4 Reading Games for Kids

March 14, 2025 byConnections Academy

5 min to read

Young online student playing with the Connections Academy bingo card

Once the school day is over, reading may be the last thing on your child’s mind, but reading for fun doesn’t have to be a chore! In fact, with a few creative reading games, it can become a fun activity. Whether you’re looking for ways to combat the summer slide, celebrate National Reading month, or form a book club, gamifying reading through activities like a reading challenge can help create a lifelong love and appreciation for reading—and some fun memories in the process!

4 Fun Reading Games for Kids

Whether you’re looking for reading games for kindergarteners or high school students, these activities can motivate students to find the kinds of books they enjoy and help boost their reading comprehension skills.

1. The “Words per Week” Challenge

Help build your student's vocabulary by trying the "Words-Per-Week" Challenge. In this reading game, rather than tracking how many books they can read, students write down and define words they do not know the definitions of yet. At the end of each week, track how many new words your student has learned and compare them to the week before. Or make it a group challenge to see who can find the most words!

The "Words-Per-Week" Challenge gives students the opportunity to explore books that challenge them rather than reading to hit an arbitrary goal. By defining the unknown words as well, they are practicing their research skills as well as information retention.

You could make an additional game out of your student’s list of new words at the end of your reading challenge to quiz your student on how many definitions they have learned in a vocabulary bee!

2. Book Bingo

Book Bingo or Reading Bingo can add a unique twist to your student's extracurricular reading challenge by gamifying reading and spurring some friendly competition.

Create your own Reading Bingo card (or download some of our premade cards below) so your student can keep track of their reading. Fill the squares with different types of book qualities like graphic novel, adapted into a movie/TV show, written in the last year, or non-fiction. Make sure each square is different and the order changes for each card.

Once the cards are complete, get reading! Winning Book Bingo is similar to a traditional Bingo game; the first to complete the row whether vertically, horizontally, or diagonally wins. However, in Book Bingo, each participant can choose whatever it is they would like to read rather than everyone needing to read the same book.

A Book Bingo game can be played solo but can be extra challenging in a group. By encouraging students to read different kinds of books, they are able to explore new reading formats and genres and maybe find a few new favorites!

Connection’s Academy Reading Games Bingo Card

Download Book Bingo Cards

3. Adaptation – Compare and Contrast

Adaptations of books aren't new, but your student may be surprised to find how many of their favorite movies, TV shows, or other books are based on, inspired by, or are retellings of other works!

At the start of the challenge, ask your student to find three books that have been adapted in some way—whether that be a movie, play, TV show, board game, concept album, or another book — and to enjoy both the original and the adapted version. Students should then keep track of major and minor characters, how the story progresses, the setting, and overall themes.

Once complete, have your student put on a PowerPoint Party showcasing how the story was the same or different and whether or not they thought the adapted version made any improvements on the original or if the book really was better.

The Adaptation game is a great choice for reluctant readers who may be more encouraged to try reading if they can also enjoy a movie or show in the process, or for students who just can't get enough of their favorite media or character and want to find as much as possible. The important part of the challenge is to exercise your student's reading comprehension skills and to help them identify the major parts of a story and ask themselves why the author of each made that choice rather than judging whether or not one version was good or bad.

4. Traveling Annotated Book Challenge

The Traveling Annotated Book Challenge is the most fun in groups—the more the merrier!

Start with at least two or more students and ask them to select their favorite book and their favorite color pen or sticky notes. Don't share yet which person recommended which book and which color pen or sticky note each person chose but do keep a guide for the end of the challenge.

In the book, ask the student to underline their favorite lines or put a heart next to the best scenes or to leave short notes in the margins. Then, the book is passed along to another member of the group to read and leave their own annotations in a different color.

Each student's book travels around the group person-to-person until it gets back to them. They then can read the book one more time to see what passages stood out to their friends and family and maybe even see the book in a new light. Then, when the group meets again, they should guess who they think chose each book and the color pen or sticky note they used to annotate.

Leaving notes in the margins also turns reading from a passive activity to a more active one. Just holding a pen in their hand could lead students to be more aware and to think more critically about what they are reading. Writing their thoughts helps them develop their reading comprehension skills and to spot literary devices like foreshadowing, repetition, or major themes.

Making Reading Fun!

Sharing books and stories can be both personal and meaningful for kids. Many of these challenges are not only fun ways to get family and friends involved in reading with your student but can also be an opportunity to turn a student’s favorite book into a cherished memento, or to start a regular book club with their friends, or a new summer family tradition.

For families who want to help make school fun and personalized to the way their student learns, download our free eGuide to learn more about enrolling in a Connections Academy-supported school and see if online K-12 public school is the right fit for your student.