Encourage a Love of Reading for Children with a Book Club

0

book club for kids

Every month our kiddos see me heading out the door carrying an appetizer or a bottle of wine to my book club meeting and they squeal about how much they want to come with me. And I get it, because reading the same book with a group of awesome friends creates connections, discussions, and it’s the best way to celebrate reading a book! So, when a friend of mine started a book club for our young readers, my two oldest children (ages 5 and 6) were thrilled!

This month my girls and I hosted the book club meeting and here are four meaningful ways we prepared for the celebration of reading a book.

  1. Let your young reader select an age appropriate book. Our group consists of children ages 5 to 7 years old, so the host parent helps to guide their child with the selection of the book. For instance, I took my girls to the Appaloosa Public Library and told them they were in charge of picking out our book club book from the Magic Tree House Series written by Mary Pope Osborne. After scanning through most of the collection they selected #5 Night of the Ninjas.
  2. Read the book. I read the book with my children because they are beginning readers. However, I will continue to read the book even if they can read it on their own. Sharing the common knowledge of a book fosters discussions and connections with your young reader.craftcollage
  3. Create activities together for the book club meeting. My oldest daughter chose to have a cherry blossom tissue paper craft, my youngest daughter wanted to make ninja masks and they both agreed we should have a station where we decorated our own ninja cookies. We also played a trivia game of moms versus daughters with a list of multiple choice questions about the book. I found sample questions for Night of The Ninjas on the goodreads website. The young readers were really excited to answer the questions together and enjoyed the competition against the parents. bookclubfoodcollage
  4. Set up for the meeting together. We made a list of snacks we wanted and each of my girls wrote down the grocery list and helped me shop for our items. They also helped prep for the crafts by cutting the tissue paper into squares and organizing the craft materials we needed. Before the meeting they put out the refreshments and checked their lists. They also helped with tidying up the house before and after the book club meeting.

One of the many ways you can encourage a love of reading for your child is with a book club. It could be parent lead or not, with a group of friends or with your immediate family. Happy reading and please share your pointers on how you encourage a love of reading for your children!