Percy Jackson Book Club for Boys
Percy Jackson is an either/or kind of book series … you either LOVE it or hate it. My 2nd grade son loves it so he proposed it for his book club and I found the graphic novel version to give his friends something new to read. For his book club, we will: make duct tape swords, eat blue food, play Medusa Freeze Tag, and wind down with a trivia game.
Duct Tape Swords
For our first activity, we’ll talk about Percy’s pen/sword Riptide or Anaklusmos (in Ancient Greek: Ανακλυσμός) that is made of Celestial Bronze, a material that is effective only on gods, demigods, Titans, Giants, and monsters.
Riptide was formerly owned, and used, by Hercules and Pleione. The sword’s dormant form was originally Zoë’s hair clip, which she gave to Hercules to help him fight Ladon. Riptide draws its power from the ocean, which is why it works well for ocean spirits and children of Poseidon like Percy.
We’ll make duct tape swords using aluminum foil and duct tape like these here:
If I can find some large cardboard boxes, we can make shields too.
Physical Activity
Little boys need some running around time.
- Medusa freeze tag. Tag game in which one person is Medusa. You can free your frozen teammate by tapping them.
- Sword fighting (to test out our duct tape swords).
Snack
It must be blue, of course!
• Blue punch
• Blue birthday cake
• Blue corn chips
• Blue dip (just a few drops of food coloring make any dip blue-licious!)
Percy Jackson Trivia
We’ll wind down with a trivia game.
1. Who is Annabeth’s mother? Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom.
2. Who is Clarisse’s father? Ares, the God of War.
3. What sort of creature is Mr. Brunner? Centaur, half horse/ half human.
4. What sort of creature is Grover? Satyr, half goat/half human.
5. Two words: What is the name of Percy’s boarding school? Yancy Academy
6. How many Olympian gods are there? 12
7. What type of tree is on top of Half-Blood Hill? Pine tree
8. What is Mr. D’s full name? Dionysus, God of Wine
9. What sort of animal head hangs above Ares’ cabin? Boar
10. Name one thing that Hermes is the god of. Thieves. Also messenger god.
11. Who is the wife of Zeus? Hera
12. What is the pattern on Mr. D’s shirt? Tiger stripes
13. Where do Percy and his mother like to go on vacation? Montauk on Long Island.
14. Three words: according to Percy’s mom, how did his dad disappear? Lost at sea.
15. Who is Dionysus’ father? Zeus
16. What is Dionysus restricted from? He can’t drink wine or any other kind of alcohol for 100 years.
17. What part of the Big House seems mysterious to Percy? Attic
18. What does Percy use to defeat Clarisse when she tries to bully him? Water from the toilets.
19. What lives in the canoe lake? Naiads
20. Aside from pinochle, what is another game Dionysus considers the greatest human achievement? Pac-Man
21. What is Smelly Gabe’s last name? Ugliano
22. What sort of creature tried to attack young Percy when he was taking a nap in daycare? Snake
23. Who was Zeus’ mother, who hid him from Kronos? Rhea
24. Chiron says there is a statue of what Greek mythological figure in Rockefeller Center? Prometheus
25. Who is the Greek lord of the dead? Hades
Percy Jackson and the Olympians Paperback Boxed Set (Books 1-3) by Rick Riordan
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Lightning Thief, The Graphic Novel
To examine the book at Amazon, click on the image or click here for Barnes and Noble.
Book Club for Kids: Island of the Blue Dolphins
Love those swords! I think if I make one for Beckett he’ll never let it out of his sight. At 3, he’s already jumped on the weapons bandwagon. P.S. check your teeth in a mirror after eating all that blue food.
Jeanette Nyberg recently posted…A Lonely Beast Teaches ABCs
Twitter: artchootwit
Hi Jeanette,
Everything turns into a weapon. The boys made swords, dagger and nunchucks. Then they tried them out. Luckily, no injuries! And I was too lazy to do the blue food.
Pragmatic Mom recently posted…Picture Book of the Day: The Conference of the Birds
This sounds like so much fun for a bunch of little boys. Your son is very lucky to have you as his mom!
maryanne recently posted…Siblings Helping Siblings
Twitter: mamasmiles
Thanks so much MaryAnne. The boys did love duct tape and one of them did it all weekend at home. More swords I think. And also shields.
