Book Club for Kids! by Jillian Holmes
School’s out, but that doesn’t mean the kids have to close up ALL of the books! Why not create a Kid’s Book Club to foster a love of reading through the summer months and all year long. Last year, I created a book club for my two boys, ages 5 and 8. Having learned from my own experience, book clubs need to be social, fun and without pressure. Like mommy’s book club, which sometimes feels more about the new appetizers and the wine, our parent/child book club was about the snacks and the games. You could call it more of a literary themed playgroup. Over the last year we have consistently met each month, reading a new book and enjoying a new activity. We have both boys and girls participating, spanning now across three grades. We have covered a variety of topics and reading levels. The guidelines given to get them on board – you didn’t have to read the book! As expected, the kids embraced reading. They really wanted to come to the party, but before long they wanted to read the book too! They talked about the books at school and even read additional books throughout the month. Eventually, they were actually coming to book club with their own suggestion for next month’s book. Book Club has also been a great way to keep friends connected, through the summer months and when children are not in the same
class. Here are some quick tips to create a book club of your own! Keep the size of your book club manageable. 4-7 kids seem to be a good size. Start smaller if the kids are younger. You can go bigger if you have additional, involved adults in attendance. In an effort not to be exclusionary, but not too big, we encourage new groups to start up, and then we share our books and ideas. Choose a group of compatible kids AND adults even if it’s a kids-only book club. We prefer the parents to be involved, not only on club night, but throughout the month reading the book and discussing with their child at home. Book club night is typically 2 hours long. They are kind of like a small birthday party. For our book club, we meet at various local establishments to lessen the burden of hosting, but occasionally we meet at our homes and host when the book has a correlated movie or a bigger craft/activity planned. Choose age appropriate books. Ask teachers or your local librarians for book recommendations. Schools often have a Scholars book program, where you can buy multiple books and the school gets a donation for their library. The snacks should be related to the book whenever possible – let the host child help with the menu or even the cooking. Activities can be themed too, or use standard aids to get the
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