ABC Life Literacy Canada

Here are a few activity ideas your family can do on Family Literacy Day. For more tips and activities, please visit our tips and activities page.

Activities for schools, libraries and other large groups:

Create your own game: Participate in the Amazing Phrase where the first person to figure out the phrases by collecting clues wins.

Host a treasure hunt: Use books and math puzzles as clues. Kick off the hunt by handing out the instruction sheet at a library and/or literacy centre.

Who am I?: Make up signs on pieces of paper, each with the name of a person, place or thing on it. A sign is put on each player's back with tape and then each player asks the other players questions to determine who (or what) he or she is.

Drive in: Partner with a Honda dealer and organize a car-themed storytelling session to be held in their showroom.

Book Time: Organize a workshop for parents, offering tips and suggestions for reading and learning with their children, as well as activities to encourage learning in the home.

Karaoke Night: Host a night of karaoke for parents and children in an auditorium, cafeteria, or gymnasium. Not only is this a fun event, but it also encourages reading, singing, and family involvement.

Activity ideas for smaller groups and the family:

Surfing Safari: Use an atlas to find a country you would like to visit, then surf the Internet to find some interesting things about that place -- customs, food, weather, anything at all. Write a story and draw pictures based on what you have learned. You could even post a map of the world on a wall and use push pins to identify the places you have been.

Daffy Dictionary: Choose a word from the dictionary and write it on a piece of paper with one correct definition, then make up two more definitions that are incorrect but 'sound' like they might be accurate. See who can guess the correct definition. Teams can play this game, with members coming up with the daffy definitions together and also guessing the other team's correct definition.

Community book club: Challenge your neighbours to read the same book during the holiday season and through January and then meet at a convenient location (at someone's house for a pot-luck supper, for example) on Family Literacy Day, January 27, to discuss the book. It may be so much fun you'll want to hold two or three throughout the year.

Watch a book: Set up a book-and-movie group where a book will be read and discussed, and then the film version will be watched. There are many good titles, both for adults and young people that have been made into films.

“You’ve Got Mail”: With adult supervision, have children go online and find a suitable electronic postcard to customize and send to a loved one.

Fundraising Ideas:

Reading auction: Auction off “reading dates” for adults and children, with local celebrities to raise money to buy books. On the “date,” the celebrity and participant could read together or discuss their favourite books.

Fill a Fit: Partner with your local Honda dealer to organize a book drive to collect enough gently-used books to fill a Honda Fit. Add the books to your collection or sell them and use the proceeds to buy new books.

Whip up a recipe book: Create a recipe book of favourite recipes supplied by members of your group. Make several copies, figure out a price for the book and put it on sale. You could even invite a local celebrity chef to your book launch.

10 fun ideas to improve literacy skills

• Have your kids create the map for your next road trip then they can navigate by reading signs and billboards. Create a trip journal.
• Read news articles and magazines and then discuss current affairs together.
• Volunteer to read at a children’s hospital or at a senior’s centre.
• Surf the Internet together to find great sites that support your hobbies.
• Make a particular night Board Game night. Maybe invite another family for a challenge.
• Research and write your family’s history. Use the Internet, family letters and documents as resources, and interview your relatives.
• Write your own adventure. Write a short story as a family with alternative endings written by each family member.
• Do crossword puzzles, word jumbles and word searches on your lunch break.
• Help your child with their homework by offering to assist with research, verify a math answer or proofread their writing.
• Write daily entries in a journal.

Tips to encourage lifelong family reading and learning

Engaging in literacy and learning is important at any stage in life. Reading ability is like a muscle. If you don’t exercise it regularly, you can actually lose the ability. Here are some tips to keep you and your children motivated to keep on reading and learning for life:
• Encourage older children to keep a journal or diary in order to help them hone their writing skills.
• Encourage family members to develop a habit of reading and discussing items from the daily newspaper to keep up-to-date on what is happening around the world.
• Get in the habit of giving books or magazine subscriptions as birthday gifts or on other special occasions.
• Lead by example – exercise your mind by doing crossword puzzles, word jumbles and word searches. Play board games, like Scrabble® and Boggle®, as a family to develop vocabulary skills.