Read-a-thon at Home

Remember those days in school where you would bring a book, bring a blanket and pillow, and then you would sit and read your favorite book for a couple of hours? Read-a-thons were something that were usually done a couple of times a year when I was going to school, and at the time it wasn’t something I really looked forward to that much. These days, it would certainly be nice to have quiet time like that to read.

Fortunately, there is no reason you can’t recreate that same ambience at home with your own kids. This activity is probably best for kids that can read on their own, that way you can get some reading of your own in. However, there’s no reason that you can’t have a read-a-thon at home with younger children as well, you just won’t be able to get as much of your own reading in is all.

Putting together your own read-a-thon at home isn’t difficult. Simply have everyone grab a pillow and blanket, grab the books they’re going to read, and find a comfortable place in the house to read. The goal is to read as much as you in a couple of hours, and to give everyone some uninterrupted time for concentrating on reading - you might be surprised how much you can actually read when you’re focused.

We also like to have a few snacks available as part of our read-a-thon as well. Simple things like fruits and vegetables, popcorn, and water bottles. This makes the occasion feel special to the kids beyond just it’s time to read. They get to have snacks that they sit with their pillow and blankets with. We like to keep the snacks as healthy as possible as most kids don’t really need any more sugar than they already get.

For yourself, grab your Kindle and read as many of your books as you’d like. Simply being able to sit and relax with your book is a great way to relax - you’re able to disconnect from the world, but at the same time you keep your mind active and engaged. Reading is unique in this perspective as it’s an active relaxation technique. We highly recommend it over many of the other alternatives these days.

If you’ve got a younger child that isn’t yet ready to read on their own, plan to spend some of the time reading to them. You don’t have to read the entire time to them - ideally you get them engaged in the books that they’ve chosen and they will look through them on their own for a bit of time - some kids will sit and look at books for quite some time before becoming bored. See if you can get your child to do so.

Ultimately, try to get as much quiet time for reading as you can. While there are many ways to find time to read as a parent, most of them involve shorter periods of reading which can be a bit disruptive in order to actually get into a book. A read-a-thon allows you to potentially get some more of this dedicated and focused time to read. It also helps encourage your child to read for fun as well.

Plan a read-a-thon a couple of times a year and make it a fun and special event. You might finally be able to get through the book you’ve been meaning to read for some time.