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As the kids’ summer vacation begins this weekend, we’ve made a fun twist on the usual summer reading goals. We came up with the idea this morning while playing “Would You Like” on a family walk, and when we got home we made a paper stencil, which Sherry mentioned in passing on Instagram an hour later.Then Sherry’s DMs were flooded with people asking her to share a copy of the bracket, or tell them where we got it (we did it quickly in Photoshop), so we decided to give up Two free printable options in this article. As a 41 year old man, I even had fun myself making this filled out swatch above (our kids put a lot of wack on their swatches 😉
The idea is simple: Have your kids test out different reading locations and pit each location against each other in a March Madness-style competition.Which is better: reading in bed or under My bed? On floats in the pool or on blanket forts? In a hammock or on an outdoor swing. In an empty bathtub in a sleeping bag, or curled up in a swivel chair by the fireplace. We thought it would be a fun way for our kids to mix up their reading habits while officially crowning their favorite cozy place to read.
Click to download the printable Simplified Summer Reading Stand above
After first printing the simplified version above (which is what Sherry showed off on Instagram), I made some slight tweaks. First, I added some timing guidelines for each stage of the race. The event time for each location started at 15 minutes and eventually increased to 30 minutes (it felt more like a real test for each location).
I also split the bracket into two sides (literally): the inner position vs the outer position. It definitely inspired our kids to get more creative with their positions while encouraging lots of fresh air – which I think will make the final showdown even more interesting. My bet is that Hammock takes the crown (Shirley put her money on “Floating In The Pool”).
Click to download the printable Summer Reading Stand above (with timings)
We asked the kids to come up with 16 locations on their own, which was another fun activity in itself. Our son and daughter chose most of the same matches, but it was also fun to see how they placed each bracket differently. They even picked two reading spots near us to see if “destination reading” would be more interesting.
The printables are pretty easy because we want kids to personalize it (markers, stickers, etc.) as they color it. We thought about adding some blank lines to keep a reading log, but we came to the conclusion that they could write it on the back of the paper if they wanted to.
Other Reading Stand Variations
There are many other ways to tailor it to your child, their age, their reading interests, and more. For example:
- Each round involves a different type of book (starting with a comic or graphic novel and progressing to a chapter book by the finale).
- Each round adds a new “comfort” item (maybe a stuffed animal, then a treat, then a drink).
- Include rewards for completing a round (such as choosing a new book at a local bookstore or library, or earning time by having Mom or Dad read to them).
- Have siblings bracket each other with funny or odd locations (eg “I challenge you to read on a tree for 15 minutes”).
Honestly, it can be as complicated or as simple as you want. This is the first time we’ve tried this as the kids seemed to love the idea when we came up with it on our morning walks. If all goes well, follow the brackets to add up to 30 different reading sessions for a total of over 9 hours of reading time (per book). Our kids love to read, so it wasn’t our way of tricking them – but it did feel like the novelty of face-to-face group competition made them even more eager to crack their books immediately (they both love to read). As I type this, I’m reading in two very odd places).
Again, here are the links to download each version:
Download No Time’s Summer Reading Bracket
Download this Summer Reading Stand with the Times
Happy reading! Feel free to message Sherry on Instagram and let her know which spots end up being your family favorites. It makes me want to see if I actually prefer our hanging daybed, hammock, or poolside lounger…but I’ll probably keep playing with all of them.
