Reading Olympics

Brought to you by Reading Is Fundamental®

Ages: Prereaders, beginning readers, older readers
Materials: Posterboard (or sturdy paper), paint or crayons, scissors, hole puncher, spool of ribbon

In this activity, family members go for the gold (or whatever other color they choose) by entering books they have read in a fun series of Olympic reading events.

What to do:
Together, brainstorm a list of book games and competitions. Keep contests of skill to a minimum, and make them fun. For most events, the books themselves should be the contenders. Here are some examples of records your readers can hope to hold:

• Most number of pages read in seven minutes
• Longest list of characters in a single story
• Fastest oral reading that the family can still understand
• Longest word on a page
• Longest sentence on a page
• Thickest book (not necessarily the one with the most pages)
• Book with the most pictures
• Book with the longest title (number of words)
• Oldest book (earliest copyright)

The family decides when to hold the events (plan an hour or two over several consecutive evenings) and sets some ground rules. For example: Books have to have been read in the last six weeks to qualify (or the next six weeks if you're planning ahead); readers can enter the same book in no more than two events (this encourages more reading); and two readers who enter the same book can tie for a medal.

The children can fashion their own medallions out of posterboard and color or paint them any three colors that correspond to the gold, silver, and bronze medals awarded to the top three contenders in the real Olympics. Help punch holes and string them on lengths of ribbon.

Make sure everybody in the family wins plenty of medals!

Source: The RIF Guide to Encouraging Young Readers, edited by Ruth Graves, New York: Doubleday, 1987.

More on: Reading and Language Arts Skill-Builders for Grades 2-6