Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Reading Reward Chart That Finally Got My Kid Excited About Books
28
items My 7-year-old would do literally anything to avoid reading before bed. Bribing, begging, setting timers, nothing worked. Then I set up a simple system: a chart she fills in herself, and after 20 books she picks a new one as a reward. Six months later...
Sections
4
Reading Log Charts and Trackers Kids Actually Use
Book Rewards Worth Reading 20 Books For
Cozy Reading Nook Stuff That Makes Her Want to Sit Down
Bookmarks and Reading Accessories She Won't Lose
Reading Log Charts and Trackers Kids Actually Use
I tried three different printable charts before finding ones she didn't lose interest in after a week. These stick around because she gets to color, sticker, and physically see her progress building up on the wall.
Grab this and cut it into a custom reading tracker right on her bedroom wall. She draws her own book spines with chalk after finishing each one. Way more engaging than a printed sheet she forgets about in a drawer.
Chalkboard Wall Sticker Roll Peel and Stick Blackboard
Use this as your base reward tracker. My daughter checks off her reading days alongside chores and it makes the whole routine feel normal, not like punishment. Great for kids around 4 to 8 who respond to visual progress.
Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden Magnetic Responsibility
Pair this with whatever chart you pick. She decorates her reading log entries with colored pencils and markers after finishing a book. Turning the tracking into art time was the trick that made her actually want to do it.
Crayola Inspiration 140 Piece Art Case
Toss these on the fridge with magnets. Each row is a new book goal and she picks which sticker goes in each square. I bought two packs in January and we're still going through the first one, so they last.
duomi-Sweetzer & Orange Reward Stickers for Teachers
Bring this one out if your kid likes sparkly stuff. My daughter specifically requested ‘the pretty chart’ over the plain one. Sometimes the packaging matters more than the system itself, honestly.
Teacher Created Resources Confetti Incentive Chart
Switch to this once your kid outgrows basic sticker charts. It has weekly reading log pages built in plus space for her to write mini reviews. My 9-year-old nephew uses one and actually writes in it without being reminded.
Inspired by Erin Condren 12-Month A5 Planner
Stick these on a poster board to make a DIY reading tracker for basically nothing. She writes each book title on a neon label and adds it to the board. Watching the blank space fill up is weirdly satisfying for both of us.
Avery Removable Labels, 1/2" x 1-3/4", Neon, 180 Count
Book Rewards Worth Reading 20 Books For
The whole system falls apart if the reward book isn't something she's genuinely pumped about. These are the ones she's picked after hitting her milestones, and every single one kept her momentum going into the next round.
Try handing this to a reluctant reader and watch what happens. My daughter finished it in two days and immediately asked to start the next reading challenge. Dav Pilkey basically does my parenting for me at this point.
Dog Man 11: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea
Get this for any kid between 8 and 12 who says they hate reading. My daughter picked it as her reward book and then read three more Wimpy Kid books on her own that same month. The illustrations pull them in.
Hot Mess: A Summer Disaster from Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Keep this one in your back pocket for when she's ready for something with more heart. She picked it after her fourth milestone and cried at the end. In a good way. First time a book made her feel something big.
Katherine Applegate The One and Only Ivan (Hardcover)
Snag this if your kid is into fantasy at all. My daughter's friend recommended it and she specifically read faster to hit her 20-book goal so she could get it. That's when I knew the system was actually working.
Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy, Book 1 (Hardcover)
Toss this option out for kids who need short chapters and lots of pictures to stay hooked. No shame in it. My daughter alternates between these and longer books and her reading stamina has grown because of it.
Big Nate: In a Class by Himself
Pair this with a cozy reading night as the reward experience. She picked it, we made hot chocolate, and she read the whole thing curled up on the couch. Now ‘reward book night’ is a whole event she looks forward to.
BEAN Definition & Meaning
Grab this for the kid who says they don't like stories. My neighbor's son picked this as his reward and now he reads random animal facts at dinner. Not every reader wants fiction and that's completely fine.
