Your elementary schooler just might have a celebratory week coming up at school — but don’t worry, this one doesn’t require you to DIY a costume in 24 hours or send in two dozen gluten-free and nut-free cupcakes. 

Beginning on Dr. Seuss’s birthday, March 2, until March 6, 2025, it’s Read Across America Week, when schools plan reading-centric activities, contests, and events to promote reading. The National Education Association (NEA) established Read Across America Week in 1998, and since then, the whole month of March has been designated as Read Across America Month.

How can you supplement your child’s classroom reading celebrations at home beyond, well, literally reading? Here are a few fun ideas that you can try and tweak to your liking depending on the age and reading level of your kiddo:

• Make DIY bookmarks using tissue paper, popsicle sticks, construction paper, and other craft materials

• Study the various parts of a book (PS: did you know there’s a part called “front matter?”)

• Download and print out online resources for Read Across America Week, such as coloring pages, worksheets, and digital e-books

• Set up or visit a “little free library” in your community, a small sharing box installed somewhere around town where neighbors donate and borrow books

• Host a book-themed costume party to which everyone comes dressed as their favorite storybook character, from Elephant & Piggy to Harry Potter

• Do a family read-aloud, where you all read one book together and take turns reading chapters or pages out loud 

• Discuss any books you read, whether it’s about the lesson learned from a board book or the protagonist story arch in young adult novels. Asking questions gets kids to think critically about what they’ve just read (and helps build skills for reading comprehension down the line)

• Expand your library by trying out others’ children’s book suggestions, whether it’s the National Education Association, the New York Public Library, the best-selling kids books at Barnes & Noble, or your child’s teacher or friends

• Host a book drive or book swap

• Donate board books the kids have outgrown or no longer read to your local library, daycare, or preschool

• Transform a corner in your bedroom or playroom into a reading nook (or reading fort!). Make sure it’s decked out with a comfy bean bag chair, a small shelf for current reads, and maybe even twinkle lights for visual effect

Lastly, I love these tips from NEA on how parents can raise enthusiastic readers. Start ‘em young!

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