5 Simple Ways to Keep Your Child Reading This Summer

School’s out, the sun is shining, and maybe the last thing on your child’s mind is cracking open a book. We get it. But here’s something worth knowing before the summer flies by: research shows that between 62% and 73% of elementary students lose reading ground every summer.  By reading regularly over the summer break, kids can maintain or even enhance their reading skills.

The good news? It doesn’t take a lot. A few small habits, woven into your everyday routine, can make a real difference.

Before we dive in, if you’re looking for local summer reading programs, prizes, and library events near you, we’ve rounded up options from across Washington state in one easy resource.

Okay, let’s dig in.

Keep reading aloud, even if your child can read on their own.

This one surprises a lot of parents. Once kids can read independently, many families stop the bedtime read-aloud. But a 2026 study found that children who are read to nightly show stronger creativity and empathy, and kids read to daily are nearly three times more likely to pick up books on their own. So, keep going. It’s one of the best things you can do.

Let them choose what they read.

Graphic novels? Yes. Joke books? Absolutely. A book about bugs, trucks, or a kid detective who solves mysteries at summer camp? Perfect. When children get to choose, they actually want to read. And that motivation is EVERYTHING.

Make it part of the routine.

Reading doesn’t need its own special occasion. Tuck it in somewhere natural: after lunch, before bed, in the car. When it’s just part of the day, it stops feeling like homework and starts feeling like a habit.

Head to your local library.

Your library is one of the best-kept secrets of summer. Most branches offer free summer reading programs with activities, prizes, and events for kids. And there’s real research behind it. Children who participate in library summer reading programs show measurable gains in reading skills, with benefits that can last two years or more.

Read everywhere.

Road trip? Read the signs. Making dinner? Hand your child the recipe. Stopping for ice cream? Let them read the menu. Literacy lives in everyday life, and every little bit counts.

At Page Ahead Children’s Literacy Program, we make sure children across Washington, especially those who don’t have easy access to books at home, have something great to read. Through our Book Up Summer, Story Leaders, and Book Oasis programs, we’re putting free books directly into the hands of kids who need them most, so that every child can be a reader.