World Book Day Reading Activities

We love nothing more than World Book Day activities in the classroom. Here are some of our favourites.

1. Reading bingo

This is a fantastic classroom game. To play, fill a three-sided bingo grid with different types of books that your learners have read or can easily spot in the classroom or school library. Call out your categories at random and see who is the first to tick off three boxes and shout “BINGO.”

See our printable bingo template here.

2. Silly voice stories

Students have to avoid laughing as their partner reads a passage from a well-known book in a silly voice. Once you have decided who will read first, set them off with different prompts, for example ‘squeakily.’ Whoever giggles takes over reading.

This exercise is great for speaking and listening skills!

3. Rhyming chairs

Pick a rhyming story that your learners know well or add your own rhyming words to a story they love - every time you read a rhyme students take a seat. It’s great to play as a teacher versus student game, each time learners spot the rhyme they win the point, and when they get it wrong, you win.

You can also use this to spot other key language features.

4. Cliff-edge endings 

A great spin on this classic exercise is to stop on a cliffhanger in a story you’re reading in class and let learners dream up what happens next. You could choose the type of ending with a prompt (e.g., scary, romantic, silly) or give them full creative control and see where it goes!

This works with any text (e.g., articles, poems, letters)

5. Which book character am I?

Bring the classic party game to the classroom. To play, learners make a note of a character on a piece of paper, and without looking, ask a partner yes or no questions until they work out who they are.

It's a great way to use amazing adjectives.

6. Creative cover design and more.

Add a splash of artistic flair to your book-based activities in class with some creative book cover design. Get your learners to design new covers for their favourite books, then let them record their top picks on their very own World Book Day reading shelf.

Discover the downloadable activity sheet here. 

Hopefully, you're as excited as we are about World Book Day 2026. To explore the range of fully planned World Book Day events on offer, contact your local Independent Usborne Partner here.