Reading should NOT be a “chore” for kids! Instead, books should open up a world of adventure. When reading, your child may sail the ocean and dig treasures with those pesky pirates. Perhaps they will dress in fancy dresses and dine on french pastries with Fancy Nancy. Maybe they prefer to dress in scuba gear and do some deep sea diving to discover all of the unusual fish and corals. How else can children do so many things in one day, one week, one summer? It’s looking like we need to look into summer bookworm programs for kids!
Summer reading programs not only entice children to keep reading, but they offer different awards for their achievements. While we may not want to admit it, everyone has discovered that bribery is a great motivator for kids. Ok, maybe it’s not bribery, but it is a great way of rewarding them for setting goals and reaching them. I’ve compiled a list of programs…and what’s even better is that they are free!
Wait a minute….did you say FREE????
Types of Summer Bookworm Programs for Kids ~
Pizza Hut’s Book-It Program ~
It’s super easy to sign up for this fun program. Set reading goals and once reached head on over to Pizza Hut for some FREE pizza! Click here for easy access to register for the Pizza Hut Summer Reading Program….. You will have 3 options to register:
- Homeschool parent for kids ages 4 to 12
- Enroll classs from PreK to 6th grade for public, private or charter school
- Parent of student(s) grades PreK to 6th
Once you are registered, there is a plethora of free resources such as activities, printables and reading trackers. Seriously, this program is amazing and this Mimi thinks you would be crazy to not take advantage of all the stuff they have to offer. We are all signed up in our family and just waiting for June 1 to roll around so we can get started!
Public Library Program ~
There are so many wonderful things about this program that has been around for…ever! Let’s put it this way, I’m a Mimi and I enrolled my kids in this program every year when they were young. You do the math! 😳
The INDYPL program is open to any resdient of Marion County and once again it is FREE! (If you live outside of Indiana, be sure to look up fun programs at your local library!) It runs from June 7, 2021 to July 31, 2021 and they provide 3 easy ways to register and track reading time of kids AND adults. Yes, I said adults! They offer special offerings for us big kids too! How awesome is that? Here are the options for registering:
- Create an account on Beanstack through the Apple App or Google Play Store
- Use the Beanstack website to register. The link to Beanstack is right here….what are you waiting for?
- Sign up at your local IndyPL branch
Once you are registered for this summer bookworm program for kids (& adults), start reading and tracking the time of books read. Older kids and adults who read to younger kids get credit for those minutes to. The library even provides a colorful tracker that you can pick up at the library or download for free and print yourself. They are offering a fun Discovery Bag…go check them out to learn more!
Barnes & Noble Program ~
Kids in grades 1 through 6 enroll in this program to earn free books! A total of eight books need to be read to complete this awesome program. The books can be borrowed or purchased. Once they have finished reading each book, they are asked to write about their favorite part in the Reading Journal that Barnes & Noble provides. Bring the completed journal into Barnes & Noble between July 1 and August 31, 2021 to choose a free book from the list provided. Here is a convenient link to Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program!
Scholastic Summer Reading Program ~
Get started with this super exciting program by registering with Home Base. Here is an easy link to the Home Base page for Scholastic! I will say that it took me a few minutes to move around the Scholastic website to completely understand their program…but it is going to be so worth it. I highly suggest you watch the short informative videos. Once your child has registered with a fun avatar name he/she will be ready to go.
This program has really been updated to coincide with how our children learn today. They can add to their own personal avatar by reading more books…I truly believe the kids will LOVE this program. An added incentive is all of the fun games and reading they can do on site and watch their characters come to life. I seriously think this is going to be an excellent reading source this summer!
Other Summer Programs ~
While researching all of these fun options, I have come across several others that I am still waiting to see if they are going to do a summer program this year. They may or may not be available in your area, but if you are familiar with them, check them out. I was surprised to see a bank offers a program for the kids. This particular bank doesn’t exist in my area, but it helped me to realize I should check out others around me to see if they too have something available. A list is provided for you so that you can look into them as well:
- Books-A-Million
- Tails & Tales
- TD Bank
- Lifeway
- Half Price Books
- Chuck E Cheese
- H-E-Buddy
- Amazon
I am sure there are many more than what I have shared, so now that you know there are so many options available, I hope you will check out some of the programs I have written about or look into what is available in your community.
What I have also discovered from my research is that summer bookworm programs for kids have gone above and beyond from when my kids were young. Not only are they offering incentives for reading, but they now also offer so many other amazing resources. They have done a lot of the legwork to make reading fun for your kids….so take advantage of all the FREE resources they are offering!
Happy reading!
Mimi
