Reading Rewards Chart & Bedtime Routine

Reading is an important part of my children’s bedtime routine, but now we’ve found a way to make our nighttime routine even MORE fun! We recently discovered the Read2Me Tonight website (by Scholastic), and it’s packed full of awesome information, The 100 Best Read Aloud Books, and The Three Bees e-book for you to read to your child. It’s a fantastic resource!

I also created a printable “Soar with Reading” balloon themed reading rewards chart to track our reading progress and keep my boys focused on their reading goals.

Our bedtime routine always starts with brushing our teeth – with Orajel™ PAW Patrol™ toothpaste and our Orajel™ PAW Patrol™ toothbrush, of course! My five-year-old is a huge PAW Patrol™ fan, so he loves having his favorite pups on his toothbrush and toothpaste. Orajel™ PAW Patrol™ products are a great way to transition your little one to fluoride toothpaste to help protect against cavities to keep young teeth and gums healthy. (Note: If you’re looking for a printable tooth brushing chart, we have one of those available, too!)

After brushing our teeth, it’s time for reading! I love reading aloud to my boys, but these days they’re usually curled up in bed reading to each other before I’m even done brushing my teeth! Reading aloud to one another is great reading practice, and it’s a special bonding time for the boys, too, so I always encourage them to spend the time together. After that, it’s my turn to read though!

For our younger son, we love the list of 100 Best Read Aloud Books, and for my older boys, we read favorites from our list of The Best Chapter Books for Beginning Readers. It’s great fun!

To track our time reading, I created these fun “Soar with Reading” rewards charts. The chart is available in a rainbow colored version or a black-and-white version – both are sized to fit a 3/4″ circle label inside of each balloon to mark them off, or you can use the black-and-white version, and color in each balloon as you go. For younger children, mark off one balloon for each book that you read. For older children, mark off one balloon for each 20-30 minute reading session.

I like to add a “reward” to our reading charts because it encourages my boys to read more often as they work towards their goal. Rewards don’t need to be extravagant though! Our rewards are usually things like a trip to the park, frozen yogurt, family movie night, and other fun activities.