Poetic Muselings

Summer Reading Book Bingo

Summer is here! With kids out of school, it’s important to keep them reading. I love summer reading programs, and summer reading challenges. Our library always has a program, for both children and adults, with the ability to earn a free book and entries into prize drawings. For kids, there are also challenges through Barnes and Noble, Pottery Barn, and other places. I’m not going to list them all, but here’s another blog that has shared 10 Summer Reading Programs. My son used to do multiple challenges, but since becoming a teenager his options drastically reduced. He’s still signed up with the library program, but I wanted to give him another opportunity.

Thanks to Pinterest, I learned about book bingo. What a fun way to reward kids not just for reading, but different genres and places and other categories. Here are some that I found:

Scholastic Summer Reading Bingo – requires signing up for the site, but it’s free

A cute template to create your own categories

Genre Bingo!

Literary Genres bingo

My personal goal this year was to get my son to branch out in genres. He usually reads fantasy, with some adventure and sci-fi mixed in. I wasn’t happy with the genre sheets I was finding, liking elements from some here and some there. So I made my own list, used a list randomizer, and made our own. I wasn’t able to come up with 25 genres (especially since I knew he was not wanting romance or horror), so I filled in a couple with other categories such as book published year you are born, Utah author, new release. In addition to diversifying his reading, this also helps him learn to use the library better: where to find different genres, how to ask a librarian for help, use of the online catalog, etc.

We started after school got out, so have been working on them for a month now. I am awarding a treat or small prize for a bingo, and a book of his choice for a full blackout (all spaces filled). I am participating in it as well, more for the challenge than prizes. 25 books in 13 weeks is a lot of reading, but doable. We are running the challenge until school starts. At that point, he can no longer earn bingos, but can still work toward blackout.

Here’s the link to it on Google Drive if you would like to use it (or copy and modify): Book Bingo