How to keep your kids reading during the summer

As a Reading teacher, I can’t stress to parents enough how important it is to read or have your children read at home in general, but, especially during summer. The benefits of this are outstanding, and I promise your kids will appreciate it when reading at school is easier!

And I don’t just mean fight and force your kid to read. I mean for you to grow a love for reading in your children! 

These are the 5 ways I have been able to grow a love for reading in my children. My 2 youngest can’t read yet, but they do enjoy being read to, and my 9-year-old not only loves reading but is incredibly good at it! It’s also her best subject in school. When your kid has a good comprehension in reading they can be really strong in other subjects as well.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy for more information. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Here are 5 easy ways to get your kids interested in reading this summer

1. Make reading hands-on

1. • We do this every summer and it has been a huge hit in our home! The Mouse and friends series, which includes books like “If you give a pig a pancake” and “if you give a moose a muffin”! They are short and cute, and we use these to incorporate them with reading. I have most of the entire series and we read the book, then we either buy or bake what the book is talking about. I highly recommend getting the entire set! It’s a better value, and gives you plenty of options for the summer! You can find it here.
   • You can do this with other books as well like “Green Eggs and Ham”
   • My kids really pay attention to the book and love eating the tasty treat as we read it! We did this the first few weeks of summer and it’s always a great kick-off to our summer reading!
   • It’s honestly become one of my kid’s favorite summer things and they always get excited to see what book and treat we’re doing for that day!

     

     

2. Compare books to their movies

• • With my older daughter, we read chapter books together. This helps keep her brain in gear during summer. I also used to do this with my high school kids. It’s a great motivator to get them through those long books
  • Compare and contrast. Everyone knows the book is always better than the movie! So we do a little comparison, we read the chapter book then watch the movie that goes along with it and make a big movie night. I love when my daughter can point out the big differences and when I hear “The book is so much better”
  • You can do this with little ones and Disney books as well!
  • Preteen book suggestions that have movies (our favorites):
    • Wonder
    • Charlotte’s Web
    • The Bridge to Teribithia
    • A Wrinkle in Time
    • Matilda
    • The Chronicles of Narnia
  • Older teen book suggestions that have movies:
    • The Outsiders
    • To Kill a Mockingbird
    • Of Mice and Men
    • Where the Red Fern Grows
    • Harry Potter series
    • Hunger Games series

      

      

3. Library trips and rewards

• • Yall! Take your kids to the local library! They love it! Make it fun and exciting that they get to pick their own books, we also do a sticker system. If they read so many books then we take a trip to Barnes N Nobles and they get to pick a book they want to add to our home collection and keep! 
  • I’ve learned with 3 kids, rewards go a LONG way! Don’t be scared to reward your kids for reading!

4. Reading outside

1. • It’s summer! Take advantage of the nice weather and read a book outside as a picnic. We use this during some of our snack times. I will cut up fruit, lay out a blanket in the yard or at the park and everyone picks a short book for us to read together. They enjoy the fresh air, snacks, and books! (On this day we grabbed quick donuts and head to the park. we’re in Texas and the Texas sun does not play so get outside early!)
   • It helps with focus if the book is somewhat related to the outdoors. Maybe it’s a book about birds, and then you point out birds. I’ll admit this one requires patience when there’s little ones involved (they tend to get distracted by literally everything outside!) We read “Summer Colors” and were able to talk about all the colors we saw outside and the different seasons!
   • Again, offer those rewards, once we get done with these two books (ok, let’s be honest it’s usually ONE when it comes to my 4 year old!) then you are free to play! Pick SHORT books, then let those kiddos run free!

     

5. Book buddies

1. • Lastly, another teacher hack. Do your kids have way too many stuffed animals you aren’t sure what to do with? Make them book buddies!
   • Put those stuffed animals into their own basket and when it’s time to have the reading time they get so excited to pick a “book buddy” someone who gets to listen along with them.
   • This isn’t a big thing with my 9-year-old anymore so instead her book buddies are her little siblings. My daughter wants to be a teacher and gets so excited when she takes over reading time as the “teacher.” She gets to use these moments to read to her siblings. She LOVES telling them to pay attention!

     

     

     

These tips on keeping your kids reading this summer will make reading enjoyable to your kids, it will create lasting memories with them (my daughter still talks about when I first started “If you give a pig a pancake” with her and made pancakes for the first time. On top of all of these, you will see huge improvements in your kid’s reading.

Get your kids to love reading

If you are curious about your kid’s comprehension. Ask a few questions after the book!

The best way to know if your kid is really listening while you read is to be interactive with the text and ask questions or make comments as you read. You could even point out things as you read. As a parent reading to little ones you also have to make reading fun and exciting in your tone to keep their attention.

Now, this isn’t to say that there won’t be hard days because there will definitely be days where your kids want nothing to do with books. That is ok, do not force your kids to read these days. This will cause resentment towards reading when we are trying to create a love for reading. Do not use reading as a form of punishment.

When students don’t like reading, it’s usually because they aren’t very good at it or they don’t understand it, and that’s a lack of comprehension. By practicing with them and modeling good reading you could help your child overcome this. If you are someone who doesn’t enjoy reading yourself there are apps and tools to have your kids read to. You can find audiobooks online.

And in the end, if you find yourself fighting with your kid more than enjoying their time or having success, well then leave it to their teachers, enjoy your summer with your kids, and just keep it rollin’!

Be sure to check out Rollin’ with the Rendon’s other blog posts to help you keep your sanity this summer! 🙂

XOXO,

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy for more information. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.