10 reading challenges and a family reading scavenger hunt

← All articles·Learning at home·7 min read

Why reading challenges work

Children read more when there is a playful goal and some choice in it. A challenge gives both, without the nagging. It also takes the pressure off: a child who is nervous about reading will happily hunt for words or tick off a bingo square long before they will sit and practise. You are not lowering the bar, you are opening a different door to the same room.

The family reading scavenger hunt

Copy this list, give your child a week, and tick each one off together. Finish a line for a small treat, or the whole list for a family outing.

• Read something that made you laugh
• Read outside, or in a den you built
• Read a recipe, then help make it
• Read to a younger child or a pet
• Read something that is not a story: a leaflet, a map or a menu
• Read a book someone else in the family loves
• Read the back of three cereal boxes and pick the best
• Read a page in a silly voice
• Read a poem out loud
• Read for 15 minutes without stopping

10 reading challenges to try

1. Reading bingo: a grid of reading dares, cross off a line for a reward.
2. Reading passport: a stamp or sticker for every book finished, building to a treat.
3. Bedtime streak: count the nights you read in a row and try to beat your record.
4. Book in a jar: titles on folded paper, pull one out to pick what to read tonight.
5. Genre adventure: try a new kind of book each week, a comic, a fact book, a poem.
6. Read-aloud theatre: act out a scene with silly voices and a tea-towel cape.
7. Book swap: trade a favourite with a friend or cousin and compare notes.
8. Reading fort: cushions, a blanket and a torch make 20 minutes fly by.
9. Audiobook plus book: follow the words while listening, brilliant for building confidence.
10. Beat the timer: read a short page before the sand timer runs out, kept light and cheerful.

If your child is a reluctant reader

• Let them choose. Comics, jokes, football stickers and fact books all count.
• Share the load. Take turns reading a line or a page each.
• Keep it short. Five happy minutes beats twenty tense ones.
• Never use reading as a punishment.
• Let them catch you reading, too.

Make it stick

Pick one or two ideas, put the chart on the fridge, and keep it light. A small, regular dose beats a big push. When you are ready, our guide to learning in ten minutes a day shows how to fold reading into the routine you already have.