book report cereal box

Bragging Mommy

Find out what is Brag Worthy!

How to Make a Cereal Box Book Report

Reading is a fundamental part of early education. Studies even show that reading to newborns helps their brain development and can improve vocabulary later on. Reading opens doors to learning, and will be an essential part of schooling forever. 

Chances are that sometime in your mom life you will have a child that needs a book report, and chances are that you also purchase a large amount of boxed cereal. This creates the perfect scenario for these cereal box book reports . They are a fun way for kids to share what they learned in their reading, and a practical way to reduce, reuse and recycle those old cereal boxes. 

The first few steps in the cereal box book reports would be to read the book and buy a box of cereal if you don’t already have a box laying around. If you don’t already have a stash of cereal boxes, it could be fun to let your child pick out the cereal from the store with the book report in mind for the end result. 

The cover of the cereal box is usually bright, colorful, and has the name of the cereal unmistakably large on the front. The front of the box is a lot of real estate for your child to get creative. The cereal name should be the title of the book. The art work on the front should hint to the storyline just like the cover of a book would. 

One side of the cereal box usually has nutrition facts and an ingredients list. The setting of the story can be described in this column. The setting should include things like the location, the era of time. Setting can best be remembered as the time and place. If the setting is described well it is possible for someone to get the feeling of being in the book without having ever opened it. 

Main Characters

The other side of the cereal box is where your child can describe the main characters of the story. Describing the setting and main characters are the fundamentals of a good book report. Main character descriptions can include things like age, role, personality, relationship to other characters, physical appearance, etc. 

Traditionally, the back of the cereal box usually has a maze, a word search, or some kind of activity that kids love to do over and over again. I think we all had that one sibling who did the activity in pen and ruined it for everyone else. The activity should somehow be related to the book. A word search with main character names or setting details, or title and author information could be included. 

Why Book Reports are Important

Book reports are a great way to gauge how well a child understood what they read. Reading comprehension is the only way that reading is beneficial to a child. Making book reports fun and engaging for children could help them have a better relationship with reading. Cereal box book reports are sure to be a hit with your children, and will also help them learn and grow academically. If you try it out, be sure to leave a comment! 

About Bragging Mommy

At the Bragging Mommy we love bringing you new content that can help you and your family! Be it parenting, health, fashion, travel, home, beauty, DIY, reviews, and so much more! The majority of our posts are written by guest authors. We hope you find this site helpful. Namaste and thanks for visiting! Check us out on Instagram @thebraggingmommy.

Contact The Owner, Heidi

404 Not found

Project-Based Learning

• Classroom Decor

Seasonal and Holiday

• Social Studies

Teacher Tips

• Blog , Reading , Teaching tips

Cereal Box Book Reports – A Fun Alternative!

Share this Post

If you’ve never tried Cereal Box Book Reports, I suggest you give it a try! Teachers are always looking for unique ways to assess their students’ comprehension of fiction books and novels they have read. Many teachers find traditional book report alternatives to be extremely helpful in getting students excited about reading. Sometimes, however, students crave s omething a little bit different . Enter Cereal Box Book Reports!

A few years ago, I started using  Cereal Box Book Reports  as a Reading  project. My students LOVED making them, I noticed a big difference in their engagement in the book report process, and they were so excited to share their final projects. We even left the finished products on display in the classroom!

CEREAL BOX BOOK REPORTS

I suggest having a parent helper work with you to cover all the cereal boxes with white bulletin board paper before you introduce the projects. It saves a TON of work!

Before we began the project, I gave each student a scoring rubric so they knew exactly what was expected. We went over the rubric together. 

Then, I explained that cereal names must correlate to the novel they had chosen to read. These two projects were for the books  Charlotte’s Web  and  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone .

My students loved having the freedom to choose their own novel (pre-approved) and get creative in matching the theme of their cereal box book report to the book! 

While creating their reports, students wrote the book summaries on one side panel of the cereal box.  They identified and described the setting and main characters on the other side panel.

