Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge: Reading Under The Stars

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I’ve always been a bookworm and I’m excited that my love of reading has passed on to Kora & Logan. They will spend parts of every day reading, even in the summer. In fact, they can get so into a book that Dave and I have found ourselves telling them, “Don’t walk while you are reading. Get to where you are going, sit down, and pick the book back up again.” It’s wonderful to see them so excited to see what happens next that they just don’t want to put the book down. That’s why I am grateful to be given the opportunity to work with Scholastic to share with you info about their Summer Reading Challenge as well as the fun we had Reading Under The Stars.

Recently we thought it would be neat to do a little reading outside and have some fun Reading Under The Stars. We laid out our picnic blanket, a number of books, a couple EVEREADY flashlights, a constellation chart, and some glow-in-the-dark bookmarks. The kids were excited set this all up and get comfy on the blanket and dive into their books.

Yoshi was happy to get in on the fun too.

Have you tried reading outside this summer? We had always read inside but we have discovered a love of reading in the backyard. It’s such a fun and peaceful way to enjoy a good book. We were sitting in our lawn chairs reading but once we had this Reading Under The Stars party on the picnic blanket it was a such a great down-to-earth way to enjoy reading that we’ll definitely be doing it again.

This year’s Summer Reading theme is Reading Under the Stars, and is powered by EVEREADY®, the maker of batteries and flashlights, to encourage families to discover new and fun ways to explore reading outside this summer.

We were inspired by this and decided to try hanging out after dark on the picnic blanket. We had our EVEREADY flashlights, pile of books, constellation chart, and glow-in-the-dark bookmarks on hand. It was lots of fun and Kora & Logan couldn’t believe they were reading outside, in the dark, by flashlight!

We all had a great time and Kora & Logan have been talking about our evening Reading Under The Stars since. They thought it was amazing that they could read by flashlight after dark while looking up at all the beautiful stars. It is a wonderful reason to spend some quality family time together making long lasting memories.

I mentioned before that Kora & Logan have been participating in the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge and have really been enjoying the weekly challenges. Every day they log their minutes reading and at the end of the week if they meet their goals they are awarded with badges and prizes.

Here’s a look at how many minutes Kora has read since she created her account.

And here’s the badges she has earned.

Here’s a look at Logan’s minutes.

And the badges he’s earned.

Both kids are very excited when the earn new badges and prizes. The prizes are online mini-mysteries starring some of their favorite characters including Geronimo Stilton. It’s been a lot of fun for them to be able to keep track of all the reading they’ve been doing and to watch the minutes accumulate.

In 2013, Scholastic inspired more than 130,000 kids from 4,200 schools in all 50 States and 31 countries to set a new record for summer reading of 176 million-plus minutes!

I’m glad the kids find this so fun and inspiring and recommend the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge to anyone with children in their lives. It’s fun for bookworms and those who need a little motivation alike. I also encourage you to have your own Reading Under The Stars event and hang out after dark with your flashlights and a pile of good books. It’s sure to be a night filled with smiles, laughter, and lifelong memories.