National Geographic Kids Almanac 2024 (Spiral Bound)
Cozy Reading Nook Stuff That Makes Her Want to Sit Down
She wasn't going to read at the kitchen table with her brother screaming next to her. Once I carved out a little corner with a few comfortable things, she started going there on her own. Environment matters more than I expected.
Use this as her reading lamp and she'll actually want to sit in her nook after dark. It's soft enough to not keep her wired but bright enough to read by. Way better than the harsh overhead light she kept complaining about.
Customer reviews for Crayola Mandala Coloring Book
Ditch the beanbag that deflates every two weeks. This flips from a chair to a lounger and she reads in it every single night. It's held up for five months of daily use which is more than I can say for the last three seats I bought.
Customer reviews for Your Zone Canvas Flip Chair, Blush
Toss this over whatever chair you pick. She wraps up in it like a burrito and reads for 30 minutes straight without fidgeting. Before the blanket she'd last maybe 10 minutes. Sounds silly but comfort changed everything.
The Big One® Oversized Supersoft Plush Throw Blanket
Keep her reward books and current reads at her eye level, not shoved on a high shelf. She browses it like a little library and rereads old favorites. Having books visible makes her pick them up more often.
Mainstays Kids Scallop Bookcase, White, Engineered Wood
Swap this in to frame her completed reading charts. She has three on her wall now and gets genuinely proud showing them to grandparents. Turning the tracker into wall art gives the whole system weight.
Mainstays, 20x30 Picture Frame, Black Rounded Profile
Bring a calm scent into the reading corner. Vanilla or lavender. My daughter associates the smell with reading time now, which sounds weird but the routine cue works. She smells it and grabs a book automatically.
Better Homes & Gardens Wax Melt Warmer, Brown Glass
Get a reading-themed or book-patterned set for her bed if she reads there. Sounds small but she picked one with little books on it and now calls her bed ‘the reading zone.’ Whatever gets buy-in, I'll take it.
Mainstays All-in-One Reversible Comforter and Sheet Set
Bookmarks and Reading Accessories She Won't Lose
She lost four bookmarks in the first month. Four. I finally figured out which ones actually stay in the book and which ones become cat toys on the floor. These survived.
Use these to let her make her own bookmarks from cardstock. Homemade bookmarks don't get lost because she cares about them. She's made about 15 and keeps every single one in a little box on her shelf.
Fiskars 5" Pointed-tip Kids Scissors Pink
Pair these with blank bookmark templates and she'll go to town. She colors one for every new book she starts, which has accidentally become part of the reading ritual. Two birds, one pack of pencils.
Crayola, Twistable Colored Pencils, 30 Ct, Back to School
Grab these to laminate her homemade bookmarks so they actually survive being shoved into backpacks. Before laminating, they lasted maybe a week. After, they're practically indestructible. Worth the five-minute effort.
Scotch Matte Thermal Laminating Pouches, Letter
Switch to these for the kid who refuses regular bookmarks. She flags pages with funny parts and then reads them to me later. It turned reading into a two-way conversation instead of a solo chore.
Post-it Page Markers, Assorted Colors , 1/2" x 2", 4 Pads
Keep a fat pencil in her reading nook for writing in her log right after finishing a chapter. The thick grip means she doesn't complain about her hand hurting. Small thing that removed one more excuse.
TICONDEROGA My First Primary Size #2 Pencils
Toss one of these next to her chair as a reading journal. She writes one sentence about each book after finishing. Looking back at six months of entries showed her how much she's read and that moment was priceless.
Five Star Composition Book Plus Study App
Snag these for sticking photos, drawings, or cutouts into her reading journal. She glued a picture of a dog next to her Dog Man entry and it made the whole journal feel like a scrapbook. Way more fun than lined pages alone.
Crayola Washable Glue Stick