Summer Reading Ideas to Keep Kids Reading all Summer Long

July 17, 2024

Parents reading with their child. — Photo provided by Pexels.

Keeping kids motivated to read can be a challenge. At the end of the school year, you may have seen a letter from the teachers saying, “Please help your student read 20 minutes a day so that they don’t lose any skills before next school year.

Lindsey Melden, a local parent and educator, has creative ideas to keep summer reading fun. She said she became an advocate for reading and literacy because “I’ve loved reading since I was a kid and so when I became a parent, I wanted to share this joy with my own children.”

Melden emphasized that reading doesn’t just help kids be more successful in school, it helps in life. She shares that “when I had my youngest child who was born with a disability, it became another avenue of expanding the conversation around inclusion, because one of the biggest skills that we learn through reading is empathy-building skills. You can read stories about different people’s experiences… and it can extend that compassion and empathy.”

RELATED: Disability Awareness Month: March Book List for Kids & Teens

Encourage independent reading

Keep summer reading fun by following your child’s preferences. They are much more likely to read something they are interested in. Kids may prefer audiobooks, reading on a tablet, online books, graphic novels, or play along books.

Often overlooked and perhaps most importantly, children learn from watching you. So let them see you pulling out a book when you have a few minutes.

Other tips to encourage independent reading:

Older kids can read to younger kids.
Kids love to try their new reading skills out on pets.
Do a book swap with families who have kids at similar reading levels. Kids are more likely to try a book that is recommended by a friend.
Match books to your outings. Whether it’s going blueberry picking, watching fireworks, or visiting grandma, there are books about it.
Offer kids a book during downtimes, while waiting for an appointment, during car rides or at restaurants.
Make a bingo card with general categories of books like fiction, non-fiction, books about animals or graphic novel. When kids read enough different kinds of books for a Bingo, they get a small prize or treat.

Families that read together

Melden encourages parents to read with their child because it gives positive association with reading.

Read out loud to your children. Even when they get older, you can pick out a book together and read to them while they work on a puzzle, color or build with Legos.
Read a book that has a movie adaptation. After everyone has finished the book or had it read to them, you can watch the movie together as a family.
Listen to audiobooks together. Too tired to read to your child before bed? Snuggle up with an audiobook. Taking a long car ride on vacation? Audiobook. Have a daily commute to daycare? Also, audiobook.

Use the library

Going to the library is a great summer activity to encourage reading. Nancy Eames, Youth Services Coordinator with Toledo Lucas County Public Libraries, creates programs that she hopes will build a summer reading habit.

“We want you to read for fun, because summer reading should be fun,” she said.

The library’s signature program, Summer Read, is in its 100^th year in Toledo. The goal is for kids, teens and adults to read for 30 days.

Here are a few other library resources to help engage your kids in reading:

Book pick lists and newsletters, so parents can keep up with new and popular.
Take your kids to a fun library program. The library has thousands of programs this summer including story time, yoga, jewelry-making, and magicians.
Get to know your local librarian. They can help find books that match your kids’ interests.