National Reading Month celebrates the joy and importance of reading for all ages. The month-long event encourages daily reading habits by promoting a love for literacy and inspiring new generations of readers. It’s celebrated this month in honor of the children’s author, Dr. Seuss, born in March and having a significant influence on literacy and education.
Why Celebrate National Reading Month?
National Reading Month celebrates literacy and lifelong learning. Reading is important because it improves vocabulary, critical thinking, creativity, memory, and empathy.
To help celebrate this special month, some libraries and organizations offer reading themed activities to spark excitement for reading and inspiration to dive into a new book. Other ways to celebrate are to visit your local library, start a book club, or read aloud to family or friends.
If you enjoy creating or designing, there are creative ways to celebrate National Reading Month too! Keep reading for 10 creative things everyone can do to celebrate National Reading Month.
10 Ways to Creatively Celebrate National Reading Month
There are so many ways to celebrate National Reading Month. However you choose to celebrate your love for reading, finding creative ways to bring stories to life can make reading even more special.
Build a Book Bracket
Make your own book bracket to visually showcase your favorite books. Start by selecting a theme, such as a genre or timeframe, then decide on the number of books you want to showcase. Finally, build your bracket on a poster or by using digital tools like Canva.
Design a Mobile
Gather facts, characters, plots, quotes, or anything else you find interesting from a story and display them on a mobile. Use a clothes hanger to dangle your favorite elements from a story or a book using string or ribbon. Finally, hang your mobile in a cozy place where you enjoy reading.
Cook a Meal from Your Favorite Book
Have you wished you could taste something a story character is eating? Well, now is the perfect time to recreate a dish from a beloved story or book. If the full recipe isn’t listed, use your imagination to create a recipe that is inspired by reading. For example:
- Mad Hatter’s Whimsical Tea Party from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol.
- Lembas Bread Energy Bites from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein.
- District 12 Rustic Lamb and Dried Plum from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Enter A Contest or Challenge
Participating in a writing contest or a reading challenge is another creative way to celebrate National Reading Month. Also, there are friendly competitions you can participate in such as a read-a-thon. Finally, until April 2, K12-powered students can participate in a Minecraft Build Challenge by creating a story or reading-inspired Minecraft build.
Create Book Jacket
Designing your own book jacket is a creative way to bring your favorite stories to life. Interpret a story through your own perspective and design text or visuals to reflect how you see the story. You can emphasize key themes, characters, emotions, symbols, or anything that stands out to you.
Take a Shelfie
No, we didn’t mean to say take a selfie! Snap a photo of your bookcase or a shelf displaying your favorite books or trinkets from stories you enjoy. Or design a curated display to highlight certain authors, themes, or even the colors of your book spines.
Design a Bookmark
Use paper, cardstock, old newspaper or magazine clippings, upcycled postcards, or anything else you can think of to create a unique bookmark. You can include your favorite quotes or character elements and customize them to fit your style. To spread literacy awareness, you can make unique bookmarks to share with family and friends.
Make a Diorama
Recreate an exciting scene and bring a book to life in 3D! Using an upcycled shoebox and craft supplies, you can create a miniature scene highlighting a key moment or theme from a story.
Write Your Own Short Story
Step into the role of an author and use your imagination to create new worlds, scenes, characters, conflicts, and adventures. Pick a genre that interests you and write between 500-1,000 words. You can create a new, original story, or select a prompt from a favorite book. For added fun, illustrate a scene from your story or read it aloud to family and friends.
Dress Like a Character
Immerse yourself in your favorite story by dressing up as a book character. Using clothing and accessories you already have or creating a DIY costume, this is a fun way to spark conversations about literacy. To make it even more interactive, you can perform a character scene or quote and talk about what makes it memorable.
Celebrating the Joy of Reading
National Reading Month is a wonderful time to celebrate the joy and importance of reading. There are so many different ways to celebrate this special month. By creatively celebrating, you can share your love for reading in a fun way that also inspires others. Whether you create a diorama or recreate a tasty meal, bringing books to life and immersing yourself in a story is a fun way to celebrate literacy. So, dive into a new book, share your love for reading with others, and let your imagination soar. Happy National Reading Month!
