Family Fun Time - Instilling the Love of Reading

Well, on my Facebook page I tried using the new questions app and epically failed. I only got five (Yes, 5, a whole hand, a nickel's worth, you get the point) responses to my question "what parenting issues are most relevant to you"? Of the five that responded, two said Family Fun time. So, for you two I dedicate this post and my new regular (well every once in a while) topic of Family Fun Time.
Since it is National Library Week, the subject of today's family fun is reading. I know I see the eye rolls now. I hear the complaints "We thought you said FUN!" But stop your doubting reading IS fun and it can inspire great family activities. First off it is so much more fun if you are talented enough to do voices and some sound effects. Even if you can't do them great, your kids will appreciate your efforts. Yes, that is pretty basic, but I promise that are many more ways to have reading inspired fun. Here are some ideas:

• Try a chapter book or book series that is beyond your child's reading level but not interest. For example I have not personally read the first four Harry Potter books because my husband read them first and then decided to read them aloud to our daughters and I listened, too. The girls were young when these were the rage and the size of the books were daunting, yet they wanted to know all about Harry and his friends too. The coolest part is when we saw the movies we were so surprised how well my husband's voices sounded like the actors. 
• Pass the book a round and give everyone a turn or assign each person a character and have them read or act out their character's dialogue. 
• Before road trips head to the library for an audio book to listen while traveling. Not only does this keep bickering down (always a plus) it gives you something to talk about as well.
• Have a meal or snack of foods the characters in your favorite book would or did eat. Some book series actually have cookbooks of the types of foods their characters ate such as the Little House on the Prairie Books and the American Girl books, but if not just get a little creative. You could add a dash of pumpkin pie spice and a few drops of orange food coloring to warmed apple juice to make Harry Potter's pumpkin juice. Or cook hot dogs over the camp fire or make foil dinners if you are reading a Western or cowboy book. Fruits and veggies cut into butterfly shapes and flower shapes for a Fairy Tea. Just use your imagination (and your kids' imaginations) and try not to over complicate it.
• Pretend to be the characters for the day, meal, car trip, whatever. If the characters have accents, whether southern, British, New England or whatever you have to use it too. If the they use a special vocabulary, then you need to use it to.
• Play charades or Pictionary based on your favorite characters or book titles. You could either just figure it out as you go or take a few minutes to jot titles, characters, places, etc. down on  index cards so it doesn't take forever for each player to try to come up with an idea. 
• Play "Who Am I ?" using characters of your favorite book. If you never played, it is so simple and fun for all ages. Write character names down on sticky notes or pieces of masking tape, but keep them secret. Then stick the name to each person's back. You could also stick them to foreheads but personally I think the back of a shirt is less annoying and itchy, plus little ones can reach it to pull it off. Then take turns trying to figure out who who are. The person who is guessing stands up and shows his  name tag to the others. Then he asks yes or no questions to try to figure out who he is. Such as: "Am I a fictional character?", "Am I human?", " Am I a girl?", "Can I fly?" and so on.  

These are just a few ideas, if you have any others please feel to share them. For more information on instilling the love of reading check with your local library or go to Scholastic.com. Scholastic.com