The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - Finding God in Narnia

Theme:

Christian applications from "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis

Life Application:

A good story can be more than just entertainment. In the movie or book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis we can see important Christian concepts that can increase our faith and help us to share the gospel with unbelievers.

Workshops:

Game Wokshop: (Older Children) Discussion: Good Versus Evil, followed by Match Card game (from "Kings and Queens" curriculum) & then joined younger children for the Tumnus tea party.

Game Wokshop: (Younger Children) Discussion: Good Versus Evil, followed by setting up the Tumnus tea party to be joined by the older children. Moderator noted this lesson does not indicate they played a game.

Craft Workshop: Character qualities exhibited by the main characters - by coming up with a plan to advertise the new movie "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" through a kid's meal package (example: MacDonald's kid's meal). They need to design toys, bag to hold the meal, etc.

Video Workshop: BBC version of "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" and bio of C.S. Lewis, watch first 45 mins.

Game Show: Grace Game

Lesson Objectives:

• The children will explore the concept of good versus evil as portrayed in the movie and apply it to their own lives
• The children will discover good character qualities exhibited by the main characters in the movie and apply them to their own lives
• The children will learn about the Christian faith of C.S. Lewis and discuss how it affected what he did with his life
• The children will learn about the concept of grace through it's demonstration in the movie and apply it to their own lives through the work of Jesus Christ

I used the material from http://www.outreach.com/media/...nia/narniaCurri3.pdf free children's curriculum "Kings and Queens" extensively in preparing this rotation. The game elements are found there.

Note:

• We wanted to capitalize on the popularity of the recent opening of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" movie. Most of the children had seen the movie by the time we did the rotation. Awana also focused on it during January. By showing part of the BBC version we were able to bring those who hadn't seen it up to speed.
• the marmalade buns were not popular - we changed to cinnamon buns.
• The best turkish delight variation we found was made with jello using 1/2 of the recommended amount of water and added gelatin. Not the real thing I'm sure, but fun for the kids to eat. Sprinkle with icing sugar just before eating.
• The craft teacher found some huge, plastic "jewels" at the dollar store that were a sensation for the younger children. My son expounded on what he had learned at class and the other children apparently made great connections also. It's amazing what the power of imagination can do to build hooks.
• We used the magnets that came with the purchased coloring book and had the children put their names in a box each week and on the final week four children got to choose a magnet to take home.
• "add-ons" for crafts included images captured from various Narnia websites
• We decorated one classroom up to look like Narnia - snowy tree background, lampost, trees, witch's sled - very well received. A visual image that will remain a long time.
• Background material for the teachers consisted of various articles about C.S.Lewis and the Christian themes in his books that I got off the web

Game Show Workshop/Finding God in Narnia

Materials:

• Some type of a timing device - a buzzer, a “ring-for-service” bell, etc.
• Whiteboard with the categories (NARNIA, ASLAN, CRIMES, SACRIFICE, BATTLES) written across it
• 1" X 6" pieces of medium weight cardboard or poster board (enough for one per younger child) Write the word "grace" in large letters down the length
• 5 colors of 1" ribbon cut in 6 inch pieces (write God’s, Riches, At, Christ’s, Expense on the ribbons - one word per ribbon. Eg. On the green ribbon write "God's", on the white ribbon write "riches" etc.) There should be enough so that each younger child can have one of each of the words.
• Stapler
• Coloring pages of the story (from "The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" coloring and activity book with magnets, purchased at the local Christian bookstore)
• Crayons
• Tea and marmalade rolls for snack (from the beavers meal)

Teacher preparation:

• Read the background material included in the lesson tote.
• If possible watch "The Chronicals of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" playing in theatres so that you have an idea of what the children will have seen.

Lesson Plan

Opening:

Before the lesson begins select a student to role play this “attention-getter.” The student will agree to interrupt the teacher’s opening remarks with a loud scream, yelling, “AHHHH! A spider! Save me! Help!” The student will stomp his/her feet, throw hands up in the air, shake the head, and run around near where he/she is seated. The teacher will hurry over to the child’s seat, take off her shoe and slam it down hard. There is, hopefully, no spider
present to be killed; however, this commotion will make the point that when we are in danger, we need to be saved by someone who is stronger.

Lead this into a discussion about Edmund being in terrible trouble because he betrayed his brother and sisters, and he needing to be saved by someone stronger. Give a little background info on the plot of the movie in case there is anyone who hasn't seen it.

Say: Remember when I killed the spider for (insert the name of the child whom you saved from the killer spider)? Did (he/she) do anything special to deserve my helping him/her? No! I jumped into action, ready to save (child’s name) because I am so much older and bigger, and I knew just what to do to solve (child’s name) problem. I care about all of you, not because of something you did, but because of who I am. (Child’s name) did not do anything special to deserve my help, but I saved him/her anyway. That is called “grace.” Grace means you get something wonderful even though you didn’t do anything special to earn it.
Aslan saved Edmund because of Aslan’s grace toward Edmund, not because of something Edmund did to deserve it. As a matter of fact, Edmund should have been punished, but Aslan took the punishment instead because of his great love and grace for Edmund.

