Ahead of the start of the school summer holidays, Coram Beanstalk is launching six weeks of challenges to help families to find fun ways of sharing books together as an activity. The campaign is supported by author Lucy Strange and comes as the Department for Education announces a National Year of Reading for 2026, to foster a love of reading in children.
Research by the National Literacy Trust warns that children’s reading for pleasure is at an all-time low and six weeks of missed reading can make it difficult for children to settle back into their school work. Coram Beanstalk’s challenge is packed with creative ideas, activities and book recommendations to inspire children aged 3-11 and their families. The ideas are organised by age across six themes: play it, make it, tell it, find it, draw it and do it.
Examples across the age groups include:
· Children aged 3-5: Choose an everyday object like a teddy bear or a shoe and imagine it has magical powers and make up a story about it.
· Children aged 5-7: Make a map of where you live. Choose a place to hide some ‘treasure’ and create clues to help find it.
· Children aged 7-11: Make some ‘Top Trumps’ cards using your favourite book characters. Give a score for each category and then battle.
When children realise that books can be a source of fun as well as knowledge, it will encourage them to enjoy books over the summer and engage in new reading activities at school.
The summer holidays are a perfect opportunity to enjoy screen-free time together, and Coram Beanstalk’s summer challenges are packed with brilliant ideas for sharing stories, getting creative and having wonderful adventures – both real and imaginative!
Lucy Strange, Author