Camp Read-a-Lot Family Night
One of the goals of my campus literacy program was to get parents engaged in enjoyable speaking, listening, reading, writing, and thinking activities with their kids. We tried to do this through many different means, but my favorite by far was our Family Literacy Night event.
Every year, we hosted a family night event where parents, kids, and their families were invited to participate in fun themed activities.
All they needed was to show up. We provided the stations, a snack, and a free book to each student! (Access to books matters!)
The first Family Literacy Night I ever hosted was camping themed. I called it Camp Read-a-Lot. It was so much fun.
We had a good turnout and the families who came seemed to really enjoy the activities!
Here are the fun stations from our fun camping event, all centered around A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee!
Our teachers loaned us sleeping bags and set up tents on the back patio behind the school. Aren’t they incredible? What a fun way to read with your kids!
Once it got dark, the kids used flashlights to read! They had a blast.
Our kids made puppets from the book: Dee the dog, and the bear!
Fishing for rhyming words! We taped an index card with a word on the floor. Then kids used their fishing poles made of branches, string, and magnets to fish for words that rhymed!
S’mores station was a big hit. We used graham crackers, chocolate, popsicle sticks, and marshmallow fluff. The kids followed the directions to make a S’more and then wrote about it on their five senses sheet.
At our Game Night station, students and parents practiced a lost art. Playing games together. We put out Connect Four, Trouble, Candyland, and some others, and the kids and parents chose which game to play. It was so nice to see the kids and their parents interacting around a fun game.
Our Building Words station was a big hit, too. I don’t think I’ve seen parents getting more competitive than they were at this station! They kept adding words to their list, shouting when they thought of a new one.
Want to learn more? Check out my How to Plan an Awesome Family Night video!
Want some more great camping ideas? Check out the Comprehension Connection’s Thematic Thursday: Camping! There are bunches of neat ideas for hosting a great Camping Week!
How adorable! Looks like a BLAST!
Love it!