Make Summer Reading an Outdoor Adventure
During the summer, reading can sometimes feel like a chore for kids. We’re here to change that! Our goal is to make reading feel like what it truly is: an adventure waiting to happen.
It’s no secret that reading matters. Research from the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report shows that children who read for 20 minutes or more per day are more likely to enjoy reading and understand its value. It’s no surprise that researchers have coined the term “summer slide” as students lose, on average, one month of instructional knowledge over the summer break. While 96% of parents believe summer reading helps during the school year, many aren’t sure why. Reading regularly boosts vocabulary, comprehension, creativity, and confidence.
Even though every family’s summer looks a little different, we’ve created a flexible resource to keep kids reading and outside! Our Outdoor Reading Scavenger Hunt and Bingo Board make it easy to turn any day into a reading adventure. When kids connect books with the outdoors, they get the best of both worlds! This means greater enjoyment of reading and the restorative benefits of nature.
Benefits of Outdoor Reading
Reading outside offers a welcome change of scenery. It boosts kids’ well-being and turns reading into a powerful, everyday escape.
Outdoor reading can improve mood, reduce screen time, and support mental health. A 2019 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that just 20 minutes in nature can significantly lower stress hormone levels in children and teens. Additional research shows that kids involved in outdoor curricula, or outdoor learning environments, experience higher academic achievement, improved problem-solving skills, and greater social growth.
By encouraging kids to grab a book and head to the park, backyard, or even the front steps, we’re helping them associate reading with joy, curiosity, and exploration. According to Kaplan & Kaplan, reading in nature can help refresh kids’ concentration, making it easier to focus on the text. Surrounded by nature’s sights, sounds, and sensations, kids can connect more deeply with books than they might in the classroom or living room.
Whether they’re reading about superheroes or real-life history, being in nature can make stories feel more alive and vibrant.
How the Reading Scavenger Hunt Works
The goal is simple: Get outside and read! From shady trees and front porches to park benches and big rocks, kids can turn reading into a mini adventure by choosing a variety of outdoor spots to enjoy their books.
To help guide caregivers, educators and family, we’ve built a printable checklist and a bingo board so kids can keep track of their progress. As kids mark off locations, you can help them celebrate their accomplishments and talk about new or unexpected places their books have taken them.
This challenge is pressure-free and flexible. What does that mean?
Read for at least 20 minutes a day! That could mean…
📚 Finishing a chapter
🖼️ Flipping through a picture book
📖 Reading just a few pages
What matters most is creating joyful, low-stress reading moments. Every reader is unique, and reading can look different from one kid to the next. That’s why we focus less on page counts and more on the effort and time students spend engaging with a book.
Summer Outdoor Reading Spots for Kids
Whether kids are spending their summer at camp, daycare, with a sitter, or hanging out with caretakers or parents, there are so many exciting and accessible places to read! That’s why we created a starter list of outdoor reading spots that work for all kinds of summer routines and settings. It doesn’t matter if you’re located in big cities and apartment buildings or small towns and open spaces, as our reading scavenger hunt will work for everyone.
We’re here to encourage kids to turn ordinary moments into mini reading adventures outside. A shady tree can become a storytime hideout. A bench becomes a front-row seat to a magical world. It’s all about making reading feel joyful, flexible, and easy to fit into everyday life.
Kid Summer Reading Call To Action
We’re calling all educators, parents, and caregivers to help spark a summer full of stories! Please join in this fun by printing or sharing our Outdoor Reading Adventure Checklist and Outdoor Reading Adventure Bingo Board with the young readers in your life. It’s a simple way to keep kids engaged, curious, and connected to books this summer.
We’d love to see where books take your readers! Invite them to snap a photo while reading outside and tag us on social media @BookBreak4Schools or use the hashtag #BookBreakOutside to inspire others to join the adventure.
Let’s make this summer one to remember with good reads, refreshed minds, and an appreciation for the world around us. Reading outside offers kids a nature reset and improved focus, all while helping them build strong reading habits. We invite everyone to explore stories with curiosity and adventure this summer!
Stay Tuned…