Don’t let your kids lose their hard-won reading skills! Summer break is a time for bike rides, popsicles, and lazy mornings—but if reading isn’t also part of summer, your child can lose valuable skills. This fun and flexible Summer Reading Challenge keeps young readers sharp without turning summer into school.
The Engineer used to spend summers with his grandparents on their ranch in West Texas. His grandmother was a fourth-grade teacher who always made sure the kids kept their reading skills sharp during the summer. Hot afternoons were the perfect inside reading opportunity before outside play resumed in the evening.
Every week, she would take The Engineer and his sister to the library, where they got to choose any book they wanted. In the evening, while they shelled peas or snapped beans, she would talk to them about what they had read during the day. Sometimes she would even have them read aloud. The Engineer says he loved it.
Talk about a sneaky grandma!
Start a Sneaky Summer Reading Challenge!
Research shows that students can lose as much as two months of reading progress over the summer if they don’t keep their minds engaged. That’s called the “summer slide,” and it’s very real—especially for kids in early elementary school.
The good news? You don’t need a strict routine or daily worksheets. You just need to keep kids reading! You can do this in simple, low-stress, and even fun ways. A well-planned challenge for you AND the kids can encourage daily reading in a way that feels like play, not more school!.
How to Keep Reading Fun (and Sneaky)
Use a Printable Reading Challenge Chart
Kids love checking off boxes, especially when it earns them bragging rights! Our printable chart includes playful prompts like “Read under a table,” “Read a book with talking animals,” or “Read to your pet or favorite stuffed animal.”
It gives kids choice and variety while building a habit. You can download the printable Challenge Chart below.
Make it a Family Affair
Your kids learn more by watching what you do than they will ever learn from what you say. If you read, they will read! When you take them to the library, you check out books and let them see you reading. As The Engineer says, more’s caught than taught!
When you talk to them about their reading, talk about what you’re reading. Teaching by example is pure magic. It’s also the sneakiest teaching you will ever do!
Tie Reading to Real-Life Experiences
Going to the beach? Check out a book about seashells. Visiting the zoo? Read an animal adventure story the night before. Reading takes on new meaning when it’s connected to what kids are doing in the real world.
Keep it Light
Graphic novels, joke books, cookbooks, comics—these all count! If your child finds reading “boring,” try something unexpected. Let them read a recipe and help make dinner, or read signs on a road trip. It all builds fluency and vocabulary.
Celebrate Progress
This challenge isn’t about logging 20 minutes a day every day without fail. It’s about helping your child see themselves as a reader—someone who chooses to read because it’s interesting, exciting, or even just relaxing. Let reading be fun! That is the whole point of the Sneaky Summer Reading Challenge!
Grab Your Free Printable and Get Started!
Throw your email in the box below and the link to your free download will appear in your inbox like summer magic!
More Great Reading Resources
- Kindergarten Summer Reading Readiness
- Reading Assessments For Reading Success
- Bedtime Stories Are More Important Than You Think
- Tips For Helping Early Readers
- Sight Word Games To Prepare For Kindergarten: Go Fish!
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I love all of your thoughts. (And my oldest son LOVES comic books; I actually never thought of getting the Sunday Comics for him. I'll have to have my mom save them for him.) I also really like the reading log you made. That makes perfect sense. Even my 10 year old has trouble writing in the little spaces provided on most reading logs. I'm going to print it off!
Fantastic! We are doing a lot of reading around here.
Just wondering – do you have specific easy reader books that you like? I find it frustrating that some level 1 readers are too easy for Collin and other level 1 readers are beyond his ability.
Applause for advocating summer reading! Lots of terrific ideas here, but I'd like to add one more: If your pocketbook can afford it, consider an eBook, such as the Amazon Kindle or the Barnes and Noble Nook for your child/ren. A bit of new technology might be just the thing to "hook" an unmotivated reader this summer. And, you might find the eBook a wonderful addition to family-friendly activities.
Reading is a big focus in our house as well this summer. My daughter has acquired quite a book collection…so much so that i had to remove a good portion of her books from her room as they were in a constant disarray. I put all the extra books in some boxes and moved them to a closet (i was reluctant to do this as i don't like to hide books away!) I call it "Kiera's Library." The cool thing is she can access her books anytime but she has to exchange a book for a new one. She really likes this idea. She has a greater appreciation for her books and is reading them more. Plus I don't have to deal with a constant mess!
So great Amy. Kids do need to keep moving during the summer–bodies and minds.