Older children:
Play the "Grace Game" (from Kings and Queens curriculum). Leave about 10 minutes for the final summary and snack.

Dig:

Summary: Transition from "The Grace Game" to the concept of the grace of God.

1. God feels exactly the same way about us as Aslan felt about Edmund. God loves us so much that He became a human being and came down to earth. Who remembers what God’s name was when He came to earth in a human body? (Jesus.)
2. God loved the world so much that He died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins, just as Aslan took the punishment for Edmund.
3. When we believe in Jesus, we accept that wonderful gift of His sacrifice for us. When we believe in what Jesus did for us and we try to live our lives to please Him, we are “saved” from being punished for our own sins.
4. God’s gift of grace to us by dying for our sins, opens up the door of Heaven to us, so we can live forever with God after we die.
5. We did not do anything to deserve God loving us that much. We are saved by God’s grace. Remember, grace means getting something wonderful that we don’t deserve. Let me explain it this way:

Write the word GRACE in large letters on the board, and write the words: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense under each one of the respective letters that begins those words.
Cover these important theological connections between the work of Aslan and the work of Jesus.)

1. Briefly remind the children of the sacrifice of Aslan to pay for the sin of Edmund, just like Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary pays for the sin of all mankind.
2. Emphasize that sin freezes our lives, just as the stone statues were frozen when the evil White Witch touched them.
3. We can’t enjoy our lives when we allow evil to touch us; in other words, we become dead in our spirit and our joy is gone. Sin makes us turn into living dead people, with stone hearts that cannot love.
4. Explain to the children that Jesus’ death was a sacrifice for their sins and a wonderful gift from Him. They have to choose to accept it by being sorry for their sins and by telling God that they believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
5. Remind them of the change in Edmund’s life when he realized that Aslan rescued him from the White Witch when she was about to kill him. The rescue changed him from a coward to a warrior. Aslan not only saved him from death at the hands of the White Witch, but he gave Edmund’s life new meaning as well.
6. Aslan also saved the creatures who were turned to stone by the White Witch when he breathed new life into them, just like Jesus gives us new life when we become Christians.
7. Jesus gives our lives new meaning as well when we ask Him to save us and make Him the Lord of our lives. Jesus gives us a job to do that takes our whole lives to accomplish. He asks us to join His Church and become warriors in His Good Army and fight against the Devil and the forces of evil here in the real world.

Open the Bible and read John 3:16 and emphasize the amazing love God has for us.

Turn to Romans 10:13 and read : “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Serve snack.

Younger children:
God feels exactly the same way about us as Aslan felt about Edmund. God loves us so much that He became a human being and came down to earth. Who remembers what God’s name was when He came to earth in a human body? (Jesus.)

God loved the world so much that He died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins, just as Aslan took the punishment for Edmund. When we believe in Jesus, we accept that wonderful gift of His sacrifice for us. When we believe in what Jesus did for us and we try to live our lives to please Him, we are “saved” from being punished for our own sins. God’s gift of grace to us by dying for our sins, opens up the door of Heaven to us, so we can live forever
with God after we die.

We did not do anything to deserve God loving us that much. We are saved by God’s grace. Remember, grace means getting something wonderful that we don’t deserve. Let me explain it this way:

The word GRACE can stand for "God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense". (explain what that means) Let's play a game to help us understand that.

1. Give each child a strip with "GRACE" written on it.
2. Show them the ribbons with "God's Riches At Christ's Expense" written on them. Go over each word explaining what it means.
3. Put the words in separate piles at the other end of the room.
4. Explain that when you tell them to get a particular word (color ribbon) and say "go", they will run across the room, get the ribbon and run back.
5. When they all get back, shout out together what the word is. Do this for each word.
6. When all the words have been collected, staple them in order to the end of the strip.

Open the Bible and read John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." and emphasize the amazing love God has for us.

Turn to Romans 10:13 and read : “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Explain.

Serve the tea and marmalade rolls.

If you need to have something more to do:

Tell the children the story of Aslan breathing new life into the statues that were frozen by the evil White Witch. They came alive again with Aslan. Tell them that Aslan saved them from being dead forever. Jesus saves us from being dead, too, because we get to live in Heaven with Him always. Because Aslan breathes new life into the statues, the children will color what used to be just black and white, changing it to the vibrant life that God intended for all of us to have.

Give them a coloring page and have them "breath new life" into the picture.

