My kids have had the great pleasure of being a part of book clubs in Calgary and Seattle. Each have looked a little different, but both are pretty magical! There’s something so special about gathering a group of kids around stories. The lessons that can be learned from books is powerful. [For that reason, and many others, our family has made getting books into the hands of kids who need it one of our five pillars for our Foundation, Sticks and Strings.]
Whether your goal is to foster a love of reading, build a sense of community, or just create a fun reason to get kids together, starting a book club can be surprisingly simple and incredibly rewarding. Both scenarios are for multi-aged kids, but one requires very little prep! Let me tell you about both.
Simplified Kid Book Club
- Get a group of people to join! Make this commitment low key – it doesn’t matter if they can come once or every time. For every aspect of this book club we always emphasize, “Do what you have the capacity for! We love your presence in whatever way.”
- Pick frequency. Whether you want to do monthly in the Spring/Summer months, every second month, or quarterly – it’s all fun! I personally don’t recommend monthly, unless it’s just for a season, because I’ve found with my adult book club that has been kicking it for nearly a decade (holy smokes!), you want a small enough commitment that it’s still do-able and not stressful, but a big enough commitment that people look forward to it happening again!
- Choose a host. We’ve also simplified this process for Kid Book Club. The only job of the host is to pick the date and the location. That can mean their house or it can mean any outdoor location (hot tip: outdoor locations are our favourite for Kid Book Club) – make it a playground, a green space, a lake, a river, a Provincial or State Park, a splash pad, a backyard – you name it.
- Each family chooses a book (and brings a snack). As an attending family, pick a picture book to share with the group. Bonus points if one of your kids (or all of them) can tell the group why they chose it. Also, bring a snack to share potluck style (again, only if you have the capacity to do so).
- Let the magic happen! Now to the fun part. Everyone shows up with their book and their snack. The kids run wild and have a blast. The parents visit and wrangle kids. Then there will come a point in the loveliness where all the kids will be ready for snack time – that’s when the books come out. An adult from each family can be the librarian reading the book, while the kids snack. And you get through as many books as you can!
It’s low pressure, it’s good for everyone, and it’s so much fun!!
Okay, want to up the ante a little bit just because, or mostly because there are much older kids involved and they are ready to take it to the next level? I present you…
Full Meal Deal Kid Book Club
- Get a group of people to join! This part stays the same as above.
- Pick frequency. This part also stays the same, but my highest recommendation for this version would be every second month or quarterly.
- Choose a host. The host’s job is a bit bigger in this version. The host will choose the date and location, but the host will also pick the chapter book for kids. The host will also come up with a few questions the kids can answer at the event, and/or papers for the kids to colour in how many stars they would rate the book.
- Each family reads the book (and brings a snack). Each family will read the chapter book in time for the event. And they will bring a snack for potluck style goodness.
- Let the magic happen! The kids still run and play. The adults still visit and wrangle kids. But at some point (again, possibly during potluck snack time) the kids talk discussion questions and rate the book. Then it’s time to pick the host for next time!!
This has been such a highlight in our family’s schedule, and I hope it brings you so much goodness as well!