On the back of the cereal box book report, students created a fun game or activity related to the book. Some made a word search, while others designed mazes, word scrambles, or riddles. 

The title, name of the author, and book ratings were added to the top of the cereal box book reports.

You can either create your own rubric and project directions for your own students, or if you would like to save time, check out my popular, ready-to-print Cereal Box Book Report Packet !

Take a closer look at the complete cereal box book report project below:

Looking for some more fun and creative book report ideas?  I’ve put together a list of  10 Book Report Projects that Kids Love .  Sometimes a fun book project is not enough, especially for those reluctant readers. Based on my experience, here is a helpful list of  25 of the best books for Tweens .

Save This Cereal Box Book Reports Post for Later!

Shelly Rees

Hi, I’m Shelly! Thank you for being here. I love helping third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers with fun and engaging activities that require no to little prep! Let me help you by taking some of the stress and work off your plate.

Hi, I'm Shelly

• Seasonal & Holiday
• Teaching Ideas

New Products

March Word Searches and Puzzles

Science of Reading Background Knowledge Organizers

Science of Reading Vocabulary Activities and Graphic Organizers

You might also like.

Parts of Speech Worksheets That Kids Love!

Fun Social Studies Activities for Middle School

10 Book Report Ideas That Kids Will Love

Recess: 5 Reasons Why We Should Hold onto It

©2022 Shelly Rees. All Rights Reserved.

Designed by Ashley Hughes.

Seasonal & Holiday

Reading & ela.

Cereal Box Book Report: A Creative Writing Project & Activity for Gifted Students

• Categories : High school english lesson plans grades 9 12
• Tags : High school lesson plans & tips

• Cereal Box - empty and in good shape (no torn off tops or crushed sides)
• Butcher Paper - assorted colors
• Construction Paper or Scrapbooking Paper
• Assorted scrapbooking decorations/stickers
• Packing tape
• Fishing Line

How to Make a Cereal Box Book Report

Tape both ends with packing tape to seal down the flaps and to keep them from poking up after wrapping. Using butcher paper, wrap the cereal box much like you would a Christmas present, but being sure not to go too crazy on the tape. The boxes look best when wrapped in a neutral color like white, gray, or beige.

The front of the box will have the title of the book, author name, and a picture or object that symbolizes the story. Tell students to select an image or object that would most likely be a movie poster if this book were to be made in to a film. Encourage them to refrain from using an image similar to what is already on the cover of the book they are reporting. Creativity should play a huge part in the overall grading and you want them to come up with an image for the front of the box that is meaningful, but different from the novel’s cover. Students can draw their own image, use clip art they’ve printed from a computer, or use 3-D objects. For example, I had a student create cereal box for the short story, “A Rose for Emily” and hot glue a withered, dried rose to the front of the box and also added a Barbie-size hair brush with a few steel-Grey wig hairs weaved in the bristles. Not only should the image be striking, but the title and author’s name should be bold and visible on the front of the box.

Step Three:

On the back of the box, you can use this space to have students illustrate their knowledge of a lesson you have studied in conjunction with the novel, or if the book is fiction, you could require students to construct a plot pyramid, being sure to use examples from the novel for each step of the pyramid. Non-fiction books could create a time-line of the novel, or a “Facts & Figures” chart that displays the main facts from the book. Require two or three symbolic images that represent the book in some way.

Side one of the cereal box should list the “ingredients”, or characters in the novel. Each main character should also have a few sentences that describe their physical and personality traits. You can require a picture or object that symbolizes each character. The scrap-booking aisles of craft stores offer great stickers and trinkets that would be great for character symbols. Using the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton as an example, students found a tiny jean jacket for Johnny and a miniature football helmet for Derry to glue next to their names and descriptions. It is unbelievable how many different stickers and trinkets you can find in the scrap-booking section! Also keep in mind that I encourage students to type up their descriptions and other textual items on the computer and print them using aesthetically pleasing font and color. Simply writing the information directly on to the butcher paper will appear sloppy and will not leave much room for error. Typing, printing, cutting and pasting on to the box is the student’s best bet and will look the best for the final product.

