Family Fun Night Reading Activities
Reading is an important everyday activity for children. Teachers and librarians say children who read consistently tend to better understand their schoolwork and keep up with their lessons. Education professionals recommend children read at least 15 minutes a day in addition to their normal school activities. Parents are encouraged to read to their young children, and older kids should read out loud. You can plan family fun night reading activities for children of all ages.
Other People Are Reading
-
Preschool and Kindergarten-Aged Children
-
Learning the alphabet is as easy as ABC. Get out the miniature marshmallows. You can create the alphabet with marshmallow letters while teaching your child his ABCs. You'll need a piece of flat molded foam, a box of round toothpicks, a bag of marshmallows (colored or white) and a pencil. Write down a couple of letters about an inch apart on a piece of foam, stick the toothpicks in by each letter and then place marshmallows onto the toothpicks. Read through the letters with your child. Eat the marshmallows.
You can also play bingo. Draw your own cards with letters and numbers that look like the standard game card; use upper- and lowercase letters. Make letter/number tickets to pull out of a container. Keep track of the letters and numbers you call on a separate piece of paper. Use items that are safe for your child to eat (candy or miniature marshmallows, for example) as game pieces.
Bake some alphabet cookies. Choose your favorite recipe to create the dough and then roll each cookie into the shape of a letter that will spell a word. Bake, read and eat.
Elementary School-Aged Children
-
Bring a fairy tale to life. Let's rock. First, go rock collecting with your children; find 26 rocks (per child) that are big and smooth enough to paint letters on. Buy small and medium paintbrushes and different colors of crafting paint. On each family fun night, the children can paint some of the rocks a solid color and letters on the previously painted (dried) rocks. Have a spelling bee when the painted-rock alphabet is complete.
You can also choose a favorite book to read together and have the children act out the dialogue in the story. Create costumes and props to add a little flair to the production. Perform the story for other members of the family, with the children taking turns reading the narration.
-
Middle School-Aged Children
-
Create a game show, something like "Jeopardy," for example, by using school subjects for the topics of questions. Use colored poster board, index cards, double-sided tape, notebook paper and a marker. Write dollar or point amounts on the backs of the index cards and label the poster board with five school subjects. Write questions on the notepaper that can be hidden underneath the index cards. Set the game rules and play.
Another option is to choose a favorite poem and set the words to music. Play one of your child's favorite songs, write down the lyrics and then read them with the tune's rhythm structure. Listen to where the words rhyme. Replace the song lyrics with rhyming words from the poem.
High School Students
-
Puzzle books are challenging and fun. Give the kids a break from homework with word games, crosswords and other puzzles and writing challenges. Get a snack and settle in with the kids to do a word search, syllable crossword or word-elimination challenge. Visit your local bookstore, library or online sources to find puzzles that your family will enjoy.
Write a book together. Whether your child likes science fiction, fantasy, romance or any other genre, grab a notebook and pen and toss some ideas around. Once you know what you want to write, outline the basics of the plot, with each child or family member donating at least one chapter. Piece it all together for an interesting (if not a little strange) story.
Tips for Parents
-
Visit the library for books geared to children of all ages; ask a children's librarian for suggestions. Most libraries have reading programs for elementary school children during the summer; join a summer reading club. Also, talk to your child's teachers about what topics are being covered in school and how you can expand on them at home.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit family read book image by Pavel Losevsky from Fotolia.com abc's image by jaddingt from Fotolia.com Feen image by Angelika Bentin from Fotolia.com crossword image by cherie from Fotolia.com
