We took a journey to cloud city

This past week I tried out an adventure book titled “Myra Makes: Journey to Cloud City” and it was a hit!  The book targets 6+ so my intention was to try it out with my 7 year old but once my 9 year old heard us he decided to join us, and that worked out perfectly.  One because the activities can definitely be done as a team or split in half.  Everyone started out by drawing a character to take on the adventure, giving them a name, and describing what they like on the back.  Any other parents out there get a kick out of the names their kids come up with???  Okay so once the boys made their characters I decided to create one because come on…everyone knows adult coloring is therapeutic and who doesn’t need free therapy?!  At this point my husband joins us and we begin the adventure.

The first place we visit is the farmers market.  The directions tell you to draw on the wagon five things you might find at a farmers market.  As they began to call out random things I realized that my children have never been to one.  Oh the shame!!!  But I didn’t dwell on it I just made a mental note to add that to our summer bucket list.  What I did do though is have a conversation about what a farmer’s market is and the type of things you can find there.

Strawberry, lettuce, egg, grass,and an apple. Yep.

I don’t want to give any spoilers but I will say this.  My husband was quiet for most of the adventure until we picked up a few animals friends.  One being an Impala, now my husband is with us but not in the book, so as a car salesman he instantly perks up cause he thinks we are talking cars.  Now the boys are tickled because mommy has asked the age old question which came first, the animal or the car.  It turned into a night of laughter as the Impala has a booth at the farmers market which my husband says is full of car necessities like oil, windshield wiper fluid, and gas…which is followed by more laughter.

But don’t be fooled, there were some parts of the book that were very challenging to my boys, and there were other parts where we focused on working smarter not hurter.  I enjoyed seeing their out of the box thinking and their practical thinking at work.  I Loved that it hits all of the domains from math and science, to social emotional because though we aren’t always conscious of it, we want to teach our children to care about the wellbeing of others and their community.

As someone in education I can say that this adventure nails the whole “process over product” piece.  The book sparked conversation, teachable moments, and family time; it’s definitely something that I would recommend.  I was excited when my boys came home and asked to work in the book over playing video games and I even went to work telling my coworkers about it.  As parents we are our child’s first teacher and I was able to see where my children have grown and where they need to be strengthened all while having fun because of course “Play is the work of a child”.  Stay tuned to my Instagram page for pics of our completed creations from this book. 

For anyone interested, Myra Makes is offering a free subscription, you can sign up (no credit card information or commitment) at here.