Family reading night can be a great way to get the family together. You can each read your own book quietly and discuss what you read later in the night, sort of like a book club, or you could take turns reading out loud. Reading is a good way to increase vocabulary and analytical skills, and sharing what you like to read with the rest of your family can help bring everyone closer together.
Some family reading night activities could include playing a game to see who gets to pick the book or go first in the discussion, playing charades based on books the family has read, or playing a trivia game based on books the family has read. Some other family reading night ideas include having a book themed dinner planned, where everyone joins in to make a part of the meal or having someone pick out the book you are going to read next. You could even put paper over the covers of a few books and put them in a pile, then each family member chooses a book without looking at the cover or reading the summary, and whichever book you choose is the book you have to read.
A regular family reading night is not only beneficial because of the act of reading, it also brings the family onto common ground. It is important to make the family reading night a regular, mandatory event that works with the schedules of everyone in the family. If the family reading night is once a month, it should be on the same night every month; and if it is every week, it should be the same night every week.
The family reading program can include all sorts of reading material from books and short stories to magazines and newspapers. Family reading program magazines should be material that interests at least one member of the family, and can change every week. Exploring different genres and mediums can help the family grow intellectually as well as a unit.
