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Celebrate Books with a Reading Fort Party!

Use a READING FORTTo Get Kids Reading!

I LOVE books, and so do my kids! Today I’m happy to write about yet another way you can raise kids who love books: by hosting a reading fort party! I got the idea from the lovely folks at Scholastic and EVEREADY®, who are sponsoring this post. We sometimes let the kids read books in bed by flashlight for a treat, so they loved this large-scale adaptation of that idea!

building a reading fort

We were able to easily create a large fort by rigging a sheet in between our kids’ two bunkbeds. This made a large enough space for all of the kids to gather to read!

A Game of Light by Herve Tullet is the perfect reading party book

I picked Herve Tullet’s A Game of Light for our book for the evening. This book was MADE to be read by flashlight! Each page has cut-outs that you shine a flashlight through that help tell the story.

Fun reading by flashlight

The fort created a fun atmosphere for the kids, and made it easy for them to focus on what we were reading! We finished up by practicing making hand shadows on the sheet above us. We need some more practice, but by the end of the night all of the kids could make a decent bird shadow.

Learning to make hand shadows

Can you see Emma’s bird in this photo?

Shadow play

The kids were pretty sad when I took the fort down for the night. I’m sure we will be building this reading fort again very soon!

Are you looking for ways to get your kids reading? Visit Scholastic’s Reading Under the Covers site for fun reading resources, and a special promotion to enhance valuable family time together this fall/winter including printable activities, book lists and tips for raising a reader. You can even download a Pajama Jam Reading Party Toolkit to host your own reading fort party! If you are lucky enough to live in or near NYC, be sure to visit the Scholastic Store in NYC for a fun Pajama Jam event on October 18, 2014.

Scholastic and EVEREADY® are teaming up to help parents shine a light on reading, even in the dark! EVEREADY®’s high quality batteries and flashlights are reliable and affordable and can be purchased at Dollar General or Target.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of EVEREADY®. The opinions and text are all mine.

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

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