This summer, my kids will participate in the summer reading program at the local library. The program is terrific at giving kids an incentive to read.
(Registration for the Mercer County Library System’s 2011 Summer Reading Program begins today at all branches, including the Lawrence Township headquarters branch. For more information click here or read the flyer from the PDF box at the right.)
With just the incentive of small trinkets that kids can pick out and an occasional free book, the library has kept my children reading over the past three summers.
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My daughters, both 8, love bringing in their reading journals so the librarian can check off how many books they’ve read. My daughters also enjoy perusing the children’s book section for new reads – we make it a habit to visit the library once a week in the summer.
Another enjoyable summer reading incentive is the Bookworm Wednesday movie program at our local movie theater. (We go to the Town Center theaters in East Windsor.)
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For filling out a book report form (which are available at the theater) about a book they’ve read, kids get free admission every Wednesday (at 10 a.m.) to a free movie. To congratulate my kids for a job well done, I usually spring for the popcorn. Past summers, the theater has also held free drawings for prizes at each movie session. (One of my daughters won some free books there last summer.)
We have already participated in the Barnes and Noble Summer Reading program. In exchange for reading eight books and writing something about them on the form B&N provided, my daughters each got to pick out a free book from a B&N summer reading list.
My family is looking forward to some fun summer reading in the upcoming weeks.
