How to Host a Fantastic Mysterious Benedict Society Book Club

I love hosting a themed book club for my kids. Of course, the book title you choose is important and I have to tell you that This Mysterious Benedict Society Book Club has it all: Adventure. Mystery. Intrigue.

And DANGER.

Hosting a book club for The Mysterious Benedict Society is a great choice for kids and tweens. Gather your kids and their friends because I have all the ideas you need to host a book club full of fun!

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Hosting a Book Club for Kids

Years ago I began hosting monthly book clubs for my kids and their friends. It was a great way to make memories and have fun during their tween and teen years. They were also building a foundation for literary analysis in their teen years without even realizing it.

Hosting a book club for kids doesn’t have to be overwhelming. It just takes a little bit of organization and planning. And in the end, it is well worth it.

This afternoon my daughter and a few of her friends gathered for our book club. This month’s selection was The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart.

Planning a Mysterious Benedict Society Book Club

I like to host a themed book club with book-themed games, activities, and food. It was a little hard to find ideas for this title online until I began searching for brain games and secret agent parties.

Once I found a few ideas, it was easier to begin to create a plan for our Mysterious Benedict Society book club. I knew we would definitely have fun playing games with Morse code. I also began printing different word puzzles and brain teasers. All of this would work well with the puzzle-solving elements of the book.

Setting up for a Mysterious Benedict Society Book Club

It was a ton of fun to set up supplies for this book club. I knew I wanted the kids to have some fun solving their own puzzles so I created a few fun activities for them to do once they arrived.

When they arrived, each child discovered a Top Secret folder waiting for them and Kate Weatherall’s red bucket filled with supplies for our book club.

Inside the folders were a few printed pages of various secret codes and puzzles for them to solve. The girls began by solving Rebus Puzzles in their folder while waiting for their friends.  Once everyone arrived, they worked together as a group to solve them.

Mysterious Benedict Society Book Club: Brain Food

Next, it was time for some “brain food”.

I have to admit.

At first, I was at a loss when planning food and snacks for this book club.  There wasn’t a whole lot of food in the plot of the book, other than Constance wanting candy for breakfast.  HA!

I started to look up food that was good for the brain and memory.  Inspired by these 12 Superfoods to Boost your Brainpower I created a little buffet.

Brain Food Ideas

• Blueberry muffins (blueberries)
• Guacamole and chips (avocado)
• walnuts
• dark chocolate chips
• bread with dipping oil (olive oil)

Delicious!

Mysterious Benedict Society Book Club: Discussion

During our snack, we discussed the book.  We shared our favorite moments, biggest surprises, and the characters we would like to have as friends.

Inspired by the information on this site, we talked about the significance of character names.  Then we headed back to our buckets and folders.

You can find discussion questions the for Mysterious Benedict Society by searching on Google. Shmoop is always a good source as well. Finally, you can download my questions for any book and use them to get started:

Mysterious Benedict Society Book Club: Activities

Secret Message Decoder

Our next task was to make a secret decoder so we could send our partners in crime a hidden message. Red cellophane is the perfect tool

if a secret message is covered in red marker or crayon cross hatches then looking at it through red cellophane will reveal the message.  

I based our simple decoder on this tutorial for a decoder card.  After making them, the girls experimented with red markers and red crayons to hide their blue words.

Marshmallow Shooter

Now, Kate’s red bucket would not be complete without a slingshot. We didn’t make a traditional slingshot.

Instead we made a marshmallow shooter that had some sling action to make it work. The instructions were simple and we had a fun time trying to shoot the marshmallows into our red buckets.

Morse Code Activities

Finally, we used our pen lights to send one another messages in Morse code.  Each girl had a sheet of Morse code in their Top Secret folder.  We used them to send simple words and phrases to one another.

You can also find ideas to write your name in Morse Code!

In the end, we had a fantastic time and a memorable book club. I hope that each of the girls made connections with each other and this book in a way they won’t soon forget.

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Mary Wilson

Mary is a writer and mother to four kids ranging from elementary to high school.

She believes that creativity, laughter, and fun are the backbone for engaging and inspiring homeschools. You can find her encouragement and tips on this blog, Mary Hanna Wilson.

She is an enneagram 7 and an extrovert. She enjoys traveling, tea (iced or hot), good conversations, and books. You can connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.

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