Summer Bummer: Motivating Kids to Prevent the Summer Slide

How do you motivate kids to read when it’s the season of sunshine? After all, summer is all about being away from school. It’s a time for popsicles, late nights, water games, and a welcome break from the structure of the classroom.

While a good book is an excellent motivator, there are plenty of other ways kids can practice reading without strictly sitting down with a novel. These small habits of "word watching" can keep them connected to literacy and make the process feel like a fun activity rather than a chore all summer long.

Sneaking Reading Into Summer Activities

You can easily incorporate reading into your regular summer outings and travel plans:

• Educational Field Trips: Trips to a museum or a zoo allow kids to read informational signs and exhibits about what they are seeing.
• Daily Routines: Try taping a fun daily challenge to the refrigerator for them to read each morning.
• Scavenger Hunts: Create a household scavenger hunt with hidden letters that spell out words, leading to a prize like a trip to the ice cream store.
• PCS Travel Games: If you are relocating this summer, create a custom word bingo game for the road trip, or ask your children to write a short story based on the places you stop along the way. They can then read that story aloud to a family member once you arrive at your final destination.

Establishing an Evening Rhythm with Audiobooks

For Samantha Mans, an Army spouse stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, reading is built directly into the family’s evening rhythm. Her children, Reagan and Jaxton, participate in both the on-post and local library summer reading programs.

“It has us log books and hours of reading,” Mans shared. “We do this each evening as our bedtime routine, but I also allow the kids to log 10 to 15 minutes daily for listening to books on their Yoto players.”

For her family, audiobooks count toward their goals, and that matters. Listening to stories builds vocabulary, imagination, comprehension, and a lifelong love for storytelling.

“Most days they also fall asleep listening to bedtime stories on their Yoto,” Mans said. “I think any reading is good for us, whether that be a physical book or an audiobook.”

Mans also tracks her own reading as a way to model the habit for her children. When children see adults reading for enjoyment, books naturally become a part of daily family life instead of just another school requirement.

Visual Challenges and Community Incentives

Other military parents use visual milestones and local programs to keep their children engaged.

Coast Guard spouse Tracy Gilbert created a visual reading challenge for her daughter, Janeigh.

“To help motivate my daughter to read during summer break and prevent the summer slide, we created a visual 100-book reading challenge,” Gilbert says. “Each time she finishes a book, she gets to check one off the list, which makes tracking her progress fun and exciting.”

The reward at the end of the challenge provides a major push: this year, Janeigh is working toward earning a Kindle.

Amanda Hattie, another military mom, found motivation through a local community business incentive. One of her local restaurants encourages young readers by offering free food for children who complete 10 books. Parents simply sign off on a paper surfboard template as their child completes each book.

This program serves as a reminder that reading encouragement can come from sources outside the home or school. Libraries, restaurants, community centers, and local businesses can all play a vital role in making literacy feel exciting while keeping kids focused throughout the summer months.