Thrifty Thursday: Earn freebies through summer reading programs!

Has your summer started yet?  Mine is just around the corner and I’m so excited!  I’ve always loved reading and thus far have been able to pass that love on to my children.  One of the things we love about summer is all of the great summer reading programs.

Here are a few summer reading programs you might want to take advantage of:

*Barnes & Noble ~ Earn a free book when you read 8 books!  You can download your Passport to Reading and view the list of free books that you can choose from here.

*Book It Summer Reading Challenge ~ Read five books this summer and enter to win a prize pack that includes the following items:  tote bag, water bottle, cloth fun disk, beach ball, sunglasses, beach towel, dive balls, Voyage of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis, and a $20 Visa gift card.  Print the entry form and get more details here.

*Bookworm Wednesdays ~ Every Wednesday at participating Showcase Cinemas, Multiplex Cinemas, or Cinema de Lux box offices, kids can get free admission to a select children’s film when they persent a book report.  Get the details, download the forms, and check out the schedule here.

*Borders ~ Check out the Double Dog Dare summer reading program.  Kids 12 and under can get a free book from Borders or Waldenbooks when they read 10 books this summer.  Some of the free books include some of my favorites from my childhood such as Ramona the Brave and The Witch of Blackbird Pond.  You can download the form and get more details here.

*Chuck E Cheese Reading Rewards ~ Read a book every day for two weeks and get 10 free tokens from Chuck E Cheese (pizza purchase is required).

*Half Price Books ~ Check out the “Feed Your Brain” summer reading program.  Kids ages 14 and under can earn a $3 Half Price Books shopping card for each week they read at least 15 minutes per day.  This program starts June 1st and extends through July 31st.  Get the details and download your reading log here.

*Rainforest Cafe ~ Download Rio’s Reading Reward calendar, read for at least 20 minutes each day for one month, and get a free kid’s meal! (with the purchase of an adult entree)

*Reading Warriors Challenge – Kids 8 and older can join this fun challenge based on the legends and adventures of the warrior cats in Erin Hunter’s “Warriors” series.  Get the details and start your challenge here.

*Your local library ~ Check to see what summer reading programs your local library offers.  My daughter just brought home a bookmark with the details for our library’s summer reading program.  For reading five books, kids can earn a bookmark, for reading 10 books, they get a pencil, for reading 15 books, they get a certificate, and for reading 20 books, they get a trophy! (she’s really excited about that)

Do you know of any other great summer reading programs or do you have another Thrifty Thursday tip to share?  Feel free to link up below!  For more Thrifty Thursday ideas, check out Coupon Teacher, Madame Deals, and Life as a Mom.