How to Plan Activities for Children's Book Week

Children's Book Week is a great time to encourage an alternative to video games and television: exercising a child's imagination through books. What better opportunity to get your Scout troop, church youth or your own kids to get in the good habit of reading? Encouraging reading doesn't have to be equated with dry pages in an old book. Through activities, prompt some friendly competition and plan outings and get-togethers around a book or series.

Instructions

1. Pick a theme. Select a theme that appeals to kids right now. How about super heroes? Pirates? They never seem to go out of style with kids. Challenge children to read books based on a theme of your choice and reward them with a pizza party or get-together where they wear the outfit related to that character or theme. That will get them talking about the book in a fun environment.

2. Organize your own Book It. This program encouraged children to keep track of the books they read and rewarded them with pizza once they hit certain milestones. You don't need to have a partnership with a pizzeria to do something similar. As milestones, give your children "get out of chores" cards, party favors, a small increase in their allowance over the course of Book Week, or opt for a healthier treat at the end of the week, such as a party where friends are invited to enjoy frozen yogurt and talk about their favorite books.

3. Choose a cornerstone book. Select a Newberry Medal winner with a lot of buzz, for example, but make sure it's a book with a vivid backdrop. At the end of the week, plan a field trip to a locale that's a tie-in with the book. Throughout the week, you can drop hints about where they will be going--offer clues, for example, in between the pages of their books. But make the actual field trip a secret.

4. Go historical. Many books are based in settings from the past. Encourage dress up get-togethers, where kids wear costumes from the period and discuss the stories. At the end of the week, cap it with a visit to a living history museum or a historical landmark. You can also opt for a futuristic book. The kids can draw pictures of what they think the future will be like--how people in future centuries will look, dress, drive or eat.