Free 2013 Summer Reading Programs

What’s the most important trait you’d like to develop in your child? Intelligence at the top of your list? Mine too! as parents, I would like to hope, we all want bright children. As a parent, we have the power to boost our children's learning potential simply by making books an integral part of their lives.

When was the last time you read a book with your child? According to a recent report in the Daily Mail, reading provides many benefits, with mental and physical rewards. Here’s why:

1) Reading can boost concentration, lengthen attention spans and improve a child’s ability to think clearly. This is because stories ‘have a beginning, a middle and an end – a structure that encourages our brain to think in sequence, to link cause, effect and significance,” says British neuroscientist Baroness Susan Greenfield.

2) Reading fosters empathy. The sharpest decrease in empathy has been seen in studies conducted amongst college students in the past ten years, a decade that’s also seen the dramatic increase of technology use. “In a computer game, you might have to rescue a princess, but you don’t care about her, you just want to win,” says Baroness Greenfield. “But a princess in a book has a past, present and future, she has connections and motivations. We can relate to her.”

3)”Reading exercises the whole brain,” says John Stein, professor of neuroscience at Oxford University. Using our imaginations to follow a story when we’re reading activates our brains and this in turn can build new neural pathways.

4) In today's day and age, even children feel the stress factors of every day life. Reading can help us feel less lonely while also helping us relax. A study found that reading for just six minutes can help reduce stress levels more than listening to music or stepping out for a walk. Researchers think that reading distracts the mind, eases muscle tension and slows down our heart rate too. 

5) Reading may also help keep us in good physical health by preventing our brains from ageing and disease. Apparently, reading daily can inhibit the formation of amyloid or protein plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients

Here is a list of Free Summer Reading Programs for 2013! There are some great rewards that should definitely encourage your kiddos to keep reading this summer!

Barnes & Noble

At  Barnes & Noble, help your children read eight books this summer and track them on the Barnes & Noble reading log. They can then turn their reading log in at any Barnes & Noble store between May 21 and September 3, 2013 to get a free book.

Junie B Jones Reading Club

You can download a Reading Log, Activity Brochure and Sticker Sheet.

Scholastic Summer Challenge

Sign your kids up here and you can  download the free Family Participation Guide for children ages 0-6 or for children ages 7-12 for fun reading activities to do at home and watch the “HOW TO” video. You can also download the Free Scholastic Reading Timer App . Kids can log minutes, time themselves reading and you can track their progress and get daily reading tips. The more minutes kids read, the more rewards and recognition they earn for themselves and their school! Kids can keep track of their reading minutes by logging in.  In return, they can enter to win various sweepstakes including the following:

• 39 Clues prize pack: all the books from both series one, The Clue Hunt, and series two, Cahills vs. Vespers, in a The 39 Clues Backpack.

• Dear Dumb Diary prize pack: one DVD of the original Dear Dumb Diary movie, piece of original art by Dear Dumb Diary author Jim Benton, complete set of Dear Dumb Diary (12 books) and complete set of Dear Dumb Diary Year Two (4 books).

• The False Prince prize pack: One autographed copy of The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen and one autographed copy of The Runaway King by Jennifer Nielsen

• Harry Potter box set: One Harry Potter Hard Cover Boxed Set #1-7A 39 Clues Prize Pack

Pizza Hut Book It! 

Pizza Hut offers various reading challenges throughout the year.  The challengers are for kids in grades Kindergarten through 6th grade who read an identified number of books during the allotted time.  They haven’t announced their Summer Reading Challenge yet, but you can bet it will be a good one.  NOTE:  I’ll update with details as soon as it is announced. You can sign up to receive and email if you visit the site. 

Pottery Barn Kids Summer Reading Challenge

 Through August 26 PBK invites children to ‘take the challenge’ by reading 14 hand-selected books. Children who complete the book list and bring it to a Pottery Barn Kids location will receive a free book, or parents can enter their child into an online drawing for a backpack full of books.

American Girl Read-a-palooza

American Girl stores will have special reading events throughout the summer where you can listen to a story, create a special bookmark, and more. In addition, there are FREE American Girl eBooks on the site.

Applebee’s Book Worm Reading Club

This reading-focused reward program encourages students ages 12 or younger at school or the library to read at least 10 books that they record on their “Bookworm Club” record card. Once a student completes all 10 books they will earn a free kid’s meal at Applebee’s (when accompanied by an adult making a purchase).

You can also check out your local library to see if they are offering a Summer Reading Club.