Mythical Maze - Summer Reading Challenge 2014

With the long Summer holiday looming, finding ways to keep the kids occupied can be a worry. At the same time, you want to keep the kids motivated and enthusiastic to learn so that when they go back to school in September, they're keen and ready to learn instead of taking weeks to settle back in to that routine again.

The Reading Agency offers an annual Summer reading challenge for children aged 4-11, to help prevent that 'dip' of reading progress during the holidays. The challenge encourages children to read six books throughout the holiday, there is a different theme each year and children can read anything they like - fact books, joke books, picture or audio books - as long as they are borrowed from the local library.

Each time children finish a book they get stickers & rewards, and there's a certificate for everyone who finishes, this year the challenge theme is Mythical Maze. "Mythical Maze challenges children aged 4 to 11 to find their way around a labyrinth that introduces them to fantastical creatures from the world of legend & mythology, collecting stickers of each character along the way".

Visit the Summer Reading Challenge website with your children, where they can find competitions, challenges, author interviews, news, and the book sorter which recommends titles that your child might like to read next.

If you want to get involved, head to your local library during the summer holidays and enroll. It's completely free and anybody can take part. A record 810,089 children took part in the 2013 Summer Reading Challenge, it's open to all school children and is designed for all reading abilities.
Schools work with local libraries and give out information to encourage children to take part, and most libraries run Summer Reading Challenge linked early years activity for pre-schoolers. Check out the Facebook page for more details.