ReadSquared Reading Program

25 Pts

A Family Recipe Book

Food tells a story and keeping a record of your family recipes can evoke wonderful memories and keep traditions alive for generations to come. To learn more, visit the National Archives - Preserving Family Recipes.

Go To Activities

Dino Dance

Children move and groove to music using some dino-themed dances. Guide children in the steps and for extra fun, make dinosaur masks, feet, and horns for everyone to wear.

Go To Activities

Dinosaur DIYs

Go To Activities

Genre Reader

Read 1 book per every genre (10 books total). Earn a brag tag for every genre read!

Every genre must have a different title, books may not be used for more than one genre.

Go To Activities

Make a Field Journal

Paleontologists and other natural scientists often use field notebooks or journals to record their observations, take notes, and list their findings. You can create your own field journal to record your everyday life. Use the following journal prompts to complete the mission and add your own entries throughout summer and beyond.

Go To Activities

25 Pts

My Community Scavenger Hunt 2026

Get to know Iowa Park! Each of the photos listed in this mission should be taken in Iowa Park.

Go To Activities

Summer Home Activites Challenge

Complete the activities listed and earn extra points toward your reading total!

Go To Activities

25 Pts

Read

Reading together develops vocabulary and comprehension, nurtures a love for reading, and motivates children to want to learn to read. Shared reading (interactive reading) is an important way to help children get ready to read. Reading with children will show how books and written language work and that stories have a beginning, middle and end.

Go To Activities

25 Pts

Sing

Singing emphasizes many early literacy practices, and it contributes to oral language development by slowing down language and making it easier for children to hear the words. Singing is also a great way to increase children’s vocabulary as children’s songs and nursery rhymes include many new and uncommon words. Songs are a natural, fun way for children to learn language. When children sing, they hear different parts of words, pay attention to the rhythms and rhymes of language, and develop listening skills.

Go To Activities

25 Pts

Talk

Talking with children helps them learn oral language, one of the most critical early literacy skills. Children learn about language by listening to parents and caregivers talk and joining in the conversation. Talking in a way that encourages children to talk will help them understand what they later read. When children listen to spoken words they learn: how letters and words sound, the meaning of words, how words can be put together to communicate ideas, information and feelings.

Go To Activities

25 Pts

Write

Just like reading, writing teaches children that print has meaning, letters represent sounds, and written words represent the oral words they use every day. Scribbling and writing help children learn that written words stand for spoken language. For children, writing: begins with developing small finger muscles which will build dexterity for scribbling, then drawing, and eventually writing letters, helps develop hand-eye coordination, and helps build awareness that print has meaning.

Go To Activities

25 Pts

Play

Play is an essential part of childhood and is one of the best ways to learn language and literacy skills. As children engage in many types of play and across many scenarios, they talk with a wide variety of adults and peers, therefore developing their oral language, narrative skills, and vocabulary. When children play, they: develop narrative skills through imaginary play, act out real situations, learn communication, cooperation, construction and much more!

Go To Activities