Side two of the cereal box needs to describe the setting of the story, and include a paragraph description. Side two should also note whether the story was written in first or third person or explain the author’s style of the work (stream of consciousness or prose writing, for example).

The top of the box should contain a theme statement that the student created to best fit the story. You can also require symbolic pictures to accompany the theme statement.

Step Seven:

The bottom of the box will contain two tone words that best describe the first half of the work and then two additional tone words that describe the second half of the work. Images and pictures that represent the tone words can also be required.

Report Presentation

Upon completing the cereal boxes, students should present them to the class; taking time to explain and describe each aspect of the box to the class. I like to display the completed boxes by puncturing the upper corner of the box with a large needle and weaving a length of fishing line through the top. I then suspend the boxes from my classroom ceiling to show off the student’s hard work. The hanging boxes are eye-catching and are also a great way to promote reading in your classroom. Students may venture to try a book they’d never dared to because the cereal box hanging from your ceiling piqued their interest!

Subscribe for updates and freebies!

Revamping Book Reports: How Cereal Box Book Report Promotes Creativity and Critical Thinking Skills

Calling all educators and parents! Do you remember the days of boring book reports? Times have changed and it’s time we switched things up to promote creativity and critical thinking skills. One alternative method that has gained popularity is the cereal box book report . Not only does it provide a fun way for students to showcase their literary comprehension, but it also integrates design elements into education. Let’s explore how using cereal boxes as a unique tool can help revamp conventional assignments and improve overall enthusiasm for reading in young learners. Download here today !

How to Use the Cereal Box Book Report

After reading a fiction book students will design a cereal based on the book to promote critical thinking skills and make the book report and writing part fun. This creative writing project comes with real-life examples and photos. My favorite part is the character ingredient list and the special prize inside part of this book report. Students love this creative cereal box book report because they get to be creative and it is different than just a normal paragraph book writing assignment. In addition, this includes printable templates for students to write on and cut and glue onto a standard-size cereal box so you can display these book reports on real cereal boxes!  Ready to make learning fun and end boring book reports with these create a cereal report? Download here today !

See what others are saying:

“My students loved this resource! It is a great alternative to a traditional book report. It is very creative and engaging for students to interact with the content of the book in a more in depth way. Thank you!”

“We used this after reading a novel.  The entire class created the report using the same book, and the boxes were so creative and unique.  None were the same!!  Thank you for putting this together. “

“I loved this resource! My students did an amazing job on this activity. Everything was well designed, and the students understood what to do. Great resource! Thanks!”

Grab it here today !

Similar Posts

How to Motivate Reluctant Writers with Daily Writing Prompt Photos

Need Help Motivating Students to Write Every Day? Daily Writing Prompt Photos to the Rescue! Teacher friends, are you thinking…How can I get my students excited to write? How can I encourage students to LOVE…

Get Creative with Comic Strip Templates: Engaging Elementary Kids in Storytelling and Art

Let’s face it- keeping kids engaged in learning can be a daunting task. Especially when we’re talking about elementary kids who are easily distracted or have shorter attention spans. But what if we told you…

Need Good Questions for Fiction Books? Get 30 Questions for FREE!

30 Good Question for Fiction Books: These FREE fiction book questions can be used with any fiction book. Print and laminate these Reading Response Cards for years of use! Happy Teaching! These 30 comprehension questions for…

Open Book Exams Pros and Cons for Novel Study Tests

So, your students finished reading The Tale of Despereaux, or Charlotte’s Web or Wonder and absolutely loved it! What comes next? A novel study test for comprehension, right? Well, when it comes to giving novel…

The Best Ever Novel Studies for 3rd grade thru 5th

Not sure where to start in picking a novel study for your 3rd, 4th or 5th grade class? Have no fear, my upper elementary book list is here! These are simply the best novel studies…

• Real Estate

Cereal Box Book Report Template - With Picture

• Paper Templates
• Craft Template
• Box Template
• Cereal Box Template

Download Cereal Box Book Report Template - With Picture

Linked topics.

