Every year we see several programs designed to keep children reading all summer. Often these are awesome programs that are totally free and your child can earn prizes.
I know summer might be weeks away for many of you, but it never hurts to get started thinking about these programs. Especially if there are certain books you need from the library. You might have to wait weeks to get your books anyway.
You can see a summary of the programs currently available. If anyone is aware of other programs please let us know!
American Girl. Free reading events in stores all summer long. You can also get excerpts from books and some free printable activities.
Book Adventure – Search for books, read them, take a little quiz and earn prizes.
Barnes & Noble Imagination Destination – This summer reading program through Barnes & Noble gives your child the ability to earn a FREE book after reading 8 books and keeping track of them in a reading log. They can choose from a handful of books as the freebie and quantities are limited for the books available. This program begins May 19th and runs through Sept 7th.
*If you have little ones, my Barnes and Noble also offers free storytime twice a week. They read books and get cookies and there is usually coloring and sometimes special appearances from characters in the book. You can enter your zip code here to see a list of events at your store. There is also free online storytime that is perfect for small children.
Local Public Library –Check out your local libraries to find out which programs they’ll be offering this summer. My library has a free story time for little ones and some libraries offer specific incentives and prizes to children for reading.
Chuck E. Cheese – Earn 10 FREE tokens every time your child reads for 2 weeks in a row. Just fill out the form and bring it in to claim your free token. A food purchase is required and you might call ahead just to confirm participation.
Scholastic Summer Challenge –This begins May 4th. The theme this year is Power Up & Read and is aimed at children ages 4-14. Children can log in their reading minutes and earn rewards. There are free booklists to download by age group. It looks like entire schools can participate and the school that logs in the most minutes reading will get a visit from Michael Northrop and Varian Johnson. Parents can also download free learning activities printables.
Pottery Barn Kids– Free storytime for little ones on Tuesday at 11am. You get a little passport and once you attend 5 storytimes, you get a free gift. (Just double check the time by calling ahead to your store.)
They also have a specific summer reading program. The program typically starts in mid May and runs until the stores are out of books.
NOTE: we did this program last year and at my store they just grabbed a bunch of random books and had them in baskets for the kids to pick from. They did get really low on choices so this year we will go in much earlier. We got a Fancy Nancy hardcover book two years ago and a Pinkalicious book last year.
Pizza Hut Book It! Program. This is for schools or homeschoolers to enroll and get tons of resources plus earn vouchers for free pizzas.
TD Bank: You might check back in on this one as they haven’t announced the 2015 promotion yet. Previously they offered $10 for free once children completed a reading log and returned it to the bank.
So there are lots of options to keep the kids learning and engaged during the summer!
I will keep this list updated as new ones pop up so be sure to check back often!
And here are a few other things you might like:
Kid’s Bowl Free program– check it out here
Regal Summer Movies for just $1.00!
Free Printable Summer Fun List— all sorts of ideas to have the best summer ever!
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