The Summer Reading Challenge

The annual challenge encourages primary school children to read for pleasure over the summer holidays. During the challenge, participants collect prizes and stickers, play games and, of course, discover a world of great books.

Taking part is simple

Once signed up, children receive their packs and can start collecting special materials, which relate to this year’s theme: Gadgeeters.

Your child simply needs to read six books to complete the challenge and these can be anything that takes their fancy: fact, fiction, poetry, comics, audio books… They log each book completed on their poster and receive a medal and certificate if they successfully finish the challenge.

There are also plenty of activities to extend the fun online including plenty of games: https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/games

Meet the Gadgeteers – 2022’s Challenge

This year, The Reading Agency has joined forces with Science Museum Group for a science and innovation-themed challenge. The aim is to inspire children to be imaginative and creative and discover the science that’s all around them in everyday objects.

During the Challenge children join six ‘Gadgeteers’ on a journey of discovery. These fictional characters explore the science behind a host of interests from fashion and technology to cooking and music.

With resources from the Science Museum Group, the Gadgeteers Summer Reading Challenge also features lots of ideas for great experiments and activities. 

Additionally, there’s an accompanying book collection curated by the team. These fun, science-themed recommendations are packed with facts and tales of innovation and creativity to make science and reading accessible to everyone.

The challenge is taking place now and finishes on September 17th, 2022. For more details visit: https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/.

Taking part in The Summer Reading Challenge, is just one of my Summer Holiday Challenges. You can read about the rest here.

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Here Simply Glass Wipe Boards discusses five key benefits for families who read.

Reading helps children to expand their vocabulary

Exposing children to more words will help them to expand their vocabulary and their understanding of the world. That’s why it’s important to establish a regular reading routine with your children, no matter how young or old they are.

If your child is struggling, it’s crucial to read at a pace that suits them and pick a book that they’re comfortable with. Once they’re more confident with the basics, it’s likely that they’ll naturally transition to more complicated texts.

If you’re looking for inspiration on books to read with your family, here’s what other kids all over the country are currently reading:

Reading helps to reduce symptoms of depression

During those dark days, it can be difficult to think of a way out. However, research has shown that reading can help with these low feelings.

Picking up a book can help you to escape the harsh realities of life and help you to see the world from a different perspective. No matter whether you prefer a real-life hero story or a fictional sci-fi tale, those little breaks from reality can help you to manage your depression in a healthy way.

Some feel-good books you can enjoy with your kids include:

• Wonder – R.J Palacio
• Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life – James Patterson & Chris Tebbetts
• Rules – Cynthia Lord

Reading can help you to bond as a family

Between the morning school run and after-school rush, it can be difficult to find a quiet moment to spend with your children. However, if you introduce a reading routine into your day it can help you to spend a little bit more time with your children and form a closer bond.

A popular time to get into a book is right before bedtime. Not only can this help you to get closer to your child, but it can also help you to wind down and switch off before it’s time to sleep.

Reading can help you to get a better nights’ sleep

Research shows that using electronic devices before bed can keep your brain awake and prevent you from getting a good nights’ sleep. To avoid this, you and your family can use your bedtime story to prepare yourself for the night ahead.

To make the most of this time, make sure there are no distractions around before you start your book. Switch off phones, tablets and TVs and make sure there is minimal background noise so that you can get stuck into your book with ease.

Reading increases health and wellbeing on the whole

On the whole, reading can have a positive impact on health and wellbeing in kids and adults. Although it might be difficult to kickstart these habits as adults, you only need to read for 30 minutes a week or more to experience these benefits.

To help you and your family get started, here are a few easy reading tasks you and your kids can work through over the coming months:

Image sources: Simply Glass Wipe Boards

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The site doesn’t look the slickest, but is a real Aladdin’s cave of new and old time classics with a wealth of activity books, fiction, non-fiction, book & CD combos and even work books (scary Key Stage 1 and 2 stuff). They will even source books at the best possible prices if they aren’t already offered on the website.

You’ll find heavily discounted books from much loved and more mainstream authors such as Julia Donaldson, Michael Rosen, Anthony Browne and Jill Murphy – a hardback copy of Julia Donaldson’s The Highway Rat costs just £5.50 instead of the RRP £10.99 – on the site, but The Book Stalk also seems to excel in finding lesser known treasures.

Looking at Perseus flying in Greek Myths and Legends

Amongst the more unusual titles is Greek Myths and Legends (which I got a sneak preview of and which has just become available on the site at £6.50 instead of the RRP £12.99) – a hardback anthology of 11 of the most familiar myths and legends from ancient Greece. I feel this would really appeal to boys as an antidote to some of the traditional fairytales, which are often targeted at girls, and is a good example of The Book Stalk’s varied offering. However, speaking of traditional fairytales, the site also has some lovely compilations and has offered readers of this blog 50% off two great titles.

Julia Donaldson’s The Highway Rat and Tales of Princes and Princesses

Fairy Tales – A Classic Collection compiles ten classics including Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Cinderella, Puss-in-Boots, Blue Beard and Little Thumb. With wonderful illustrations and stories varying significantly in terms of subject and characters, this would appeal to boys and girls alike. Available on the site for £9.99, readers can receive a 50% discount by using the code ParentSocial50 at checkout.

Unashamedly girly, Tales of Princes and Princesses is a beautifully presented collection of nine tales adapted from the stories of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson, each illustrated by a different artist. This hardback book with a lovely fold over magnetic closing is available on the site for £12.99, but readers can get a copy for just £6.50 by using the code ParentSocial50 at checkout.

The Book Stalk also offers some other great gifts, such as children’s cooking sets, convertibles and many games from our family favourite, Orchard Toys, at heavily discounted prices.

A wonderful collection at fantastic prices, but do watch out for the delivery costs as they do vary quite a bit from product to product and can bump it up.

Visit: www.thebookstalk.co.uk

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