Summer is a time when kids want a break from school and homework, but a mother and a former teacher I know that kids need to have entertaining activities so they don’t get bored and drive their parents to distraction. When my kids were young I tried to enroll them every year in the summer reading program at our local library. The libraries offer a suggested reading list for the child’s age and reading level and may offer a certificate or some other incentive when the child achieves a certain level of accomplishment. In our county, the schools provide the reading lists to the libraries and it varies from school to school. The advantage of using a summer reading list for your child is that will help expand their reading knowledge on the level of ability and comprehension. This will help them advance to a higher level when they return to school. Some libraries also offer storytelling or other special events of special interest for children.
Another option to readings list from a library is the online Summer Reading Challenge from Scholastic Books.There are special links for kids, parents and educators offering incentives for participation. This is a great option if a library is not near by or when traveling.
For today’s art activity, draw your favorite character from a book you have read or you can create your own character for a story. This is a character I created for my newest book, Lucy’s And Pablo’s Bug Garden. His name is Pablo, the preying mantis. More of the characters for my books can be seen on the Illustration page of this website.
Pablo, the preying mantis from Lucy and Pablo’s Bug Garden
The Free Kids Art And Reading Online Challenge will continue through July 31. Five days a week there will be an activity and all those that participate can upload photos to my author illustrator page on FaceBook. Participation can be random or on a regular basis, but prizes will be awarded for the top five participants with the most photos of their weekly projects uploaded to my FaceBook page. The prizes will be $25.00 gift cards to Michael’s Arts and Craft Stores. Prizes will be announced on August 7 and mailed immediately. I also will offer other reviews of books and apps for children through the summer here on my blog. Be sure to bookmark this page for the links and sign up for my mailing list. If you have any questions please post them as a comment to this blog. Please share this blog and info and get ready to have some fun!
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