Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Free Summer Reading Programs 2020 and more...

If you're looking for summer reading programs for kids, this is our comprehensive list of all the completely FREE programs! {Looking for other fun summer deals? Kids can bowl for free and skate for free at many participating locations this summer! ...
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Intentional finance. Intentional family. Intentional business.

Free Summer Reading Programs 2020

If you’re looking for summer reading programs for kids, this is our comprehensive list of all the completely FREE programs!

{Looking for other fun summer deals? Kids can bowl for free and skate for free at many participating locations this summer!

free summer reading programs 2020

Believe it or not, it’s almost that time of year again — when school is out and summer reading programs abound. Yay! (Well, some of you might not be saying “yay!”, but we do because my kids LOVE them some summer reading programs!)

Note: We recommend calling your local stores to verify that they’re participating in these programs this year. Due to COVID, there maybe be some temporary changes in these programs, depending on your region.

Free Summer Reading Programs 2020

Do your kids love to read, too? If so, this is our big list of all the FREE summer reading programs that are available nationally!

Amazon — Kids who read any eight books this summer can bring their list of books read to the nearest Amazon Retail Store to receive a Star Reader Certificate and their choice of a free book.

Audiobook Sync — SYNC will give away two complete audiobook downloads per week for teens 13+. Sign up to get notifications when the free audiobook downloads are available.

Barnes & Noble — Earn a free book through the Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program for kids in grades 1-6.

  1. Read any eight books this summer and record them in your Summer Reading Journal (PDF download). Tell them which part of the book is your favorite, and why.
  2. Bring your completed journal to a Barnes & Noble store between July 1st and August 31st, 2020.
  3. Choose a FREE BOOK from the selection on the Reading Journal list at the store.

Books-A-Million — Read any four books from the Summer Reading Adventure section in-store or online, write about them in your summer reading adventure log book, and receive a free Dog Man logo baseball cap (while supplies last).

Chuck E. Cheese — Kids can fill out their Reading Rewards Calendar when they read every day for two weeks, and then trade it in for 10 FREE play points at your local Chuck E. Cheese location.

Half Price Books — Kids 14 or younger can read 15 minutes per day to reach a total of at least 300 minutes. After that, they can take their completed reading log to their local store to earn Bookworm Bucks to spend. (In addition, they have a summer reading program for teens.)

Lifeway Stores– Lifeway typically does a summer reading program where you can receive a free Bible for reading six books. It’s not live yet, but you can sign up to receive a notification when it goes live this year!

Scholastic — The Summer Read-A-Palooza is back again this year! Kids can enter their summer reading minutes online to unlock digital rewards as they complete weekly reading challenges and access book excerpts, videos, and other summer-exclusive content.

Showcase Cinemas — Bookworm Wednesdays entitles kids to free admission to a select children’s film when they present a book report at a participating Cinema de Lux, Showcase, or Multiplex Cinemas box office. Accompanying parents or guardians and children under six years of age receive free admission and do not need to submit a book report. They don’t have the movie schedule up yet, but you can bookmark the page and check back when it goes live for 2020.

TD Bank – Kids in grades Kindergarten through 5th can earn $10 from TD Bank when they read 10 books this summer. Simply print out the Summer Reading Form, write down the names of the books read on the form and then take the form to the nearest TD Bank. You will receive the $10 in a new or existing TD Simple Savings account.

Local Libraries — Above all, don’t forget about your local library! Most of them offer fun summer reading programs with prizes and more.

Bonus: Don’t forget about the Pizza Hut Book-It Program that runs each school year!

Download our FREE Kid’s Summer Reading Printable Pack!

free kid's summer reading challenge printable pack

Looking for a fun way to encourage and motivate your kids to read more? Or need a creative way for your kids to keep track of all the books they read through summer reading programs this year?

Be sure to download our FREE Kid’s Summer Reading Printable Pack! It comes with a reading challenge, reading time tracker, and fill-in-the-blank summer reading list.

Do you know of any other Summer Reading Programs we should add to this list? Let us know in the comments!

    
 

Gretchen’s $95 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan for 5

I ended up being out of town some of last week and wasn’t able to do a grocery shopping trip for last week. So we basically were out of almost everything. Our meals were getting really creative by the end of the week. Because of this, I had quite a huge grocery list this week!

Aldi

4 dozen Eggs – $0.98 each

1 gallon Milk – $2.19 (I usually make our milk last longer by adding water to it once it gets down to half a gallon about mid-week.)

2 Half & Half – $1.55 each

2 bags Frozen Chicken Breasts – $5.59 each

2 box MooTubes – $1.55

1 bag Frozen Tilapia – $3.79

1 bag Frozen Strawberries – $1.89

1 bag Spinach – $1.19

1 bag Mini Cucumbers – $2.19

1 box Chewy Granola Bars – $1.15

2 cans Green Beans – $0.49 each

1 Grape Jelly – $1.29

2 pkg Strawberries – $0.99 each (I wanted to purchase more but a lot of the strawberries were either already moldy or looking old.)

1 can Refried Beans – $0.75

1 pkg Green Peppers – $1.99

1 bag Chocolate Chips – $1.69

1 Flour Tortillas – $1.25

1 pkg Pazazz Apples – $2.79

2 cans Tuna – $0.79 each

1 Unsweetened Applesauce – $1.95

1 can Black Beans – $0.48

3 boxes Mac & Cheese – $0.33 each

1 box Cheese Crackers – $1.49

1 bag Sugar – $1.57

1 pkg Cream Cheese – $0.79

1 canister Raisins – $2.89

1 box Graham Crackers – $0.99

1 bag Tortilla Chips – $0.89

1 lb Ground Turkey – $1.89

1.70 lbs Roma Tomatoes – $1.89

1 loaf Bread – $0.95

2 lbs Ground Beef – $1.89 each

Total: $68.14

Kroger

1 Green Leaf Lettuce – $1.49

4 boxes Mott’s Fruit Snacks – $0.99 each

1 box Kroger Peanut Butter Cereal – $1.49

2.36 lbs Bananas – $1.16

2.24 lbs Bananas – Marked down to $0.87

1 bag Kroger Potato Chips – $1.25

1 Kroger Ice Cream – $1.79

1 Mom’s Best Cereal – $3.29 (This is the ONLY cereal my two little boys will eat. They ask for it every single morning.)

1 bag Clementines – $3.99

4 bags Kroger Shredded Cheese – $1.88 each

1 bag Frozen Peas – $1

Total: $27.81

Total for both stores: $95.95

Menu Plan for This Week

Breakfasts

Cereal, Spinach Smoothies, Eggs, Oatmeal, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Lunches

Mac & Cheese, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Cheese/Crackers/Veggies, Apples & Peanut Butter/Hard Boiled Eggs, Tuna Salad Sandwiches, Leftovers

Dinners

Tossed Salad Bar with Chicken

Grilled Chicken and Tilapia, Biscuits, Fruit Salad

Baked Chicken Taquitos, Chips & Salsa, Steamed Peas

Spaghetti, Tossed Salad, Green Beans

Crepes, Strawberry Smoothies, Scrambled Eggs

Homemade Cheese Pizza, Breadsticks

Barbecue Meatballs, Homemade Bread, Steamed Broccoli