Reading Activities for Kids
Library Scavenger Hunt
Summer reading is not a huge struggle for us.
We usually participate in our library’s summer reading program and tend to read above and beyond what it expected of us.
My kids love reading. But, I know not all kids are as motivated to pick up a book. (Or, they might be like my daughter who will get obsessed with a particular series of books *ahem… Junie B. Jones* and read them over and over and over…)
Whether you’re looking to motivate your kids to read or you just want your kids to branch out a little and read different things, I’ve got a fun free gift for you.
Challenge your kids to read their way through this library scavenger hunt. They’ll have a lot of fun and they’ll hopefully discover some new favorite books along the way.
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Find some awesome new books
I made two versions of the library scavenger hunt. Both are available to download and print at the end of this post. One is for kids who are reading chapter books, the other is for kids reading (or listening to) picture books.
Can you find and read a book about… a mystery, history, an adventure, or a biography? How about a book that makes you laugh out loud or one written before you were born?
Or maybe a picture book about the ocean, a farm , the ABCs, or one with no words?
Read and record
I’ve left plenty of room for your kids to write down the name of each book they read. Each scavenger hunt has 12 different topics, so hopefully your child won’t get overwhelmed. This should be a fun summer reading challenge!
Challenge your kids to search through the library themselves to find books that match. This will help them get more and more comfortable with the library.
Use the time to show them around, especially if they are unsure of where to find a specific book.
Where are the biographies kept? Show them or let them ask a librarian.
How do I find a book written before I was born? Teach them where to find that information in a book.
Download your Library Scavenger Hunt here
Are you ready to get reading? Click below to download and print the library scavenger hunts. (Each hunt is only one page.)
Download the chapter book scavenger hunt here.
Download the picture book scavenger hunt here.
Books pictured (and highly recommended) are:
Biography: Ballerina Dreams: From Orphan to Dancer by Michaela DePrince
A Kid Your Age: Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot by Anna Branford
A Kid Your Age: Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
That Makes You Laugh: Geronimo Stilton: A Cheese-Colored Camper by G. Stilton
You may also like one of these reading activities:
3 Easy Ways to Practice Sight Words
Sight Word Pick and Spell
If you have kids learning to read, you know how important sights words are to the learning process. I’m always looking for ways to make learning sight words fun. We’ve play Sight Word Islands on the driveway and now we’re playing a fun Pick & Spell game, which is similar to Bingo. It’s an easy game to play and a fun way to learn your sight words.
Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.
Supplies Needed:
Sight word game sheets (click the link to download and print)
Scrap paper
Bag
Manipulatives to cover your letters (glass beads, rocks, pennies, bottle caps, etc.)
A couple of willing players
To prep the game you will need to write each letter of the alphabet on separate pieces of paper. I had some leftovers paper circles from another project, so that is what I used. Put all of your alphabet pieces in a bag.
You’ll also want to print out the sight word game sheets. I used the Dolch sight word list to create the game. You’ll find all the pre-primer words, except for a and I, on the game sheets. (I will be creating game sheets to go with the Primer, Grade One, and Grade Two lists in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!) I chose the Dolch lists because that is the list my girls’ school uses.
How to Play:
The game play is similar to Bingo. Give each child one of the sight word game sheets and a pile of manipulatives. Have one person reach into the bag and pull out a letter. When we played, I was in charge of pulling out the letters, but the kids can also take turns doing this part. After a letter is selected, each child will cover every occurrence of letter on their board. Continue on by pulling out another letter. Keep going until someone has covered every letter on their board. Yay, you’ve got a winner!
This is a fun way to help your child become familiar with these very important sight words. The more fun and playful ways you can employ to teach sight words, the easier it will be to learn them. So the next time you want to review sight words, play a little Pick & Spell!
The Gigantic Turnip Story Sequencing Game
This week, we’re taking a virtual trip to Russia.
Since we’ve been watching the Olympics lately, the girls have had a natural curiosity about the host country.
So, this week we’re going to explore Russian culture through folk tales and art.
Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.
We began with our favorite Russian folktale… let me correct that… one of our favorite folktales period, The Gigantic Turnip by Aleksei Tolstoy.
We work a lot on reading comprehension at home. Most of this is covered by our nightly chapter book readings.
But, sometimes I like to play games to make sure the girls are listening and understanding when we read. This time, we tried an easy story sequencing game.
In the book, a series of people and animals come to help pull the gigantic turnip out of the ground.
Before we read the book, I took a pile of index cards and wrote each helper on a separate card. Then, we settled in to read the story.
Once we were finished the story, I laid all the cards on the floor.
I challenged the girls to put all the characters in order from the first person who started pulling the turnip to the last.
I was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly they rearranged the cards.
Even if your child is not able to recall the order, let them look back at the pictures in the book.
No matter the process, you are getting them to think about the book and remember what they read.
This is such an easy way to enrich a book and to sneak in a little learning at home.
My oldest is in school all day, so I don’t want to be duplicating the work of the teacher. I want our learning at home to be different and fun. This simple game fit the bill!