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Oh, school starts soon – so very soon! In less than two weeks I will be back in the classroom welcoming 66 new students to my classroom. Inviting them into the world of sixth grade literature along with writing and social studies. The best way I know to make them feel welcome is to greet them with a warm smile and bring them into their new classroom. A clean and freshly decorated classroom filled with exciting books. I have a wonderful classroom library as I have been collecting books for 18 years. Every year new books appealing to the tweens and teens are published. An avid reader loves to gobble them up. The not-so avid reader needs a bit of coaxing. And this is where having a wide variety of book titles is so very helpful.
I love sharing the joy of reading with my children and my students. This means that I am always on the hunt for books for my classroom library. Garage sales, library book sales, Scholastic Book Club points, and gifts from parents are all avenues of book acquirement that I take advantage of. So when I heard that Kellogg’s and Scholastic teamed up together to give a way free books, I was all over it!
In our home – with six kids coming and going (especially all summer) We go through a lot of cereal and cereal bars. Kellogg’s is our friend! My stepson goes through Cheerios like there is no tomorrow!
So I headed to KelloggFamilyRewards.com and set up my account. You need to have this account to redeem your codes.
And then I headed to Walmart.com and I found the Buy Now Button.
Since I was buying it online – the receipt was emailed to me. Then I simply clicked on the redeem on the “Only Available Online” screen in the above picture and that took me right to Kellogg’s Family Rewards for me to submit my receipts. Since my phone was handy I simply snapped photos of my emailed receipt and text messaged them in. There are three ways you can upload your receipt, via text (like I did), via scanning into your computer or Kellogg’s Family Reward app — only when you purchase ONLINE between 7/21 – 9/11. All of the information is right there on the screen – with video tutorials even!
Conversely, I could also wait for my box of goodies to arrive and enter the 16 digit codes found inside the boxes at Kellogg’s Family Rewards. So many ways to redeem!
There are so many books to choose from – 80 titles – including books in Spanish! Scholastic has a wonderful library of books! And I love it that they have broken their library down into age categories. I was able to order a series called Stay Alive; book#1: Crash and book #2 Cave-In. If you know 6th graders, you know this will appeal to them! I also got a book called Capture the Flag – this one sounds intriguing as well. When you redeem your codes – you can choose to receive the books yourself or donate them. Hint! Hint! Donating them to your child’s teacher is a great way to help a teacher build his/her classroom library! Your donated book will ship directly to the school you chose in an envelope that says it was generously donated by your family.
Remember – one Kellogg’s product = one free, full-length Scholastic book, and each person can redeem up to 30 books. But it is important to note: you have to redeem your code for a free Scholastic book within 14 days of purchase – no matter when you buy product, consumers have 14 days to redeem. And all codes must be entered by 3/31/16.
In our home we made designated book bag – one that totes books in and out of the car for car rides, one to take books to the park, and to cart books back and forth between the library. This is just a simple canvas bag purchased at my local craft store and decorated with an iron-on patch and some puff paints. Easy-peasy. But now this classy little bag – makes it super easy to pack up a few books and a few snacks to take along on trips.
Then decorate with paint and allow to dry. Once the newly decorate bag is dried you are ready to pack it up with a couple of books and a few delicious and nutritious snacks – a container of Kellogg’s Corn Pops, a Kellogg’s Raspberry Nutri-Grain Cereal bar, and a Kellogg’s Special K Protein bar and head to the park for an afternoon of reading! This is one way that we make reading a happy habit at home and on the go!
Books really are a window to the world – and sharing the pleasure and power of reading with my children and my students is my passion. A well stocked library to share with others is a wonderful place to start!
Be sure to check out more books available via this Kellogg’s offer at http://cbi.as/gfgc. I’d love to hear your favorite book offered! #Back2SchoolReady
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I had no idea that Kellogg’s offered this program! How cool! I’m going to have to pass that information along to my sister for my nephew. Do you have 60 kids in your class or do you teach multiple classes? I thought my 32 this past year was too many…
What a cute and simple way to dress up a plain tote!
Thank you! It is fast and easy as well!
These tote bags are such a cute idea. My daughter will be starting Preschool this year and she is already trying to read books on her own. The tote bag would be a good way to keep library books in one location!
That’s what I initially started making them for in our house! They hung on a door knob and that was the designated spot for all library books. It really helped us keep track of them 🙂
Wow, that is an absolutely awesome program! Anything for a free book is a no-brainer for me! 😀
That is my thought exactly – there is not such thing as too many books!
Such cute ideas! Yes, you can never have too many books. Reading is so important! This is such a fun way to foster that love of books.
I have found that reading aloud, even to older children that are perfectly capable of reading, really helps foster that love!
I love scholastic and Kelloggs, what a great program! The bag came out so cute, thanks for the tutorial.
You’re welcome! We have used them a lot over the years!
You can never have enough books and with 4 kids in our house, you can never have enough cereal either! Great idea, teaming up these two companies!
Oh I know about kids sowing the cereal! The boys especially can go through boxes and boxes as an after school snack.
idk why i never thought of making a library bag. so cute. and i love when my daughter brings home scholastic book orders… i tend to go a little nuts! lol.
Right?!? Love those scholastic book orders! And as a teacher – the more the parents buy the more I can get for my class 🙂
I love this! My family loves to read so you’ll always find someone in our house reading.
Reading is the best escape! And a great way to learn!
I miss those days of being able to get books at the library with the boys. They are in high school now, so most of the books they read are plucked from my own bookshelf. I love the tote bag idea, what a great way to organize books!
Jennifer, I have older kids too (there is a 12 year range from top to bottom). I love that the older ones grab my books to read. It so great to have book conversations about books that I have read first for me!
Love your bookbag you are so creative and Capture the Flag sounds like a great treat for an adventurer!
These little book bags have been so handy – we have made them for years. Starting when my oldest was in second grade when I needed to figure out how to keep track of library books!
We are a reading family for sure! I love this program!
Yea! I love to hear that families treasure reading!
That is great there are so many choices for the book selection. If you are already buying the products why not get a free book, can’t have too many books.
My thoughts exactly! And when I feel like too many books are piling up – I start donating them! Plus my students seem to walk off with more than a few each year!
Tote bags are a great way to corral library books. We’ve lost a few over the years because they fell behind beds or ended up at school.
We started creating these tote bags when my youngest was in second grade for exactly that reason! That was 18 years ago! We have made lots of fun book tote bags over the years.
What creative ideas! We’ll try this the next afternoon I have with the girls (grandchildren)!!!!
I am sure that they would love it! Really fast and fun to put together. Drying time is required 🙂
What a cute idea to inspire a lifelong love of books and reading. I think little ones going off to preschool for the first time would enjoy making this with a little help from mom or dad.
I bet they would! When mine were really little I used to give them fabric crayons to permanently decorate fabric with. They work perfect and are easy for preschoolers+ to use!