As the holiday season approaches, teachers everywhere are searching for engaging and festive activities to celebrate the season with their students. A fun and engaging way to do this is by creating a Bookvent calendar. This unique twist on the traditional Advent calendar replaces the daily chocolate or toy with a book, offering students the joy of reading while counting down to the holidays. After all, nothing promotes reading for pleasure quite like presenting reading as a gift.
What is Bookvent?
Bookvent is an enriching activity that celebrates the joy of reading during the festive countdown to Christmas. Each school day in December, a new book is read aloud in the classroom. This activity not only promotes literacy and a love for reading but also adds to the festive spirit of the classroom.
How to Set Up a Bookvent Calendar
Setting up a Bookvent calendar in your classroom can be both quick and cost-effective. Start by simply gathering as many festive books as there are school days in December. If you’re feeling fancy you can wrap them individually and place a number on them, or alternatively you could place them in a basket and use a raffle system to enable children to select a book per day. Then, before the end of each school day, gather together for your festive story time.
Here are some tips to get started:
Gather Books from Home: Encourage students to bring in their favorite books from home. You could ask the children directly, or privately ask their grown-ups to send into school a cherished book. This not only saves money but also personalizes the experience for the class.
Use the Library: Take advantage of your school or local library to borrow a variety of books. Libraries often offer a wide selection of festive and seasonal stories. And now is the time to start looking. Many libraries have their catalogues available to explore online, so you don’t even need to travel to make use of this excellent and free resource.
Explore E-Readers and Audiobooks: Many platforms, such as Vooks or GetEpic! offer free or inexpensive e-books and audiobooks. These can be a great way to include more diverse titles or accessibility options.
Select Thematic Books: Consider choosing books by authors known for festive tales, such as Alex T Smith*, whose unique stories capture the whimsy and wonder of the holiday season with a chapter for each day of the run up to Christmas.
Make use of offers online: If you are going to buy books either to add to your personal collection, or through your school budget, now is an excellent time to look out for Black Friday and multi-buy deals.
Enhance Your Bookvent Experience
To complement your Bookvent readings, its a good idea to keep hands busy with some festive activities, such as colouring-in, word searches and festive games. Teaching In Good Company’s Advent Calendar Activities are designed to pair with festive books and provide additional educational value. With 24 activities to choose from, plus everything you need to set up a Bookvent display, this resource pack is excellent for any teacher looking to spark a love of reading this Christmas. You can find these resources here: Advent Calendar Activities.
Keep calm and read on with Bookvent
Many children struggle with emotions running high during this period due to the nature of lots of change to their daily timetable as well as the excitement. Running a Bookvent calendar is a great way to bring the energy down, build connection and provide a little stability with a predictable daily activity. The added bonus being that it also celebrates the joy and magic of books!
By incorporating a Bookvent calendar into your classroom, you not only spark a love for reading but also create cherished memories for your students. This festive approach to reading can be a highlight of your holiday celebrations and a tradition that students look forward to each year.
Stuck for ideas for books to use in your Bookvent calendar? Stay tuned as I’ll share my favourites next time.
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