Pragmatic Mom recently posted…Picture Book of the Day: The Conference of the Birds
I love the blue colors on the swords! My daughter is a big Percy Jackson fan (she’s hoping to have a Percy party for her birthday). I’m going to quiz her after school with your great questions – thanks for the fun ideas!
Jacquie recently posted…29 Ways to be a Cool Parent this Winter
Twitter: kcedventures
Hi Jacquie,
I’ve read Percy Jackson series twice and I got stumped on two questions. I’ll look them up and post all the answers since I failed to link the list to the URL with the answers and my Google search was unsuccessful in relocating it. A Percy Jackson birthday party would be fun. Imagination Soup did one for her daughter and posted on it with all their ideas if you need them.
Pragmatic Mom recently posted…Picture Book of the Day: The Conference of the Birds
Thanks Mia – the answer link will be great! And yes, I have Melissa’s party as one of the ideas we’ve been looking at (thank you). My daughter is trying to convince my husband to dress like Chiron (ha!) and she wants me to dye my hair red (such a creative little thing). I’ll let you know how it goes
Jacquie recently posted…29 Ways to be a Cool Parent this Winter
Twitter: kcedventures
Hi Jacquie,
Sounds like your daughter has wonderful ideas for her party! She should guest post for me on a Percy Jackson party (or your blog!). I love her ideas! I guess your husband could wear a tweedy jacket and sit in a wheelchair for the easier version of Chiron as human teacher.
Pragmatic Mom recently posted…7 Fun, Easy and FREE Ideas to Get Kids Reading
I love the Percy Jackson series (and I’m not embarrassed to admit that even though I’m 33 years old)!! I hadn’t read any of the books until a few weeks ago–a younger cousin was given two copies, so he offered to give me one when I said I’d been wanting to check them our for awhile, but hadn’t had the chance. Then, I ended up with a bad cold around New Years and read the entire series while resting and recuperating. I thought they were great–especially good for a child who might love Harry Potter but isn’t quite ready to read that series on their own yet.
I love your reading group activities–especially the sword and all the blue food. Sounds like so much fun!
Katrina recently posted…En la Clase: Black Indians, Sugar and Slavery
Hi Katrina,
I’m a big Percy Jackson fan too and I did a weekend binge the first time through the series. I did nothing but read all day and all night. It was perfect! I don’t get to do that very often!
I’ll post on the book club. We didn’t do the blue food but the boys did lots and lots of duct tape weapons.
Pragmatic Mom recently posted…Picture Book of the Day: The Conference of the Birds
Now I’m even more intrigued to read Percy Jackson – I love Greek/Roman mythology and it sounds like it’s packed with references. As a teenager I would pore over an encyclopedia of Greek mythology for hours at a time and I even read Homer’s The Iliad.
I hope your son and his friends enjoy their book club!
Elle Carter Neal recently posted…Taking Steps (Flash Fiction)
Twitter: ellecarterneal
Hi Elle,
YES! You are a great candidate for Percy Jackson then! I was a mythology geek as a kid too! Beware though, since you can get 8 books of the series now, you might be tempted to read them all in a binge like I did. 3 days and nights to read the first 5 series. My kids were not too happy about that!
Pragmatic Mom recently posted…Picture Book of the Day: The Conference of the Birds
How do we love Percy Jackson ? If you knew how many summer nights we laid awake reading Percy Jackson. This is a great book club adventure and the activities you’ve prepared are just perfect to bring this book to life. Happy Reading in the rest of the Percy Jackson adventures.
Valarie recently posted…From the Good Mountain: How Gutenberg Changed the World
Twitter: Valarie Budayr
My son is in first grade but is an avid reader already..Im interested in your son’s book club? How does he do it, do you have tips on how to start one for kids. I know my son would love to do something like this! Those swords are too too cool.
Twitter: thefrugalette
Hi Isra,
This is my post on How to Set Up a Kids’ Bookclub: http://www.pragmaticmom.com/2012/01/our-kids-most-successful-book-club-meetings/
It’s really fun! I hope you decide to start one for your son. I have all the book club for boys posts here: http://www.pragmaticmom.com/category/literacy-school-subjects/book-club-for-kids/
Pragmatic Mom recently posted…7 Fun, Easy and FREE Ideas to Get Kids Reading