by Katherine Baron
Books clubs often are thought of as a chance—or excuse—for adults to gather to drink wine, share good food, enjoy the company of friends, while the actual book is usually ignored, or used as a coaster.
Replace the wine with juice boxes and the smoked salmon with goldfish crackers, and inject some intense discussion about the assigned book, and you have the latest playgroup activity: book clubs for kids.
Mother of Invention
After a particularly hectic playgroup with nine high-energy preschoolers, my fellow mothers and I knew we needed a new activity that would hold their attention for more than 30 seconds. One particularly creative mom suggested starting a book club for kids. The rest of us jumped at the opportunity.
After some planning and brainstorming, our next playgroup was the first official book club meeting for our children. We kept our traditional playgroup craft time, but tied the craft to the book. Our first book was The Princess and the Pea by Margo Lundell, so the craft was making prince or princess crowns out of construction paper, beading, stickers, string and glitter. It was a hit.
Each parent had read the book with our children the previous week, and we now encouraged a discussion during craft time. The children loved that they had all read the same story, and the ensuing (and priceless) conversation flowed from that enthusiasm. “Why a pea? Why not a grape? I like grapes better than peas!” and “How did she know it was there? It must have been a big pea!” (Note: keep the camcorder close by during your little ones discussions.)
The Payoff
Starting a children’s book club takes a minimal investment, and the paybacks are huge. Some of the benefits of a book club for kids are obvious: improving literacy and social skills, instilling an enthusiasm for reading, and gaining critical thinking skills. But what many parents discover through this project is something even more valuable. When you read and discuss a book with your child to prepare for a book club meeting, and you open up an entirely new avenue of communication with your child.
Tips on starting a book club
• Start by inviting current playgroup/playdate members. You will want to develop a small group of dependable attendees.
• Have members commit to the club for a minimum period of time. This will give the club stability in the beginning stages.
• Determine the frequency and length of each meeting in advance. Depending on the age of your group, adults may need to help with these decisions.
• As age appropriate, allow the children choose the amount of reading to accomplish in between meetings: one chapter, a number of pages, the whole book (picture books or enthusiastic readers)! Remind older kids to take the occasional note as they read so they can share their thoughts during discussion time.
• Encourage children to make suggestions regarding how the club should operate.
• Most importantly, let the kids come up with ideas for books to read and discuss. But parents can still use their influence as well to direct them toward books the children wouldn’t normally choose, such as memoirs, poetry or mystery.
• Once the book is chosen, chose the craft based on the subject or characters. For example, Harold and the Purple Crayon can inspire purple drawings; The Children’s Book of America can lead to creating a puzzle of the United States, with each state being a puzzle piece.
• Incorporate physical activity into each meeting. Schedule the club gatherings at a park or beach so that after the craft/book discussion, the children can release some energy with a physical activity. If possible, relate an activity to the book, and ask the children for ideas, even the preschoolers. Their creativity often is surprising.
• Decide in advance whether one family will bring snack and drinks to share at each meeting, or if it will be bring your own. Once again, if possible, tie the snack to the book, and ask the children for ideas.
• Have a designated photographer for each meeting so the club activities and its members can be documented. An added benefit is that the children could then scrapbook their special times together for a craft project.
• Start a journal for each child. Record each book read, as well as reactions and discussions, and include pictures as the club progresses. Smaller children can add drawings.
Katherine Baron is a freelance writer from Naples. She has a 5 year old daughter who loves to read.
