Disclosure: Thank you Disney Book Group for sponsoring this post.
My son is taking the Percy Jackson summer reading challenge and he just finished reading the first book, “The Lightning Thief.” He is hooked on this adventurous series, and can’t wait to go on to the next book!
I’m challenging my son to finish the Percy Jackson series before summer’s end, and I encourage you to do the same with your kids!
Andrew has only been on summer break for a week, and I am trying my best to keep him occupied. We decided it would be fun to make our very own Percy Jackson and the Olympians board game together. I also thought that it would be a great idea to incorporate trivia questions to help him with comprehension.
Summer reading is critical for students to retain the skills learned in the previous school year. Children who don’t read are at risk of falling behind their classmates. Parents can avoid this by making sure kids take time to read. One great way to get your kids excited about reading is to create a game based on the books they’re planning to tackle this summer!
I have attached some printables and trivia questions to this post to help you and your child create a Percy Jackson & the Olympians game like ours!
Here is a list of things you will need to get started:
- Blank board game or large poster board
- Colored construction paper & glitter
- Markers, colored pencils, or crayons
- Stickers or computer image printouts
- Glue stick
- Dice and/or spinner
Instructions for making your game board:
Create a Percy Jackson & the Olympians “world.” Use your images, stickers, paint and glitter to make the board colorful and unique. Cut 1.5 x 1.5 inch squares, and create a path with a game beginning and end. There is no right or wrong when creating your own game board. The point is to be creative and have fun!
We found this blank board game containing game pieces, blank cards, blank spinner & dice online!
We took out paint and glitter, and printed images relating to the Percy Jackson series like lightning bolts and ocean waves. Feel free to use any of the printables I have attached here when making your own game.
Percy-Jackson PrintablesDownload
Throughout our path of squares that lead from start to finish, we added directions like “Back 2 Spaces”, “Draw an adventure card,” or “Take a spin!”
Instructions for making your spinner:
If you land on “Take a spin!”, you spin the wheel to determine what to do. Divide your spinner into 4 – 6 sections, which you can differentiate by color.
Then we wrote in various game options like:
- Go forward 1 space
- Go back 2 spaces
- Go to the “Underworld” and lose a turn
- Take an adventure card!
Andrew also added a rock, paper, scissors option to our spinner!
If you don’t have a spinner, you can still play! Just fill in each of the white squares with directions similar to what would go on the spinner so that on every turn you land on something.
Instructions for making your “Adventure Cards”:
I used Quizlet Online to create my own flashcards of Percy Jackson & the Olympians trivia! Here are some trivia questions to get you started. Print them here. Click here for quiz cards on the characters from Percy Jackson & the Olympians.
When it’s your turn, and the square or spinner tells you to take an adventure card, you must answer a trivia question in order to move forward in the game. (If you get it right on the first try, move forward 3 squares! If you get it right on the second try, move forward 1 square. If you miss the question after 3 tries, go back two squares.)
Print Instructions: Use the print option shown above.
GAME RULES: Here are the instructions to the game we created. Feel free to use them or modify as you like!
- Up to 4 players (participants must be familiar with the book series to play)
- 1st player throws the dice. If the dice lands on an odd number, move forward 1 space. If it lands on an even number, move forward 2 spaces. Player must follow the instruction of the square they land on (i.e. “Take a Spin!” or “Back 2 Spaces”. If they “Take a Spin!” they must also follow the instruction of what the arrow lands on.
A family that reads together, stays together!
We had so much fun as a family playing our Percy Jackson & the Olympians board game.
More About the Series
Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan
Read the 5-book series that has been on the New York Times bestseller list for over 500 weeks!
Learn about Greek Mythology as the Percy Jackson series offers readers a fresh and exciting way to learn about the Olympians, the Titans, the Minotaur, and more while enjoying a fast-paced, highly entertaining adventure!
