One of our favorite activities as a homeschool family is our book club. Book clubs are a wonderful way to bring literary works to life! We have a few dedicated families that meet quarterly to play, eat, and discuss a book together. It’s been an awesome way to socialize, learn, and have fun together! This post will help you brainstorm discussion questions and activities for your next homeschool book club!

Are you not in a book club yet? You could always start one! Your family is the perfect place to begin. These ideas can be used in a book club setting or at home with your own wonderful crew.

Reading together is a wonderful way to engage little minds and nurture learning. But the Books are also an awesome springboard for other hands-on learning. 

Here’s a step-by-step guide of how to bring books to life for your next homeschool book club!

• Preview the book yourself: Read or flip through the book yourself before reading it with your kids. This will help you prepare any activities before the homeschool book club meeting or you involve your kids. 
• Make a list of discussion questions: Plan on giving your children plenty of opportunities to boost their reading comprehension through discussion. Here is a list of discussion questions you can use for basically any book. You can download a printable version of these questions, worksheets, and activity ideas in my Reading Resource Bundle.
  • Discussion questions for before you read:
    • What do you think this book will be about?
    • What do you already know about the theme of this book?
    • Have we read any other books by this author? What did you like about those books?
  • Questions to ask while you’re reading:
    • What do you think will happen next?
    • How do you think the characters are feeling now?
    • What would you do next if you were there?
    • Are there any words or phrases you don’t understand? Let’s figure them out together.
    • Can you summarize what has happened in the story so far?
  • Discussion questions for after you’ve read:
    • Did you like the ending of this book? Why or why not?
    • Summarize the story in your own words.
    • Who was your favorite character? Why?
    • Who was your least favorite character? Why?
    • What was the most memorable part of the story?
    • How did the setting of the story affect what happened?
    • What was the main conflict of the story?
    • Have you ever experienced anything similar to what might happen in this book?
    • Is there anything that surprised you about this story?
    • Did you learn anything from reading this book?
    • Does this book remind you of another book, movie, or TV show?
    • Is there anything else you want to discuss or share about the book?
• Identify potential learning objectives: Determine the main themes and concepts covered in the book. Think about the who, what, where, when, and why of the story. Choose a few main topics that you could use to plan book club activities around. Even the simplest picture book has plenty to work off of!

• Brainstorm and plan activities: Think of additional activities that can reinforce those key concepts. In my Reading Resource Bundle, you can find printable worksheets and templates for creative writing to make planning activities easy. There are so many creative minds out there that have already made awesome book club activities. Teachers Pay Teachers and Pinterest are my favorite places to search for thematic activities. However, making your own activities is an option too. Here are some ideas to consider for your book club activities:

• Create a trivia game about the book
• Review the main components of the story (I have a free printable to help with this)
• Make a timelines of the events
• Draw characters or settings
• Paint characters or settings
• Create a new book cover
• Take field trips to related places
• Print related coloring pages
• Download a relevant unit study
• Do thematic puzzles
• Search on Pinterest for thematic crafts
• Play games seen in the book
• Add thematic spins to classic games
• Do science experiments
• Make maps of the setting

• Act out scenes
• Play Character Charades
• Dress up like characters
• Create a sequel to the story
• Create a trailer promoting the book
• Write a book report (here’s a printable reading journal for this!)
• Write or record a letter to a character
• Write or record a different ending
• Write or record a comparison between two similar books
• Write or record a book review
• Write or record a poem about the book
• Host a thematic book party
• Cook recipes from the story or culture 
• Research the author
• Read additional books
• Watch educational videos
• Watch a related movie
• Find guest speakers to talk about the theme
• Plan a community service project that deals with a theme of the book

• Read the book with your kids: Enjoy reading the book with your children. Engage with them as you read by using your discussion question. 
• Enjoy your book club: whether you have a lot of kids in your book club, or your crew is made up of your own kiddos, enjoy bringing the book to life together. Even a simple picture book can lead to days or learning and explorations at home. 

I hope that you have some great ideas for your next book club! For more fun activities and insights into homeschooling, please follow me on Instagram.