Fostering reading-culture of pre-teen community friends via reading play dates

Background: Partly because of the lack of a culture of reading in many households, poor reading achievement remains a pressing, worsening problem in South Africa, which this study addresses.Objectives: Fostering reading appreciation at home has been positively associated with reading achievement. This study aimed to evaluate the practicality and usefulness of reading-focused play dates at home as a fun way to cultivate reading in children and tackle reading literacy deficiencies.Method: This qualitative study embraced children-parents-initiated reading play dates in developing a reading culture among 9–12-year-olds. Five children, buddies from school, in a Johannesburg suburb, were brought together in a reading-play date investigation. In sociocultural theory, children learn through play. The ethnographic study tracked progress and used fun play date activities, for example, storytelling, quizzes, and games, to promote reading-culture development. The home-based, fun-oriented reading intervention of play dates ignited reading enjoyment and culture. The study’s interpretivist paradigm comprised interviews and the researcher’s observation using content/thematic analysis.Results: The study demonstrates the viability and value of reading play dates for developing reading cultures. Participants joined library sources, read books consistently, developed a reading passion, and had fun reading in an everyday, fun-oriented reading development initiative.Conclusion: The study concludes that play dates involving reading activities, entwined in everyday home experiences such as play and friendships that children naturally enjoy as part of growing up, can offer workable strategies at home in early Literacy Learning, fostering reading love and culture with educational benefits.Contribution: Developing a reading culture for better reading success earlier in childhood.