summer readin', had me a blast

I love when things come together like perfectly fitting puzzle pieces. Our camping trip was planned, with five families set to share the sites, toting along a total of ten children, ranging in ages from three to ten. (Not only were we packing the largest group of kids, we were also the only ones with a tween. Score.)

Then, over at 5 Minutes for Books, we got contacted to see if one of us would like to host a Summer Reading Party- a kit would be sent out with books and goodies in conjunction with the iVillage and PBS Kids Summer Reading Community Challenge.

The pieces all fell into place.

On Saturday morning, after breakfast was consumed, some of the adults were sitting in the camp chairs, others were on clean-up duty, and I could be found wrangling nine of the ten kids over to our big blanket for a little story and crafts time. First we read one of the books that was included in the kit for all of the children to receive, Martha Speaks: Martha Camps Out. Couldn't be any more fitting, huh? Seeing as it's been about four years since I last sat a large group of young children down for story time, I was a little rusty (and nervous-- I usually don't have either the parents or paparazzi standing around), but we kept at it and read two more books, too. You can't go wrong with a little Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale or Giggle, Giggle, Quack. 

With the children loaded up with Scholastic Read Every Day rubber bracelets and PBS Kids pins in place, we pulled out the crayons and paper. I still had many blank books left over from Red's birthday party last month, and each child excitedly grabbed one to try his own hand at becoming an author and illustrator. Oh, the creativity in this group! The topics ranged from butterflies and fairies to monsters and American Ninja Warrior. Yes, it was quite a range!

Everyone received three Martha Speaks books, a couple bookmarks, the bracelets and pins, a PBS Kids Activity book, and a Reading Progress Chart to keep track of the fun books they read with their families this summer. Since we were camping and there were many things to compete for the kids' attention, including the nearby beach which was our to be our group's destination later that morning, our party came to an end, with everyone packing up their materials to return to at a later time. All in all, I think we had a lovely time sharing the joys of reading, while simultaneously giving the other parents' a little break for a bit.

Thanks to iVillage, PBS Kids and Scholastic for the Summer Reading Party kit, from me and my group of happy campers.

Please check out my post on 5 Minutes for Books about the iVillage/ PBS Kids Summer Reading Community Challenge, and head over to the Challenge's site to sign up for the free summer program full of reading resources, activity suggestions, and daily encouragement to keep books a part of your children's lives all summer long.


Always with a book nearby, summer or otherwise,