Create your own Summer Reading Program with these Free Printables!

Ahh, summer break!  It's only 9 days away at our house!  One of our favorite things to do during our summer is read.  There is nothing like spending hours and hours in a hammock, a favorite tree or by the pool reading a good book.  

Last year the kids had so much fun joining our local library's summer reading program.  So much so that they read the required amount of books way too quickly.  So, to add a little more incentive to their reading, I created our own summer reading program.  The goal is to keep track of the number of books and the amount of time that they spend reading.  Whenever they complete two hours of reading time, they get to pick a coupon.

The awards the kids will earn with our summer reading program are experiences - and there are many to be had.  Since our Valentine's Day coupons were such a hit with the kiddos, we repeated many of the same experiences for their reading awards.  You may dowlnoad the sheet and the coupons below.  Included are some blank templates so that you can add your own rewards.

Everyone is so excited to earn rewards for reading this summer, that even our dog Hershey is getting into it.

By the way, I have also put together a list of 15 books for each grade {1-6}.  Of course,  kids vary greatly in their reading abilities.  Some kids in the first grade may have already read some of the 4th grade books, and vice versa.  Please feel free to recommend your favorite children's books in the comments.  We all love to discover new books!  : )

Happy Summer Reading!

Grade 1  

Amelia Bedelia books
Frog and Toad
Dr. Seuss
A Fly Went By
Little Bear
The Bravest Dog Ever- The True Story of Balto
Five Little Monkeys...Jumping on the Bed
Curious George books
Clifford books
Buzz Said the Bee
Fat Cat Sat on the Mat
Mouse and Owl
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed...
Are You My Mother?
Froggy Goes to School

Grade 2

Frog and Toad
Mouse Tails
Hill of Fire
Nate the Great series
Owl at Home
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Danny and the Dinosaur
The Gruff Brothers
The Little Red Hen
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Christmas in the Big Woods
Fox and His Friends
Flat Stanley
Little Bear
Morris and Boris at the Circus

Grade 3

Cara Frear
Jake Drake: Bully Buster
The Littles
The Viking Adventure
Third Grade Detectives
Tornado
Old Yeller
Little House on the Prairie- series
Judy Moody
A. Lincoln and Me
Comeback Kid
The Drinking Gourd
Box Car Children
American Girl History Mysteries


Grade 4

Encyclopedia Brown
Hardy Boys
Ginger Pye
Frindle
Geronimo Stilton
Grandma’s Attic- series
Ralph S. Mouse
The Toothpaste Millionaire
The Whipping Boy
Farmer Boy
Nancy Drew
Hank the Cowdog
Bobbsey Twins
Matilda
Big Nate

Grade 5

Left Behind Series
Marco Polo
Henry and Ribsy
Emily’s Runaway Imagination
Saddle Club books
Anne of Green Gables
Charlotte’s Web
Ramona
The Babysitters Club
Red Rock Mysteris
Sugar Creek Gang
Sisters in Time - Lydia the Patriot and others
Mandie- series
Mr. Poppers Penguins
The Secret Garden

Grade 6

Amos Fortune, Free Man

A Wrinkle in Time

A Long Way from Chicago
Bound for Oregon
The Call of the Wild
Indian Captive- The Story of Mary Jemison
Maniac Magee
Out of the Dust
Pollyanna
Trailblazers featuring Amy Carmichael
Golden Filly collection
Animal Rescue collection
Chronicles of Narnia
Pilgrims Progress
Flicka

Simply Create Link Party {11}

Thank you so much for stopping by to link up at our Simply Create Link Party!  We always LOVE to see what you've created! Don't forget to check out the blogs that were featured on Monday afternoon HERE.  There were some amazing link-ups and it was really hard to choose what ones to feature.

But you don't want to miss these ones, so pop on over and check them out!

We can't wait to see what you created this week!
<center> <a href="http://www.redflycreations.com/"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VwScEIo1Yuw/UUM1INKfNDI/AAAAAAAAIFs/5cmwnR-HOjQ/s250/simplycreate.jpg"/></a></center>

This week on Simply Designing and 

Redfly Creations:

Now, it's time to PARTY! Please link up your latest creations.

• You can link up pretty much anything as long as you "created" it
• Please visit as many projects as you linked up and Pin or share them in some way
• Please keep it family friendly, no links to shops or giveaways, and we reserve the right to delete any links that aren't appropriate
• By linking up you are giving us permission to feature or show off your project
• We would of course love it if you followed both of us, but it's not required :)

*Please Pin from the original source! Thanks.*

Hair Tie Clutch - Tutorial

We have always had a hard time keeping track of our hair ties and other hair accessories.  When my daughter was really small, she would pull them out and just throw them on the ground.  It seemed I was always having to buy more.  She is much older now, but we still manage to lose some here and there.  When I saw this on Pinterest from Clippie Dips, I knew I was going to have to make my own version to help us keep track of all our hair ties.

Cut one 7 1/2" X 8" from outside fabric

Cut one 7 1/2" X 8" from lining fabric

Cut two 7 1/2" X 8" from light interfacing 

Cut one 5 1/2"X 4" from outside fabric

Cut one 5 1/2" X 4" from lining fabric

Cut two 5 1/2" X 4" from light interfacing

Cut one 7 1/2" piece from rick rack

Cut one 3 1/2" piece from rick rack

Cut one 8 1/2" piece from rick rack

Two pearl snaps

Matching thread

First we are going to create our rick rack snap.  Take your 7 1/2" rick rack piece.  Using your snap kit, attach the pearl end of your snap to the top of this piece.  I folded under about 1/2" then attached the snap over the fold.  Next, take your 3 1/2" rick rack piece and attach the other end of the snap.  This time I folded my rick rack in half exactly so that the unfinished ends would be in the seam when the sandwich is sewn together.

Now we are going to make the flap.  Iron the light interfacing onto each of the 5 1/2" X 4" pieces.  Then sandwich right sides together, leaving a 1 1/2" opening to turn it inside out.

Turn inside out, iron and top stitch around the edges.

Now iron the light interfacing onto the two 7 1/2" X 8" pieces.  Ok, now let's put our sandwich together.

After getting all these pieces lined up sew the sandwich together, leaving a 2 1/2" opening on the far right side to turn it inside out.  Clip the corners before turning it inside out.

Top stitch all around the clutch, then attach the snap in the desired location.  The center of the snap should be about 3/4" from the bottom edge of the flap and about 2 1/2" from each side.

Snap in your hair ties and clips and Enjoy!!

Where I link up