Reading is an important part of growing, but when summer is in full swing, books seem to end up on the back burner. There are so many other fun and worthwhile things to do during the longer days and warm evenings.
That's when an incentive program is just the thing! Make this growing bookworm to motivate your child to pick up a book, finish it and even give it some analytical thought. What a wonderful combination! Plus, it's a creative bookish idea to sharpen minds and reading skills for the classroom this fall.
Find a lightweight plastic ball with holes in it, such as a whiffle ball. This will be the bookworm's head. Decorate half of it to create the face by gluing on felt and buttons, and twist pipe cleaners for whimsical features. Now, tie a 36-inch length of string onto the opposite half through one of the holes in the ball. The bookworm's body will grow along the string.
After you and your child read a book, cover the outside of a bathroom-tissue tube or a paper-towel tube with colored paper or paint, then add pictures that represent the characters and theme of the book. Was it about dinosaurs? Take a crayon and draw a dino. Was it about a little boy who couldn't fall asleep? Draw a teddy or a pillow and stars in the night. Add the title and author to the decor.
Slide the string through the first decorated tube so that the tube touches the ball. As books are read, add more tubes, one after the other, and watch the bookworm grow. You'll be feeding the caterpillar books! How healthy! Display on a shelf or table.
PARENTING TIP: If you have an avid reader in the family, suggest that for every two or three tubes he adds to the bookworm, he read a book to his younger sister and help her create a new tube of her own. This will be a reminder to him that growing the bookworm is a joint family effort.
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