Related Documents

• Cereal Box Book Report Template
• Black History Cereal Box Book Report
• Cereal Box Book Report Format
• Tissue Box Book Report Template
• Book Jacket Book Report
• Sixth Grade Book Report Form
• Science Fiction Book Report Template
• Mystery/Suspense Book Report Template
• High School Book Report Template
• Diorama Book Report Template
• Cereal Box Book Report Template - Without Picture
• Cereal Box Book Report Templates - Table
• Cereal Box Book Report Templates - Black and White
• Cereal Box Book Report Templates - Heart
• Cereal Box Book Report - Black and White
• Cereal Box Book Report Templates - Food
• Cereal Box Book Report - Literacy Rules
• Book Jacket Book Report Template - Varicolored
• Book Jacket Book Report Template - Black and White
• Ar Book Report Form Template - Accelerated Reader
• Convert Word to PDF
• Convert Excel to PDF
• Convert PNG to PDF
• Convert GIF to PDF
• Convert TIFF to PDF
• Convert PowerPoint to PDF
• Convert JPG to PDF
• Convert PDF to JPG
• Convert PDF to PNG
• Convert PDF to GIF
• Convert PDF to TIFF
• Compress PDF
• Rearrange PDF Pages
• Make PDF Searchable
• Privacy Policy
• Terms Of Service

Legal Disclaimer: The information provided on TemplateRoller.com is for general and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. All information is provided in good faith, however, we make no representation or warranty of any kind regarding its accuracy, validity, reliability, or completeness. Consult with the appropriate professionals before taking any legal action. TemplateRoller.com will not be liable for loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of using the information provided on the site.

• Character Education
• Classroom Management
• Cultural Responsive
• Differentiation
• Distance Learning
• Explicit Teaching
• Figurative Language
• Interactive Notebooks
• Mentor Text
• Monthly/Seasonal
• Organization
• Social Emotional Learning
• Social Studies
• Step-by-Step Instruction
• Teaching Tips
• Testing and Review
• Freebie Vault Registration
• Login Freebie Album
• Lost Password Freebie Album
• FREE Rockstar Community
• Shop Teacher Finds
• Follow Amazon Teacher Finds on Instagram
• In the News
• Shop Writing Resources
• Shop Reading Resources
• Shop Social Studies Resources
• Interactive Writing Notebooks
• Interactive Reading Notebooks
• Social Studies Resources
• Rockstar Writers® Members Portal Login
• FREE MASTERCLASS: Turn Reluctant Writers into Rockstar Writers®
• Enroll in Rockstar Writers®

Book Report- Cereal Box Biography Writing Book Report- Cereal Box Biography Book Report- Cereal Box Biography

This cereal book report is a favorite among students! They love to come up with creative titles and advertisements for their biography/cereal. When presenting, it is fun to have students dress up as their person! All sections are completely editable. There is a Powerpoint and PDF version in the zipfile.

• Description
• Reviews (0)

Included in this resource:

★ Student Directions

★ Templates for small and large cereal boxes (sides, top, bottom)

Front: Create a title using the person with the name of cereal (combine)

Back: Advertisement with both person and cereal in mind!

Side 1: Nutritional Facts: Bulleted facts about your person

Side 2. Ingredients: Reflection: How can you relate to this person?

Top: Person and broad sentence about him/her

Bottom: Book title and author

1. Explain the directions and show examples.

2. Students can cover boxes with construction paper or bulletin board paper.

3. Assign or have students choose a biography how examples.

4. Let their creative brains take over!

Thank you for visiting my store!

There are no reviews yet.

Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.

Related products

Primary Sentence Structure and Paragraph Bundle

Christmas Figurative Language

Middle School Step-by-Step Writing® Program Grades 6-8