Book Club Tips
There are so many ways to enjoy our Lit League Book Club boxes. Use our book-themed activity boxes to facilitate special one to one time with your child, or invite more readers to share in the fun! Some of you may prefer a more freeform approach to enjoying our boxes, but if you want ideas for structuring your experience, here are some tips to get you started.
Single Reader Club
Lit League Book Club Boxes give you the tools to enrich the reading you are doing with your child. Designed by educators and moms, our activities support academic and emotional growth, and each box contains a different reading experience for you to enjoy with your little reader.
Tips for a Single Reader Book Club
- Let your child dictate the pace of each activity. It’s okay to put aside a craft activity to finish on a different day, if your child is ready for the next activity.
- Remember that your number one goal is for your child to have fun and to associate the feeling of joy with reading! So, have fun!
Family Book Club
Creating a culture of reading in the home is essential to nurturing lifelong readers. Forming a family book club establishes reading as a priority and a source of joy within your home.
At check out, you will be given the option to add a sibling for an additional $10 per child. Your family box will contain one book to share and activities for each child.
Tips For a Family Book Club
- In a family club, it is likely your children will complete some activities together during your official meeting, and some separately, or on a different day.
- You will likely want to stick to the meeting schedule so there is a shared reading club experience, allowing for flexibility is important. Your children are different ages, have different personalities, and different attention spans. Let them choose their own work speed.
- Consider giving your older child some leadership responsibilities, if possible, or assigning each child a specific helper role.
- The main goal is that all your children walk away from this reading experience filled with joy.
Friend Group Club
Pretty much everything is more fun with friends! Consider using the power of friendship to help motivate your little reader. More than motivation, forming a peer book club centers your child within a community of readers who can enjoy the fun our book boxes provide together. What a great way to foster a lifelong love of reading.
Our boxes contain all of the materials you need to host a club: the book, the activities, and detailed instructions for how to run the meeting. Each club member just needs to get a box, read, and bring the box to the meeting. It’s that simple!
Tips for Forming a Friend Group Book Club
- First decide if adults will be accompanying each little reader, or if you’ll have just one adult facilitate. This could be the same adult each time, or parents can take turns.
- If you’re meeting with adults and kids, look for like-minded parents. We all have different parenting styles and priorities. Who do you think you’ll enjoy sharing this experience with?
- Next, think about your child’s friends. Consider age, reading level, interests, and personality as you put your group together. Reading level is the least important aspect of your choice, as picture books will be read aloud at the meetings and chapter books will be read at home.
- Try to form a group with an even number of kids, so none of the kids ever feel left out.
- The younger the child, the smaller the group.
Tips for Running a Friend Group Book Club
- After all parents have ordered their book club boxes, pick a date for the first meeting.
- Schedule meetings in the morning, especially for young picture book clubs. Most kids are at their best in the morning, but especially little readers who are still napping in the afternoon.
- Remind readers of the rules before each meeting. Rules will depend on the needs of your readers, but will likely be some version of “raise your hand” and “wait for your turn.”
- Start the club immediately. If kids are given free time to play before the meeting, it will be difficult to get them focused. If you have extra time, free play should happen at the end of your meeting.
- Keep it positive!
- No pressure. Don’t force emerging readers to read their discussion questions out loud in front of their peers if they aren’t comfortable doing so. If they aren’t comfortable, an adult should read the question or story. Again, the goal is FUN.
- It’s okay if things don’t go as planned! If something isn’t working for your group, move on. Your goal is to facilitate a joyful experience that your child associates with reading.