Celebrate National Read a Book Day

September 6 is National Read a Book Day, though in my household I think that’s every day! And indeed this is a holiday that everyone can celebrate, at home or in the classroom. Here are a few ideas for celebrating reading today and every day.

Make a reading nook: in your home or classroom, having a little nest or special place for reading can be a lot of fun. It needs good light, a comfy place to sit or lie down, a shelf or table where you can put snacks and drinks (at home at least; a shelf might make more sense in a classroom) and a good stash of notebooks, writing utensils and bookmarks.

Print some bookmarks: speaking of bookmarks, it might be time to refresh your supply of bookmarks. I’ve done a few posts about printable bookmarks (for example, here and here) that last bunch is all coloring bookmarks, which is great to add another activity to your reading day festivities. If you’re making bookmarks for the home you can search for bookmarks on a theme, such as robots or ice cream or mandalas, which can be fun for all ages to have their own bookmarks they color themselves.

Book bingo: Maybe now is the time to start a reading challenge or filling out a book bingo card. There are tons of different options for kids and adults, or you can make your own based on ideas from your classroom or family. Some things to include might be different kinds of books to read (chapter books, graphic novels, audiobooks, etc.) or places to read (outside, in bed, at a restaurant, and so on). If you want a printable reading bingo card to use, check out this one from Childhood 101, or this summer reading bingo printable from Imagination Soup.

How do you celebrate reading every day? I’d love to hear about it!

[Image by StockSnap from Pixabay]

Fall is a great time to learn about and observe the birds in your area, but you can do this any time of year. Whether you’re watching from a backyard or a playground, you’re sure to find a few birds and can learn about the birds that are native to your region in any case.

If you do see birds at home or where your classroom is, the Merlin app is a great one (if your school allows phones). If you don’t already know it, it listens to the sounds around you and can identify birds based on their calls. Very cool and a reason for kids to be quiet while you’re observing nature. Having an old fashioned paper guidebook to the birds where you live is also a great idea because kids can use it to look up birds and it’s just fun to have in the science center.

The specific birds involved in your learning will vary depending on where you live, but here are some bird activities you can do with your kids at home or in the classroom.

Natural Beach Living set up a simple bird nature study center that includes bird books and feathers in front of a big window. There are also some printables you’ll find links to in this post including three part cards and bird observation charts for birds local to them and a bird unit study with lots of great printables (this is a paid resource).

Adventure in a Box has a printable birds of the world bingo game, which might inspire you to learn more about some of the 48 different birds included, from emu to snowy owl, grackle to Atlantic puffin.

If you’re American you’ll enjoy these state bird coloring pages from Flanders Family Home Life. If I can count, only 48 states are listed (which I wouldn’t have noticed except Arkansas isn’t there; it’s one of many whose state bird is the mockingbird). Print out all of them or just your home state, or give each child a bird to research and color to do a presentation in the classroom.

And you can learn more about the different types of bird nests and see if you can observe any of them on a nature walk with this guide to bird nests from Fun Mom Printables on Etsy. It includes information about eight types of nests with drawings and three part cards.

Have you read?

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