Reading Motivation and Gamification

Our meaningful gamification and engagement features strengthen kids' intrinsic motivation to read and improve students' reading skills.

Masthead Waves

Encouragement for Everyone

Gamification features like badges, reading streaks, achievements, friends, and leaderboards motivate all types of readers and learners.

  • Tech & Learning Best of Show ISTELive 2023 Winner

    Beanstack was recognized for ease of use, value, uniqueness in the market, and proof that our product helps make teachers' lives easier and supports student achievement.

    Learn more
  • Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence: Best of 2023

    Beanstack was recognized as the top educational technology supporting teachers and students in the Primary School category.

    Learn more
  • The EdTech Awards 2023 Cool Tools FInalist for Literacy/Reading Solution

    Beanstack was recognized for transforming education through technology to enrich the lives of readers everywhere.

    Learn more

How Our Reading Challenges Gamify Learning

Our reading challenges use gamification elements to reward and reinforce independent reading habits without restrictive levels or stressful quizzes. The fun reading approach in our gamification software uses positive reinforcement to transform readers' extrinsic motivation to read into intrinsic motivation, creating true reading engagement and sustained student motivation.

Beanstack summer reading challenge activity questions about Percy Jackson

Raise Reading Achievement With Gamification

Game elements boost student motivation to read for fun, which fuels better learning outcomes. Half of the elementary students who score at or above the 75th percentile in national reading testing reported reading for fun almost every day.

75% of mobile users were
actively engaged
In the average 2021 summer reading challenge
  • Badges

    Fun virtual badges give real-time rewards and mark progress. Readers earn badges for hitting confidence-boosting reading goals, completing fun enrichment activities, submitting book reviews, or finishing a specific book.

  • Achievements

    Achievements award global reading actions, like reading on an author's birthday or adding your first friend, but with a twist: they aren't revealed in advance. This surprise motivation keeps readers coming back for a chance at unlocking a random reward.

  • Tracking daily reading habits is a way to engage students in reading

    Reading Streaks

    Reading streaks grow as readers log consecutive days of reading, creating internal student motivation and consistent habits. Celebratory messages and reading reminders help make streaks even more habit-forming.

“My son went from hating to read in March 2020, to reading for fun now.”
A mother in Tennessee About her son's 50-day reading streak
  • Students can track which friends are actively reading on a Beanstack leaderboard

    Friends and Leaderboards

    Supercharge your community's reading with connection and healthy competition. Readers can compete with each other and discover new books from their friends' reading logs.

  • Rewards

    Easily attach your own rewards and certificates to badges to create extrinsic motivation in the classroom or at the library. It's easy to track earned and redeemed rewards, whether they're homework vouchers or books.

  • School Competitions

    Stoke the competitive drive in your student body with easy-to-use tools to track and promote reading competitions between classes, grades, or even schools within a district.

  • Beanstack barcode scanner makes logging reading digitally easy

    ISBN Scanning

    Easily scan and log all your titles in the mobile app with just a few clicks. ISBN scanning is an easy and satisfying way to document reading and create a comprehensive reading log.

  • Start a reading timer to track when you are actively reading

    Reading Timer

    Ready, set, read! A built-in reading timer tracks reading in real time on the web or the mobile app, so teachers, students, kids, and families can simply start a timer, pick up their book, and clock their time.

  • Community Goals

    Galvanize readers around a community reading goal and watch the reading stack up. Track minutes, books, or days read as a whole community in addition to the individual reading goals within challenges.

“My kids cannot wait until they are done with a book to log it in. They love scanning the barcode.”
Beanstack mobile app user

Motivate Reading with Built-in Gamification

Discover how encouraging reading for fun paired with thoughtful and motivating features support students to build lifelong reading habits.

Ready to See More?

Get in touch with our team to see our reading gamification in action.