Summer Reading Lists and Shoe Storage

My kids love to read.  Although there are lots of other things they like to do when they are at home over the summer.  Honestly, if they had it their way they would probably spend every minute of the day either playing video games or watching television.  I want them to enjoy their time off of school, but I don’t want their brains to turn to mush.  This is why I made a summer list, signed them up for a couple of sports camps, and most recently helped them make a summer reading list.  

I wanted to make it fun so I attached a little incentive giving them a goal and a prize.   They’ll only earn the $30 if they read all 30 books on the list.  I’ve been collecting new books for a couple of months now; so all of the books on the list we already own.  These lists will hopefully keep them motivated to keep reading over summer vacation and keep me accountable for making sure they continue to read.

The kids are pretty excited about these lists.  A couple of the books listed are books I plan to read to them, and I’m super excited about starting the Chronicles of Narnia with them!

We made the lists on poster board and then the kids had fun decorating them with stickers.  I hung them on the back of their doors with poster putty.

On another note, a little while ago I was contacted by Sara Alavi, a writer for HGTV.com, about using a photo of my master closet in an article she was writing about shoe storage.  The article went live the other day and you can view it here – 25 Ways to Store Shoes in Your Closet.  I’m beyond honored to have my closet included!  It’s a fabulous article with so many great organization ideas.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  What do you have planned?  Anyone else making any summer reading lists?  My plan is to finally finish The Hunger Games series.  I’m almost done with the second book.  Maybe if there was a $30 incentive I’d get through them quicker.  😉

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  • That is such a fantastic idea! I don't have kids yet, but I"ll definitely be keeping this in mind for when I do!

  • Such a great idea and those are good, long lists. I should do the same for my 10 yr old. My older daughter prefers books -like the hunger games- to watching tv. She has the kindle but I wish we could share books on the kindle, it would make things easier when we travel.

  • seriously woman, you never cease to amaze me! HGTV are you kidding me?!!? Rock on with your bad self!! and you know i have some books to suggest…

  • I love that you included the reading lists for your children & a little $ incentive never hurts! Congrats on the HGTV gig — that's awesome!
    CAS

  • My kids practically eat books, they love to read! We check out for 4 kids and 2 adults on average about 75 books at a time from the library. This is a great idea! I think I'll make them a list! Congrats on being featured at HGTV, you go girl!

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