We have been patrons of the local libraryās summer reading programs since my oldest son was still in diapers. This yearās theme was āUnearth a Storyā and we ended up finding many ways to tie the theme into our summer plans. The theme could have several meaning, it could mean things like digging, mining, treasure hunting, archeology & paleontology, or it could mean a less literal theme of self-discovery or digging deep within oneself to discover something hidden, or unearth could mean the opposite of earth = space.
This year the summer reading programs were a little too short and ran from mid-June through July 31 (when I rule the world, summer reading will last from June 1 to August 31).
Hereās the stack of books we read-aloud or listened to together as a family. Our books didnāt really fit the theme that well, but I wasnāt willing to switch my summer reading plan.
A local library offered this fun photo op. Iām a sucker for photo props!
All 3 of my children and I did a unit study and went on a field trip that tied in perfectly with the theme: Berlin Ichthyosaur State Park, Nevada + Ichthyosaur Unit Study
A library offered a free 3-day acting camp. Various combinations of my tween/teens participated when it worked for their schedules. I didnāt get any photos, but hereās a tongue twister that they learned.
Whether the weather be cold,
Whether the weather be hot,
Whatever the weather weāll be together,
Whether we like it or not!
Personally, I donāt really like slime – itās really messy. But when a library offered a slime lab, I was happy to take my youngest 2 to make slime and let someone else deal with the messy prep and clean up.
We ā¤ļø librarians!
We had an opportunity to go on a nighttime, blacklight Scorpion Hunt Hike with a NV State Park Ranger.
Family movie nights included:
We visited Shasta Caverns in California.
We went gold panning a few times.
We did an escape room at the library.
Cheap summer movies at Galaxy Theaters offered one of my favorite cartoons, so we saw this classic in the theater.
We joined in on 3 different librariesā summer reading programs and scored lots of prizes! Twelve mostly new books, a mini squishmallow bluebird, a rock tumbler, and 4 library book sale coupons for free books (I ended up giving those to a friend because we couldnāt make it to the book sale).
We took a late summer field trip to Sutro Tunnel in Dayton, NV.
School starts in less than 2 weeks, so weāre just about out of summer friends. Iām looking forward to a change in the weather and cooler temps, some upcoming travel plans, a āGreyfriars Bobbyā book/movie combo, and my curated Native American books.
What are you looking forward to this autumn?
heavens to betty 
My 7 yo and I have really enjoyed that āTiger, Tiger Burning Brightā poetry collection in the past! This is awesome. My two younger kids were in the library reading program, too! We werenāt able to make it to many of the events and didnāt win the LEGOS š they wanted, too, but we had a lot of fun reading together.
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Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright was my library summer reading prize. š¤£ I just cracked it open and flipped through it a tiny bit but I love the illustrations. My kiddos were elated to win the raffle for the rock tumbler! The raffle for the LEGO was too packed with tickets so they opted to pool all their tickets for the less desirable prize. And, this time, it worked! Two of our local libraries let adults do the summer reading challenge and Iām all for earning the bookish prizes! š
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Haha! š You won the childrenās poetry book! Iām in the adult one all the time, too. Iāve won a lot š¤šš«£because I read so much. Our adult prizes arenāt the greatest because they are random donations the library gets or things they removed from circulation! Want a Brewerās Beer cozy? š¤£ We have a small rural library, but we all love it! My 17 yo works there part time!
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Awesome! We also have a very small rural library but there are other larger ones an hour away so we do up to 3 programs in the summer depending on how they structure the programs. This year, one was all online and you get to pick a book from the library bookstore when you sign up and another when you finish 600 minutes of reading. Easy peasy and we get 10 free books! š š š
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You do the greatest adventures linked with related reading materials. So many fun and educational activities in this post. We love “Land Before Time” too. Kids would watch it when they were over zealous about dinosaurs. Shasta Caverns and Sutro Tunnel look like fascinating places to visit. We already started school this Monday. As you know with the charter schools, we are doing testing this week. ack!
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