their notes later.

24. Read bedtime stories to your child. No one is too old for bedtime stories!

25. If your child needs remedial reading or spelling help, summer is a good time to help him learn the skills he needs.


Mark some of these ideas down on your calendar for the summer months. Your child will have fun, while learning at the same time!