The Elf on the Shelf was so successful at Christmas, I thought I could use that idea into a summer reading motivational tool. In The Poem Gnome Summer Reading Fun, I chose our garden gnome and made a message carrier he could slip across his back. In the Poem Gnome: Welcome Letter, I came up with his name (Pavel) and wrote his welcome letter. Today, my goal was to come up with message topics and places for our gnome to show up outside our front door.
Pavel’s message carrier will contain a new message every week encouraging our son to keep reading throughout the summer. His messages will challenge P to read in different ways, in different places. My planned Poem Gnome messages will challenge him to read:
- A magazine
- Something on the Internet
- A menu
- A cereal box
- To his dog, Dinah
- To his grandparents
- About a sport
- A poem (or several)
- To his two-year-old nephew
- Read song lyrics (his choice)
- Newspaper comics
Of course the best part of the poem gnome will be guessing where Pavel will pop up next and what silly things he’ll be doing. So where will Pavel show up?
- For his arrival, muddy gnome footprints across the patio leading to an overturned flower-pot will reveal the Poem Gnome peering through the patio doors.
- Right in front of door when we head out for the day
- Head buried in the garden, feet sticking out
- Playing with his soccer balls and equipment
- Hiding in the bushes
- Holding flowers
- Hiding in the flowers
- Riding P’s bike (in some way)
- Sitting on the patio hanging out with P’s favorite stuffed animals
- One with the elf on the shelf who is on a short vacation from the North Pole
- Grilling
- In the mailbox
Of course, this is only a plan. I may have last minute genius ideas and use those instead. I’ll make sure to keep you all posted on our Poem Gnome’s summer visit!
If you missed the first two Poem Gnome posts and want to do this at home check them out:
Poem Gnome: Summer Reading Fun and Poem Gnome: Welcome Letter
Happy reading!
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