Summer Book Club for Preschoolers

How to Start a Summer Book Club for Preschoolers!

With summer break around the corner, it’s time to start thinking how to occupy the kiddos! Book clubs are wonderful for all ages, especially young kids. It is also a great way for your little ones to associate reading with fun. Turn your club into mini-parties complete with friends, activities and snacks! Here’s your chance to choose character building books. And a perfect excuse to get together with other adults. A win-win for all!

Ready to get the ball rolling?

The first step is to form a group – invite neighbors, friends, your child’s classmates etc. Choose a time and place, and then rotate location each week. This can be either at a park, community center or someone’s home.

Select a theme and find ways to make the club fun with games and activities. Pick a few books to read to the kids at the book club and also send out additional suggested books that parents can read with their kids at home.

Then plan a discussion and activity/game around the theme. It’s a fantastic way to reinforce important life lessons!

Choose a Theme

What would you like your children to work on this summer? As we all know, raising children with character and confidence takes work! Why not choose books around your values. Everything from basic manners, kindness, friendship, sharing, caring, leadership, respect, confidence, good sportsmanship, play date basics and more can be discussed through stories, games and art projects. It’s simple. Choose your theme and then begin the planning process.

The Plan

I recommend using a consistent fun format that can be updated with a new theme each week. Key components:

• Suggested Book List – Here a good list of books to get you started. Then ask your local library for help.
• Discussion Guide – Brainstorm simple questions to engage the kids in a planned discussion around the theme. Ask parents and kids to bring in a ‘show & tell’ item or share a story.
• Engaging Activities – Here’s your chance to be creative. Think games. Think art projects. And of course think, summer!
• Snacks – Choose a healthy snack and tie it into the theme. For example, if the theme is kindness ask the kids to pass around the snack and give a compliment to each other.

As a busy mom of three, I am always keen on reminding my children to mind their p’s and q’s. Check out this book club format as a good example of combining the “Amazing Manners” theme with simple games and activities.

Just like any sport, the more we practice certain skills with our children, the more likely they are to improve. The amazing manners theme is about using our magic words and being kind and considerate to others. A great opportunity to reinforce basic manner skills with your kids!

Book Reading Suggestions:

• Penguin Says “Please” (Hello Genius)
• Bear Says “Thank You” (Hello Genius)
• Excuse Me: A Little Book of Manners (Lift-the-Flap Book)
• Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf
• Emily’s Magic Words: Please, Thank You, and More

Discussion: Plan a discussion guide to get the kids engaged on the topic of choice.

• What are manners and why do you use them?
• Who can name the magic words used in the books?
• Does anyone know why we say ‘excuse me’ and ‘sorry’?
• Does anyone have something to share about having amazing manners?
• Let’s role-play. Ask for volunteers and have them exaggerate really good behavior and really poor manners using the magic words.

Activity: The Polite Puppet – Make your own polite puppet. Use paper lunch bags and then have the kids decorate and draw faces on the front. Decorations can range from just using crayons to using stickers, beads, glue etc. Then role-play with the kids things that polite puppets would say.

Magic Word Snack Time: Choose a healthy snack to pass around in a bowl. The child should say “May, I please have the snack.” The first child passes the bowl the second child, who then replies “Thank you”. Second child, then replies, “Thank you”. First child then says “You’re welcome.” Keep going until the snack is finished.

There’s zillions of books and plenty of ways to get creative with games and activities. Good luck starting your book club and stay tuned for another summer book club theme next week.

What book club themes do you suggest?