Mysterious Benedict Society Book Club

Adventure. Mystery. Intrigue.

And DANGER.

This book has it all. You are invited to a special opportunity for gifted children and adults just like you.

Join us for a Mysterious Benedict Society Book Club for Kids.

{This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure.}

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.

Mysterious Benedict Society Book Club: Invitations

I didn’t find a lot of ideas online about the book, but I found plenty of ideas when I began searching for brain games and secret agent parties. After a little bit of digging around, I was inspired and I put together our book club plan!

A few days before the book club, a few special invitations were mailed.

I printed them on the computer and pasted them on a scrapbook background and then popped them in the mail to each attendee.

Mysterious Benedict Society Book Club: Setting the Stage

Upon entering the room, each girl discovered a Top Secret folder waiting for them and Kate Weatherall’s red bucket filled with supplies for our book club.

The girls began by solving Rebus Puzzles in their folder while waiting for their friends.  Then we played around with solving them as a group.

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 Foods:

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

Delish!

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 most like to have as a friend.

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 questions by searching on google for Mysterious Benedict Society discussion questions. Here are a few sites to get your discussion started:

Multnomah County Public Library Book Groups

Shmoop is always a good source as well

Mysterious Benedict Society Book Club: Activities

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.  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.

I provided the girls with a printed sheet of shapes in their folder to write secret messages in blue and cross hatch them with red.

Now, Kate’s red bucket would not be complete without a slingshot.  Ours wasn’t the traditional slingshot, but more of a marshmallow shooter.  The instructions were simple and we had a fun time trying to shoot the marshmallows into our red buckets.

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.

We never had time to get to my “if there is time left” codes, but I did find more fun codes online for anyone else planning a book club.

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

Related Posts:

• Ultimate Collection of Book Club Ideas

• Book Club for Kids: Poppy by Avi

• Book Club for Kids: The Green Ember

• Book Club for Kids: Anne of Green Gables

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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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