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The following post is from Alison of Alison’s Wonderland Recipes:
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The first time I saw a reading kit, it was for a YA fiction book from Epic Reads. Considering my blog is dedicated to making recipes from fiction, the idea of making a whole kit based around a book instantly grabbed my attention. Now, reading kits are one of my favorite gift giving options, especially for kids. They’re a great way to get creative on a budget or encourage a reluctant reader to give books another try.
Making a reading kit is as simple as buying a book you love and pinpointing some key objects in the story. Here are three kits I whipped up from some classic books. These kits are around $35 each, but they’re also pretty big. Each kit includes a copy of the book, three items relevant to the story, and a themed snack. Smaller kits could easily cost less than $20.
LITTLE WOMEN
Book: Available at various price points at Thrift.com (I got it for $6.98).
Fancy Notebook: This was a notebook I had on hand (originally $12.99 from Barnes & Noble). For those buying new, I’d recommend this equally gorgeous notebook for $7.70 from Amazon
.
Fountain Pen: This was an Ebay buy. For something with a comparably vintage look, I recommend this $9 calligraphy pen from Amazon
.
Lace Gloves: $7.61 on Amazon
. These are nice because they’re small enough for children’s hands, yet easily stretch to fit an adult with petite hands.
Gingerbread: $3.29 from Pepperidge Farm.
TREASURE ISLAND
Book: Available at various price points at Thrift.com (currently starting at $3.99).
Treasure Island Book Pillow: $17.99 from ThinkGeek.
Spanish Dubloons: These are mint replicas I found on Amazon
for $8.29.
Pirate’s Booty White Cheddar Corn Puffs: $2.49 from Jewel-Osco.
Treasure Map Pencil Case: $3.08 from Amazon
.
PETER PAN
Book: Available at various price points at Thrift.com (currently starting at $4.39).
Pixie Dust: I poured some glitter into 3 vials I got from Michael’s for $3.99.
Pirate Hook: $4.33 from Amazon
.
Crocodile Gummy Snack: $5.60 from Amazon
.
Pirate Chai: This was part of a tea variety pack I got from ThinkGeek. The whole pack costs $15 and comes with 4 teas, so you wind up with 3 to keep or add to other kits.
These are so fun to make, especially if the book is one you really love. Of course, you can make the kits as large or small as you like. I plan on giving smaller versions of these away as prizes to my CCD class this year.
They’re also a great way to start unit studies or encourage kids to read over the summer. Then again, who says they just have to be for kids? I know I’d LOVE one of these for myself!
What book do YOU think would make a great reading kit?
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Alison Walsh, founder of Alison’s Wonderland Recipes, is waiting for the day when reading Mark Twain and drinking tea is accepted as an Olympic sport. Until then, she nannies, blogs about food, and watches Star Trek with her husband. You can follow Alison on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and Bloglovin’. |
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This is such a great idea!
Thanks! I had so much fun planning them. In the early stages, I had as many as seven books picked out for kits. Using all seven would have made this post too long, but I’m definitely planning on using the ideas later for other projects. 🙂
I would love to see more of your ideas in the future! I’m trying to come up with a few kits for my kids for Christmas!
Thanks! They definitely make great Christmas gifts. I’m planning on publishing a Christmas-themed reading kit post on my blog (wonderlandrecipes.com) at the start of December, then adding regularly scheduled reading kit posts starting in January.
This is brilliant! I absolutely love this idea and will be using this as a birthday/Christmas gift idea. Thank you so much!
Awesome! I’m thinking of making one for Christmas too (for my niece). The Twelve Dancing Princesses maybe? So many possibilities!
I LOVE this!!!!
Thanks! I’m a big sucker for customizable things, so I love the endless capacity for variation these have. I just realized today that they’d probably be great for small book clubs too. 🙂
I did this with a whole book series when my daughter was younger. I couldn’t find a mail-order book club for her, so I made one myself with Gilbert Morris’ Dixie Morris Animal Adventures series. I made stationary and laminated bookmarks to go with each book, bought a Zoobooks magazine to go with each book, had several gifts in each box, jungle pencils, and some other things. I sneaked the box in with the mail every month for ten months. 🙂 I loved putting it all together for my daughter, and she still has all the stuff I gave her. The first book featured an elephant, and I found elephant dung paper!
I love the idea of doing this again with individual books!
That’s such a great idea! I’ve never thought of doing a set of kits for a whole series before. 🙂
I always give at least one book to my homeschooled grandchildren for Christmas. This book kit idea is fabulous, and I know the kids will love it. Thank you!
Glad you like it! It’s always fun to give personalized Christmas gifts. 🙂
Adorable! We love turning reading into an adventure at our house too — like pairing a favorite book with a fun field trip. I’m always inspired to see how much kids will dive into a book if they have a few ‘props’ for reading 🙂 My favorite is your Little Women kit — how many kids have even SEEN a fountain pen much less used one – love it!
I’m glad you love the pen too! I fell for it as soon as I saw it on Ebay. It was actually the signing pen for the guest book at my wedding a couple years back (we had an Irish-themed wedding, and the pen is covered in Celtic knots and made in Dublin!).
I am very inspired by this! I am currently putting together 6 kits for my kids and my nieces and nephew for an upcoming holiday. I have most of them figured out but racking my brain about the Heidi kit for my little girl.
Heidi sounds fun! Let me see if I can give you some ideas…
– A tiny sheep toy would be cute (a goat would be more true to the book, but might be harder to find).
– Babybel mini cheese wheels would be a fun nod to Heidi’s first meal with her grandfather…or even fresh bread buns, like the ones from Clara’s house!
– Ever since Frozen came out, I’ve also seen lots of knitted laplander hats with yarn braids attached. If you could find one with a Swiss look to it, that could work too. This one is technically an Anna hat, but it’s a pretty good example: https://www.etsy.com/listing/212476158/anna-crochet-wig-hat-with-braids?ref=shop_home_active_5
Let me know how your kits turn out! 🙂
This is absolutely one of the cutest ideas I’ve ever heard! This would be so much fun for a child that likes reading, or even to encourage one that might start to read. And to be quite honest, I’d be thrilled to get one myself! My brain is whirring to think of someone I could make one of these for. I wish I had some kids in my life! Stellar idea, for sure.