Starting a book club for kids - part two

Any favorite books can be featured in a book club!

Yesterday I wrote about how to get started on building a book club for kids and this is the continuation of that.  Once you've built the group, figured out the basics and chosen the books (see part one for details on all that), you're ready to move on!

Step Four: Decide How Meetings Will Be Organized - After you figure out how many kids you're going to be dealing with and have some idea of what types of reading they're going to be doing, decide what you want to happen at meetings.  Just about every book club has a discussion portion of the meeting where the members of the club sit in a group and talk about what they read, so this is a good place to start.  How long do you want discussions to run?  If there are going to be other activities, do you want the discussion to happen at the beginning of the meeting or at the end?  Either way can work, depending on the group.  Talking about the book can be a great way to get things rolling and get everyone excited about the activity they're doing.  Often lively discussions can be continued while activities are going on, as well.  On the other hand, if you're planning crafts that require a lot of instructions or have kids that tend to have trouble focusing, starting with the activity might be a good way to go.  Then you can end with the discussion after they've done a fun project.  Also consider if you're going to offer snacks.  I recommend serving snacks during the discussion (they get kids to open up and feel comfortable and welcome right from the start).  What you serve might impact how you structure a meeting, though (chocolate pudding might not be the best thing to eat right before making white paper cranes, for example).  The younger the kids, the more they'll be thrown off if you switch up the schedule from meeting to meeting, so keep that in mind as well.

Step Five: Plan Ahead - This is the part where you get to plan games, activities, discussions and whatever else you and your group wants.  Every book club is different and will want different things.  A group of teenagers may just want you to hand out food and step out of the way, and that's fine.  A group of ten-year-olds might be more excited about having a craft project at each meeting, though, which takes some preparation.  First, figure out if you're going to be running the discussion and, if so, prepare ahead of time.  Plan questions, discussion topics, even a quiz if you feel so inclined.  Don't force the discussion to follow your plan, though.  If you had expected to talk about the hero and all the kids get excited talking about the villain, roll with it.  Once you've got the discussion figured out, decide what else you want to do.  Here are a few ideas:

1. Craft projects: There are a ton of ways you can work arts and crafts into book clubs.  The kids can make posters about themes from what they read, crafts that were mentioned in the book or were popular at the time the book took place, create things that are thematically appropriate (let the kids design superhero logos for themselves and draw them onto capes that either you make then or that are prepared ahead of time for a session where everyone read superhero comics, for example).  You can even find usual ways to work in the themes, like having the kids do origami animals after reading animal books.  Be creative and don't be afraid to try something new.  Just make sure you have enough materials for everyone, plus some extras.
2. Cooking: Food comes up a lot in kid's books.  There are elaborate feasts, like the ones at Hogwarts, and memorable recipes, like fried worms.  You can also make old recipes when reading historical fiction or find recipes for ethnic food when reading books set in other countries.  Just make sure that the recipes you pick are simple enough for the kids you're working with and anything you need done ahead of time is ready.  Having extra adult hands around for cooking projects is always a big plus, too!  Again, always make sure you have enough ingredients for everyone and that at the end, there's enough for everyone to try it!
3. Watch a Movie: It may seem odd, since this is a book club, but having a movie showing can be really fun.  The easiest thing to do read books that have been made into movies and show the movie version after the kids have read the book, but it's not the only option.  You can also show movies with similar themes, settings, or characters.  Don't be afraid to think outside the box!  The kids could read a book about family and adoption and then watch Lilo and Stitch.  Just make sure to pre-watch anything you aren't familiar with and have plenty of popcorn handy!
4. Go on a Field Trip: This one is a little trickier and probably can't be pulled off for every meeting.  Still, when you can find the right book for a field trip, it can be the best book club event you ever do.  There are so many options for this one.  Museums are great places to visit and can be paired with biographies, historical fiction, the right novels, books about history or science, and any number of other things.  Parks or ponds can be great places to visit to see nature.  Maybe there's a historic house or location near you that could be paired with a book.  Even things like water parks can be effective book club field trips!  The trick is to keep it fun and not feeling like a school project.  Just make sure to have enough adults and let everyone's parents know before you head out.
5. Get involved: Often you can find a book that inspires you to get involved somehow - help the homeless, save the environment, whatever cause you want.  This can be a field trip (food banks and shelters often welcome groups of kid volunteers), but it doesn't have to be.  There are a bunch of great books with suggestions for ways kids can be activists.  Have each kid bring in something they never wear and transform them into pieces of clothing they love in order to learn about reusing or let the kids pick people they want to send messages to (like their local representatives or companies that do things they don't agree with) and have them write and mail letters about what they want to see change in the world.
6. Do some science: Find science experiments that tie into concepts in the books you've read and try them out!  There are tons of sources for kid-friendly science experiments and many of them are easy to set up.  Try egg drops in the backyard after reading about parachuting or try making a baking soda volcano and watching it erupt after a book on Pompeii.  I recommend trying things out before the meeting to make sure they work out how you expect them to and always have everything you need (including what you need to clean up) ready.
7. Write reviews: Let the kids write reviews of the books they read.  They each write a review individually or they can work together to write one.  Then do something with the reviews.  If they are each writing a review of each book, give them blank books to past the reviews into.  If they are working together on them, make a book out of the reviews and give each kid a copy when it's finished.  Another idea is to build a book review blog and post the kids' reviews there.  You can get a free blog with just about any name you want from any of the blog services (I like WordPress.com because it's highly customizable, easy to use and the blogs end up looking really good).  Start with a post about your book club and who they are introducing the kids (be sure to use internet safety rules and not give out any personal information - I like letting the kids pick screen names for themselves).  Then post the reviews as they write them.  This works best with one review per book, but you can post as many as you want.  Moderate or turn off comments, just to be on the safe side, since the kids will want to read their own blog!  This is a particularly fun activity with groups of teens.

Step Six: Enjoy! - Once your book club is up and running, have fun!  Remember that it's supposed to be about having fun, building friendships and, hopefully, nurturing a love of reading.  Don't ask too much of the kids.  They'll let you know what they need and want.  If you need to take sessions off or rearrange schedules, don't sweat it.  Life happens and this should be fun, not stressful.  Make sure that no matter how messy the logistics might get, you deal with them and you don't make the kids do it.  Keep parents in the loop, but make sure it's the kids who are running the show.  This is their party, you're just organizing it.  Have fun!