Celebrate International Children's Book Day
International Children’s Book Day is celebrated every year on April 2. This date was established in 1967 to celebrate and encourage reading among children and young people.
Coinciding with the date of the birth of one of the most important writers of children’s literature in history, Hans Christian Andersen, it’s a good way to promote literature. Today, we’ll suggest a few ideas of how you can honor this special day.
Ideas for celebrating International Children’s Book Day
Choose a book you haven’t read yet
There’s no better way to celebrate International Children’s Book Day than reading. For this reason, today, we suggest you buy a new children’s or young adult’s book or check one out from the library. Be sure to choose one that you haven’t read yet and enjoy it.
Re-read a book you love and haven’t read in a long time
Sometimes, it’s not necessary for the little ones to immerse themselves in new stories. Especially if the ones we already have at home continue to spark their imagination and creativity. Therefore, if you have a large collection of children’s books, choose one that your little one loves and enjoys; as if they’re reading it for the first time.
A letter, a recommendation
In these difficult times in which we find ourselves, any activity is good for developing the creative mind of little ones. Therefore, we suggest celebrating International Children’s Book Day by giving your children each a blank sheet of paper. Then, invite them to write a letter to a friend to tell them about their favorite book and its plot.
This way, without even realizing it, they’ll be encouraging reading, choosing among several stories, and developing their written expression.
And for those who don’t like to write?
In order to consider all possible options, for those children who prefer other types of activities, we also have another alternative. However, we’ll start from the same place: a blank sheet of paper. On it, your little ones will have to use all their imagination and creativity and draw or paint the cover or a scene from their favorite book. This way, drawing and reading come together for the little ones to enjoy as much as possible.
More ideas to enjoy International Children’s Book Day
Discover a movie based on a book
This is a very simple game, but children will love it. There are several kid’s movies that are based on books, so this will be an activity to do with the littlest ones.
Choose a book and read it with them. Once finished, talk to your children about how they picture the characters, the scenery, and they can even draw a picture of the physical characteristics of important landscapes or monuments that appear in the book.
Afterward, show them the movie, and together, you can see how the children’s imaginations compare to that of the filmmakers. It’s a fantastic way to celebrate International Children’s Book Day by promoting culture through books and film.
Readometer, one of the best ways to celebrate International Children’s Book Day
Finally, we leave you with an idea to use both at home and in the classroom. The readometer we’re talking about will measure the books that a child reads during a certain team period that we can set ourselves.
You can create a readometer on a sheet of paper by drawing of a series of books placed on a shelf. Each time the child reads a book, they’ll draw the corresponding book.
If you have several children at home, then they’re sure to have fun, as they’ll want to be reading all day long in order to always be in first place. The same will be true if you apply it in a school classroom, so it’s a fantastic initiative to encourage reading in an easy and simple way.