Fun library activities for children

Libraries aren’t just about borrowing books to read and choosing which books to take home. There are multiple library activities that children can do whilst visiting the local library on a school trip. Or teachers could bring these library activities into the classroom by creating their own classroom library. 

To inspire some book-themed activities teachers can do with their class, we have created some fun library activities that children will love. These can be done on a trip to the library or in the comfort of the classroom.

Create or join a children’s book club

If you opt to create a small library in your classroom, you could make a children’s book club. Set a book for the week that children can read in their own time independently. Once a week, get together to discuss the chosen book. Doing this encourages pupils to read more as they look forward to the book club meeting. Also, it improves reading skills and vital English skills as they become more independent readers.

You could also promote or join, the book clubs that libraries hold every week. Most local libraries do this through the organisation Chatterbox. Children can discover a range of exciting genres through these book clubs and even socialise with other kids. They aim to encourage children to read and discuss books more, increasing their English skills and knowledge.

Discuss how to care for physical books

To prepare your class for visits to the library or having your own in the classroom, discuss with them how to care for physical books. This will give pupils confidence in handling books and ensure that they return books in perfect condition. You can also delve into how to best use the libraries to encourage regular use of them.

Brainstorm in groups how to care for books and let pupils create posters that they can look back at. Allow them to be as creative as possible so that they carry out their actions. Some ways to care for books can be:

• Wash hands before touching
• Use bookmarks
• Don’t get books wet

Encourage the use of the children’s university

The children’s university is great for children to take part in, and many libraries run this initiative. You could even promote the use of it within your school too. They provide educational activities and children receive a passport where they collect stamps for each hour spent on activities. They even get a graduation at the end! This gives them something to strive towards as it’s rewarding them for participating. Plus, this initiative gets pupils involved with libraries to complete the activities.

Shared reading discussion

This is one of the fun library activities that can also be done in the classroom. Sit down with the class and read a book together. Break down the plot and the characters whilst discussing them with pupils. Then you can move on to what could happen next in the story and let pupils guess using their imagination. Having these shared reading discussions will engage children with reading and educate them too.

Guided reading in the library

Do your guided reading sessions in your local library. This is perfect for choosing a book to read as libraries have hundreds of different books. You will easily find a book that everyone in the class is interested in which helps them to enjoy guided reading.

You could also use our guided reading pack in case choosing a book is taking too long or if you can’t make the trip to the library every week.

For an insight into guided reading and some activity ideas you could try out in the library read our teach guided reading blog.

Independent research at the library

Take your pupils on an independent research trip at the library. This is one of the library activities that can seem scary to children at first, however, it’s extremely educational and a sense of achievement can be felt afterwards. Plus, it prepares them for their futures where independent research will be needed at some stage.

Libraries offer a plethora of educational books and digital resources that pupils will need for research. Create a research task for them to carry out such as using our STEM projects to research a solution. Independent research allows pupils to explore their own interests, steer their own learning, and hit the curriculum standards. 

Watch films based on books

At the library, get your class to choose a DVD to watch that is based on a book. You can then discuss the film with pupils and see if everyone is interested in watching it. After, you can settle in the classroom and watch it, engaging children with literature without them knowing. When the film ends, discuss the adaptation compared to the book (if you have previously read it). Set children the task of thinking of a different ending to make this activity extra fun!

Write book reviews

A fun and creative activity for pupils to do in a library is to write up a review for a book they have read. You could even integrate this into the book club idea as part of rounding up the experience of the set book. Let children be open and honest about how they felt about the book and if they liked it. This helps them explore what genres they are interested in as well as highlight books they didn’t like. Plus, they could end up loving a book they usually would hate widening their reading taste and love for literature. 

Do a scavenger hunt

Plan a scavenger hunt as part of your fun library activities. Think about different types and genres of books and where they will be in the library. Create clues that will lead children to that type of book where they will find the next clue and set it up in your local library. This creates a challenge for pupils as not only do they have to get used to the layout of their library, but they also have to work out each clue correctly. Plus, kids can memorise definitions of certain types of books too.

Hand out points to children that get the clues correct and award them varying prizes at the end, depending on how many they got right. For example, children who get all of them right could win a personalised wristband whilst children who very little or none right, could win badges. This ensures that everyone’s a winner! 

Do some creative writing

Join library creative writing sessions on your trip to your local library. There are book-inspired themes that allow children to interpret books in their own way. Their imagination can run wild with creating a story and there’s a social aspect to it too. Many creative writing sessions in libraries involve discussions, sharing ideas, and help from librarians or even authors! 

Creative writing can also be done in the classroom. For more creative writing ideas take a look at our creative writing ideas for the classroom blog. 

Draw favourite characters 

Whether in your local library, or your own classroom library, get pupils into the creative mood with some art. Let children choose a book that they enjoy and get them to draw their favourite character within that book. They can base this on what they imagine the character looks like with a bit of help from the descriptive words used within the book. Children will be able to learn descriptive words through this activity whilst having fun with colouring pencils!

Use these fun library activities to get your pupils engaged with books and allow them to enjoy literature. Encourage regular use of libraries and spark their imaginations whilst allowing them to learn new things! There are many learning opportunities and resources available at local libraries and, it’s not all just about choosing and borrowing books.

Why not also create your very own small library in your classroom? This will get children interested in books further and allow you to do some of these activities when you can’t go to the library.

Why not show us your classroom libraries or reading corners on our Instagram? We’d love to see them!