7 Fun Ways to Celebrate Children’s Book Week
You’re going to love #5
- Make a pillow fort and read inside it
Whenever I go home for the holidays, I build a big pillow fort for my young cousins. Then, we all crawl inside and I read them a book. It’s always a fun time for everyone.
If you don’t feel like going inside the fort, your children can always read inside on their own. They will still have fun!
2. Take a trip to the library
This one might seem obvious, but Children’s Book Week is the perfect time to go to the library.
I always remember having so much fun going to the library as a kid. The shelves seemed to go on forever. I loved picking out a stack of books and reading them all as soon as I got back to the car.
A library is a magical place where children fall in love with books.
3. Give candy or other treats for hitting reading milestones
Giving treats for hitting reading milestones goes along great with checking out lots of books from the library.
You could give small candies, stickers, small toys, or whatever you want for hitting book or chapter milestones.
4. Buy a new book
If you can afford it, this could be the reward for hitting the final milestone of whatever reading challenge you create. Or it could be something you do completely seperately.
Buing a new book is exciting. When I was a kid, buying a new book wasn’t something I was able to do often, but I was so happy when I could.
Take your child to the bookstore and let them pick out one book or a number of books of their choice for guaranteed smiles.
You can even give them a graphic novel for free until November 13th. Read this story to find out how:
5. Make food based off of your favorite book
My favorite idea on this list is to make food based on a book. Bonus points if the book also has a movie adaptation and you can make a whole night out of it.
Here are 5 ideas:
- Make a big pot of your favorite pasta and read Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola.
- Make this recipe for Stone Soup and read the book of the same name by Marcia Brown.
- Make chocolate chip cookies, read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff, then snuggle on the couch and watch the TV series.
- Make this meal based on Max’s dinner in Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. After dinner, read the book and watch the movie.
- After reading the book Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, make a plate of green eggs and ham and watch the new Disney/Pixar movie while you eat.
6. Make bookmarks or do another book related craft
You may have to help your child depending on their age, but one idea is to make bookmarks.
Another is to do a craft based on a book your child enjoys. For example, you can read Rainbow fish by Marcus Pfister and then make a rainbow fish out of a paper plate.
7. Make a reading corner
Space permitting, you could create a cozy reading corner. First, find something comfortable to sit on while reading. This could be a chair, bean bag, rug, hammock, or tent.
Add a small pillow and throw blanket for extra comfort.
Next, add the books. You could add a bookshelf next to your sitting area, have a small crate full of books, or even just stack a few books at a time nearby.
Finally, decorate this area as you please. I recommend adding some sort of lighting such as a lamp or fairy lights. This will create a much more warm atmosphere for reading and make it easy to read without eyestrain.
If you have book posters or other art, you could hang that on the walls. Make the area fun and inviting.
Bonus: Add a small table. This could be used to keep a drink nearby, to hold a candle, to keep reading glasses on if anyone in your household uses them, or for any other function.
Thank you for reading! This article is part of a series for Children’s Book Week. If you’d like to read my previous article, I linked it below.