This post is brought to you by Scholastic and ENERGIZER® Batteries. All opinions are my own.

Get ready to Power Up & Read with the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge! Check out innovative tips on getting your kids to read all season long! Includes free parent resources and printables from Scholastic to help get you started.

Every year, I sign Jacob up for the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge. I’ve been doing it since he was in preschool! During the early years, I did most of the reading while he listened. Now that he’s almost done with 4th grade, he does all the reading on his own and marks his own progress. Encouraging my son to read is so important to me. I believe that literacy is one of the most important gifts we can give our children. It not only allows them to explore worlds that only exist in fairy tales, it also sets them up for a more successful future.

The Scholastic Summer Reading program has so many fun ways to engage kids and get them reading that, to me, it’s a can’t-miss event every year. It runs from now through September 4th.

Power Up and Read! Join the 2015 Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge

Get ready to Power Up & Read with the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge! Check out innovative tips on getting your kids to read all season long!

The 2015 Summer Reading Program just launched and we’re ready to Power Up and Read! I already helped Jake sign up. It took less than two minutes for him to choose a name and get enrolled. Then I hooked his account up to my email so I can check out his progress and authorize his reading minutes to be attached to his school. As part of my partnership with the Scholastic Summer Reading program, we received a pretty cool package of books to kick off his reading.

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Every year, the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge has a fun new theme to really catch kids attention. As you can tell from the title of this post, this year’s theme is Power Up and Read. It’s sponsored by ENERGIZER®. There’s something magical about reading in the dark, and  ENERGIZER® batteries makes sure that my son can keep on reading long after the sun goes down. Plus, since we get a lot of storms, they sure come in handy when the power goes out! I may be going batty when that happens, but at least Jake can keep on reading!

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This year, kids can unlock 12 original short stories from bestselling authors. Each new reading milestone unlocks a new story, which encourages kids to keep on logging those minutes! The ENERGIZER® partnership also encourages families to find fun new ways to discover the power and joy of reading. Get it? POWER up? It’s a symbiotic match, don’t you think? Check out a few easy ideas for coming up with innovative ways to get kids to read.

3 Innovative Ways to Encourage Summer Reading

Get ready to Power Up & Read with the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge! Check out innovative tips on getting your kids to read all season long!

  •  Book Scavenger Hunt: Use the Scholastic Summer Reading book lists on the Parent Resources page to find the list for your child’s age. Choose a few right off the bat to “hunt” for in book stores. Then grab a handful to add to your scavenger hunt list. Next, add a few of your own childhood favorites to the list.  Have your kids keep an eye out for them at yard sales, friend’s houses, the library, doctor’s offices and so on.
  • Write your own wacky family story. Grab the Innovation Story Starter printable from Scholastic and use it as a launching point for your own family story. Have your child write one paragraph (or one page), then pass it along to another family member. Give everyone a chance to add on to it. You can even do it in a word processing doc on the computer and email it to far-away family and friends to have them add on. When it’s done, sit down as a family and read it together.
  • Design a better mouse trap. Take an existing idea and make it better by coming up with a new invention! You don’t have to go through the patent process, or even the development process! Just the idea process alone will get your kids thinking in new ways.  Have your kids to research on their chosen innovation. Get them to appropriate websites that show the history of the current model and the inventor. Need a starting point? Print out The Innovation Machine from Scholastic.

I’ll be sharing more ways to get kids reading over the summer, so be sure to check back! Also check out my top 10 tips for getting kids to read!

Energizer® Instant Win Game

The “Power the Possibilities” campaign puts the right tools in your hands to unlock all your child’s talents and really drive their ambitions. If you buy specially marked packages of Energizer® brand batteries during the campaign, you’ll have a chance to win one of thousands of prizes on an instant-win scratch-off that will help power discovery and learning.

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Some of these awesome prizes include a tablet filled with Scholastic apps, a library of Scholastic books and even a family trip to New York City! Everyone who plays can also download free digital stories for their family.

Scholastic Summer Reading Resources for Parents

Every year, the Scholastic Summer Reading Program puts out tons of fantastic resources to help parents really encourage their kids to keep on reading.  This year, you can check out a series of great videos, including my favorite, tips on making kids laugh with books:

I love this video because Jacob is a huge fan of funny books. He’s read every single Captain Underpants, Stick Dog and Diary of a Wimpy Kid book out there.  After you watch the video, check out these other great resources to help you get your kids laughing with books:

That’s a lot of information to take in, right? I’m going to stop here for today! Don’t worry, I’ll be back with more great summer reading tips!