Kids Club Activities — After Reading

The Learn to Read Kids Club is more than just about learning to read. It’s also about having FUN!! Try these creative activities and ideas to strengthen your child’s reading skills and create enjoyable reading experiences for your child.

After Reading Activities
Two critical components of reading are understanding and remembering what was read. Try these fun activities to strengthen your child’s reading comprehension.

Retell with Puppets – Have your child recreate the story by making puppets and acting out the events of the story. First, ask your child to draw a character from the story on a piece of paper. Cut out the character and glue it to a popsicle stick, top of a pen cap or old sock. Use the puppet to retell or act out what happened in the story.

My Favorite Part – Children can draw a picture of their favorite part of the book and write a few sentences about it on cute lined writing paper with stars, a bookworm, a dog, a frog, a bear, or a simple, plain format.

Pop-Up Book – Your child will love creating this fun pop-up book. Use these simple instructions to bring the story to life. In the pop-up book, have children create some of the scenes from the book you just read or write a new story about one of the characters in the book.

Make a Bookmark – Children will have fun designing a their own bookmark to use when they read. A folding bookmark provides space for students to summarize stories, record new vocabulary words and draw pictures of their favorite characters. See these bookmark samples and instructions.

Flip-Flap Book Fun – Flip-flap books are versatile, easy-to-make projects that provide hands-on manipulation and a hint of secrecy or surprise. Children can draw or write a variety of information on each flap. From alphabet letters and sounds to vocabulary words and story sequencing, there are lots of ways readers of every level can learn with a flip-flap book. See these flip-flap book samples and instructions.

Wordless Books – To encourage creativity and freedom of expression, wordless books allow children to write or retell stories without being inhibited by spelling, grammar or punctuation. These are also great way to get young preschoolers involved in bookmaking. To make a book, simply gather several pieces of same-sized paper and bind together (use staples or punch holes and tie with ribbon). Have children draw pictures of the characters, retell the story or illustrate their favorite parts of the book. See these wordless book examples and instructions.

Placemats – Placemats are a fun way to bring learning to the table and make reading a topic of discussion for the whole family. To make a placemat, get a blank 11” x 17” sheet of paper or tape two 8 1/2” x 11” pieces of paper together. Young readers can draw a picture relating to something that they read recently, either a favorite character or event in a story. Cover completed placemats with clear contact paper or laminate them at a school or office supply store. Click here for examples and instructions.

NEXT:Go to our Word Work Activities to find out ways to help children review vocabulary words from the story.