Join Our Reading Party! {GIVEAWAY}

I love summer. My kids do, too. And what better way to kick it off than by throwing a party? Not just any party, mis amigos, pero a READING PARTY. (Ummm...does it get any better than that? ¡Creo que no!)

You probably know by now that for me, any excuse will do to promote reading and literacy in our kids. So I was thrilled when I got the chance to host a reading party for our 4-H group (which just so happens to be made up of our fellow homeschoolers).For the third year in a row, the iVillage PBS KIDS Summer Reading Community Challenge is back. And thanks to them, I was able to share all the fabulousness you see filling the tables above. Our little jackpot reading party kit consisted of lots of coloring sheets, activities, bookmarks, book plates, stickers, tatoos, notepads, reading charts, pencils, and of course, BOOKS! Want a better look? Okay...

The challenge runs from June 18 to July 27 and features free literacy-building resources, for parents and children, designed by the experts at PBS Parents and PBS KIDS. You can sign up for daily activity assignments, delivered by email. The activities will be provided by Challenge Coaches Angela Santomero, creator, executive producer and head writer of SUPER WHY!, and Jessica Wollman, vice president, Editorial Products & Digital Programming at Scholastic. And if you have any questions, you can ask Angela or Jessica. They're happy to answer parent questions and offer advice throughout the online event.

During the summer, I'm a lot more relaxed about what my kids read. During the school year, I'm careful to provide them with biographies, classics, and a lot of non-fiction. But in the summer, I let the kids pick out more of the type of books they like (ummm...yes, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and the Hardy Boys are at the top of the list). The only thing I don't ease up on is that I expect them to read at least once a day for a minimum of 20 minutes. But when armed with books they've chosen, that 20 minutes easily slips into 30 or more.

To help you all out, the nice people over at Scholastic have kindly offered all MommyMaestra readers an extra 10% off any of the Summer Challenge titles sold at ScholasticStore.com. Just use the coupon code: READ10. The offer ends August 31st, 2012.

THE GIVEAWAY

Now, since I was not able to invite all of you dear readers to our party, I saved one of the goody sets (shown above), and I asked PBS if I could give it away. "Of course!" they said.

So one lucky reader will receive all the items shown above (EXCEPT for the green logo button. They only sent one and my daughter has already claimed it.)

To enter, simply leave a comment below.

The deadline to enter is 11:59 EST, Sunday, June 17th (Happy Father's Day!). The winners will be chosen using Random.org. and contacted via email - so be sure to leave a valid email address in your comment! (If I have no way to contact you, I'll have to choose someone else!)

And to increase your chances of winning, you can:

1) Like PBS KIDS on FB.

2) Follow the MommyMaestra FB page.

3) Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following: Win a @PBSKIDS & @iVillage reading kit for your child from @LatinMami http://bit.ly/MPkc1w #giveaway

Don't forget to let me know by posting a separate comment for each entry!

By entering this giveaway, you agree to the Official Sweepstakes Rules. No purchase required. Void where prohibited.

¡Buena suerte!

Disclosure: I was asked to host a reading party by PBSKIDS and iVillage. They sent me the reading party kit. I saved one set of materials and asked permission to give it away on MommyMaestra. All reading love (opinions) written above is strictly my own obsessive ramblings.