Scholastic's Summer Reading Challenge Has Us Reading Under The Stars! {#SummerReading}

Last month I introduced my kids to the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge and, without a doubt, they have been thrilled to participate!

Considering how much they already adore reading, the addition of fun, games, puzzles, rewards and more has resulted in a not-too-surprising increase in that love! Not familiar with the program? Read on!

Now in its 8th year, the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge is a free, online/mobile reading program that helps prepare kids for back-to-school by encouraging them to read every day all summer long. As a way to stop the "Summer Slide," kids are encouraged to read during the summer months by taking part in all sorts of fun weekly challenges and the chance to earn digital rewards.

This year's Summer Reading Challenge theme is "Reading Under the Stars" and is powered by EVEREADY® to encourage families to discover new and fun ways to explore reading outside. Throughout the summer, kids have the chance to open their worlds and read around the galaxy and unlock star constellations as they log reading minutes.

My girls absolutely love (and never let me forget) to log onto Scholastic's site every day, add in their minutes and watch their totals climb!

As well as their own personal tallies, my kids have been loving seeing the total number of minutes read from kids around the world. The original goal had been just to beat the 2013 works record and that has already been shattered! As of right now, kids have read for 193,235,707 minutes, which equates to a whole lot of books!

Even though my kids didn't really need any encouragement to read this summer, we received a box containing everything we needed to have a Summer Reading Under the Stars party and it managed to bring the excitement to an entirely new level!

Not pictured: a ton more great EVEREADY® flashlights and batteries, posters, bookmarks and more!

How adorably fun is this?

In order to stay off of the grass and away from a few more of the mosquitoes that are plaguing our yard, we set up our blanket, pillows, EVEREADY® flashlights, books from Scholastic and more on our trampoline... plus, as the sun doesn't go down until after my kids are already in bed in the summer, we got a little creative with the "under the stars" theme and added a few of our own.

Besides, I wanted to head out early enough so that we could spend as much time relaxing and reading together as we could!

Although I knew that having a mini Summer Reading Under the Stars party was going to be a good time, it turned out to be a really great bonding-over-books experience for all three of us. I grabbed my current novel and laid down in between the girls and all three of us turned page after page — I love reading and am so glad that my kids do, too!

Of course we did take some breaks for snacks, trips to the bathroom, jumping on the trampoline to get the wiggles out, looking for constellations in the stars and more, but overall, the few hours ended up being a big success and the girls had a blast!

There is plenty of summer left to hold a Reading Under the Stars party at your house, too — the main thing that you need is a pile of good books! You can even get your extended family and friends involved by inviting them over for an outdoor party so that they can enjoy just how much fun reading outdoors can be.

Whether your kids are constantly reaching for a book or it is hard to keep them educationally-focused during the summer, Scholastic has made it easy and fun for all ages to stay interested and involved. Be sure to head over to sign up for the Summer Reading Challenge and amp up the excitement about reading!

Stay connected with everything Scholastic as well by liking Scholastic Parents on Facebook, following Scholastic on Twitter and Instagram, following the Summer Reading Challenge Pinterest Board and liking the Summer Reading Challenge YouTube Playlist. Happy reading!

This post is part of a collaboration with Scholastic. All thoughts and opinions expressed are honest and my own.