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Catch the Reading Bug

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• 1 67 oz. NESTLÉ NESQUIK canister lid
• Permanent markers
• Crayons
• Pencil
• Safety scissors
• Sheets of construction paper or craft foam in various colors
• Pipe cleaners
• Craft knife
• Brads

• Pick a location for the Reading Bug. Make sure there is plenty of room for it to grow!
• Cut 6-10 circles out of construction paper or craft foam. You can add more circles as the Reading Bug grows.
• Using permanent markers, draw a funny "bug" face on the surface of the round NESQUIK lid.
• Center one of the circles to the back of the bug face and glue in place.
• Curl two pipe cleaners for the Reading Bug's antennae.
• Insert one end of each pipe cleaner into the construction paper or craft foam just above the bug's eyes and glue to secure.
• Each time your child has completed a book, write the name of the book and the date it was finished on one of the circles.
• (PARENTS) Make a small hole at the very bottom of the bug's face (next to the rim of the lid.)
• Attach the first circle to the bug's face by pushing a brad through the circle (about 1/2 inch in from the edge) and then through the small hole that was made in the lid. Open the brad to secure the circle to the lid.
• Add the second circle to the first by overlapping them slightly and pushing the brad through the two circles. As before, open the brad to secure the circles.
• As the Reading Bug grows, attach it to a wall, bulletin board or refrigerator.

• If you want to use the Reading Bug for more than one child, assign each child a specific colored circle. Watching their circles make the bug grow will help motivate them to read even more!
• Suggest drawing a small picture about the book your child has finished.
• Sometimes, talking about the book together will help give your child wonderful ideas for his or her illustration!

• Take your children to the library or bookstore when a children's book author is giving a reading.
• Attend a children's theater performance based on a favorite child's book. You can read it to your child before the play, if it is above their reading level. After the play, talk about how similar or different it was from the book.
• Ask them if the characters in the play were as they had imagined them to be when they were reading the book.

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