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How We Do Friday Reading Time

When we moved to Utah a few years ago and my girls got out school early every Friday, we started doing Friday Adventures.

It was a great way to get to know the playgrounds, libraries, museums, and other fun places in our new home and a great way to spend quality time together.

But this year, with winter and COVID combining to make it hard to go anywhere (weirdly, my children didn’t enjoy going to playground when it was 23 degrees outside!), we changed our routine to Friday Reading Time instead.

And it’s been a HUGE hit.

Here’s how it works.

Friday Reading Time

We have a huge, fluffy quilt that Bart’s grandmother made us when we got married and I spread it out on the living room floor.

All the girls grab pillows and blankets from their rooms or the couch and a stack of books.

While they’re gathering those, I made a snack board. Usually I do one treat-type item (it might be cookies or caramel popcorn or anything else we have on hand) and then a bunch of dried fruit, nuts, fresh fruits and vegetables, crackers, and whatever else I can rustle up.

I put the board down in the middle of the blanket and everyone eats snacks and reads their books. My older girls can read on their own and Tally looks at picture books or listens to an audiobook with headphones.

Obviously, I don’t want to be left out of the fun and I snuggle up with my own book too.

After 20-30 minutes, I’ll read aloud to them from our latest read-aloud, since we do movie night on Friday which means a later bedtime and no reading aloud before bed.

The whole thing takes about 5 minutes to set up and lasts usually 40-60 minutes.

We also usually do our weekly library trip on Fridays in conjunction with Reading Time.

Sometimes we go before Friday Reading Time so that we can come home and have plenty of new books to read. Sometimes we go after, if the girls need some time to finish a book or two before we return them to the library.

We may switch it to a different afternoon as the weather gets better and we can resume more outdoor Friday adventures, but for now, this has been something we all look forward to as a great way to kick off the weekend!

Any other questions about Friday Reading Time?

 

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Photos by Heather Mildenstein

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2 Comments

  1. I love this idea! I have a 4 and 6 year old. The 6 year old can read, but looking at a tablet or listening to books is more of her interest. Any suggestions for encouraging her to practice reading vs looking/listening to a story during this time like her little sister? I feel like it could quickly become a fight over why the younger one can look/listen to books but she has to read. Would love your thoughts on this and whether it’s ever been an issue in your household. I’m also aware that I may be overthinking it. 🤦

  2. I love this idea! My 6 year old is starting to read but doesn’t always want to at home, and my 4 year old loves books, but can’t read yet. I’d love to incorporate this to foster a love of reading!

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