Summer Reading Incentives for Kids

School will be out before you know it and if you are anything like me, you will be looking for summer activities to keep your kids busy through the summer. It's important to keep building your child's reading skills throughout the summer and there are several summer reading programs that offer great incentives to help you do just that.

First, check with your local library and see what kind of summer activities and reading programs they are having. Our library has lots of different programs everyday for kids of all ages and they have neat summer reading incentives for the kids.

RIF Reading Planet offers some neat and exciting reading and writing contest for kids of all ages. Click on the Activity Lab to check out what contest are going on right now. They always have new contest and activities going on so check back often.

Book Adventure is run by Sylvan Learning Center and is for kids K-8. Children choose a book they have read or want to read from over 7,000 titles. The can also search for books by reading level and interest. After they have read the book, they can take a quiz about the book and earn point, which can be redeemed for prizes.

Barnes & Nobel Summer Reading Program is for children in the 1^st through 6^th grades. Kids are able to earn a coupon for a free book by reading 8 books and completing a journal about the books.

Book It! Is a summer reading contest for grades K-6. Simply read 5 books through out the summer print out the entry form and mail it in before the deadline. Prizes range from Nintendo DS to Pizza Hut Gift Cards.

Of course, you could hold your own summer reading program with your children. If you only have one child, see if one of your friends has a child that would like to participate and you can split the cost of the incentive prize. Choose an incentive prize - something that will really get them motivated to read. For each book, they read, write the child's name down on a slip of paper and drop it in a jar. Choose a date at the end of the summer to draw one or two names from the jar. Depending on how many kids are participating or if you want to give away more than one prize.