The Grace Game for older children

Summary:
The Grace Game is a review of the main events of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, with an emphasis on the crime of Edmund, the love of Aslan, and the result of Aslan’s sacrifice that set Edmund free from the tyranny of the White Witch. The game is played in teams. Each team will select a category and a point value for their questions each time their turn comes around. They discuss the answer as a team, then present their consensus when the time is up. If they are correct, the team earns the point value of that question. Play this game as long as you like, or until the major events of Aslan’s sacrifice have been reviewed.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Divide the children into 2-4 teams (2-8 kids on a team)
2. Explain the general content of the Grace Game categories: NARNIA, ASLAN, CRIMES, SACRIFICE, BATTLES
3. Explain that the higher the point value, the harder the question.
4. Keep score on the board by listing each team’s number with a running tally of their points under their number, so the kids can see which team is winning at any moment in the game.
5. Tell them that they have only 15 seconds to answer the question once you ask it. They may confer as a team, but they don’t have much time to argue.
6. If they cannot decide, then one member of the team should try to answer the question. Children can take turns being the “final answer” person on their team.
7. If the team answers correctly, the points are added to its tally; if the team is wrong, no points are awarded, and the next team gets a chance at the same question.
8. If the next team answers correctly, they earn those points, plus their rightful turn as the next team to play.
9. Work in a clockwise pattern with the teams, so that they all get an equal opportunity to earn the error-points if the team just before them didn’t give a correct answer.
10. When you are out of time or out of questions, the team with the most points, wins.

Questions and Answers for The Grace Game:
Read the questions from the categorized listings on Activity pages 19-28. Each category is organized by point value, ranging from the easiest questions at 100 points, to the most difficult ones at 300 points. (NOTE: Be sure to mark off the question as you ask it in each category, so you do not get confused and ask the same question twice.)

Transition from The Grace Game to the Concept of the Grace of God

Games Workshop/ Finding God in Narnia

Older Children's Lesson

Materials List:

• Match Card game directions and cards (from "Kings and Queens" curriculum)
• Tumnus tea party items for snack (tuna sandwich fingers, tea, sugar topped cake)
• Chalk or whiteboard and dry erase pen

Teacher Preparation:

• Watch "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" movie or read the book.
• Read over the game directions.

Lesson Plan

Write the words "GOOD" and "EVIL" on the board and point out that inside the word "GOOD" is the word "GOD." Expound on the goodness of God.

Write a "D" in front of the word "EVIL". Point out that if you add a "D" to the word "EVIL" you get the word "DEVIL." The Devil is delighted when we make choices that will hurt ourselves, or others. Expound on the various kinds of evil in this world, as is appropriate for the age of the children.

All of us must choose if we will be on the side of God and do good or on the side of the Devil and do evil, just like Edmund had to choose in the story, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. He chose to do evil at the beginning of the story, and look at the mess he caused! However, in the final battle, it was Edmund who knocked the magic wand out of the evil White Witch's hand, and he helped win the battle. We all have to make choices everyday to be on the side of good or the side of evil.

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is a wonderful story about a lion named Aslan who stands for all that is good in Narnia, just like God stands for all that is good in the real world. It is also the story of the White Witch who stands for all that is evil in Narnia, just like the Devil stands for all that is evil in the real world. Four children enter Narnia, and each one of them learns what it means to fight against evil and take a stand for what is good. If "God" is inside of "good," and "evil" is inside of the "Devil," what's inside of you? Do you know the difference between good and evil? Are you the kind of person who fights against evil? Do you stand for what is good?

Read 1 Peter 3:12. God is on the side of people who choose to follow Him and do good. He is against those who do evil.

C.S. Lewis is the man who wrote the story of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe a long, long time ago, before any of you, were born. He loved Jesus very much, and we can learn things about the real story of Jesus when we read C.S. Lewis’ story about the make-believe world of Narnia. Lewis tells a pretend story of a great lion and his fight against the White Witch that can help us understand what’s going on in our world where Jesus fights against the Devil. It’s a very clever story, and we’re going to see how The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe story can help us know the story of Jesus better.

Play the Match Card Game. Join the younger children for Mr. Tumnus's tea party afterwards.

Games Workshop/Finding God in Narnia

Younger Children's Lesson

Materials:

• Whiteboard and dry erase marker
• Book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"
• Hard-boiled brown eggs
• Tuna sandwiches cut in fingers
• Toast with honey
• Sugar topped cake
• Herb tea
• Small plates
• Tea cups

Teacher Preparation:

• Watch "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" movie or read the book.

Lesson Plan

Write the words "GOOD" and "EVIL" on the board and point out that inside the word "GOOD" is the word "GOD." Expound on the goodness of God.

Write a "D" in front of the word "EVIL". Point out that if you add a "D" to the word "EVIL" you get the word "DEVIL." The Devil is delighted when we make choices that will hurt ourselves, or others. Expound on the various kinds of evil in this world, as is appropriate for the age of the children.

All of us must choose if we will be on the side of God and do good or on the side of the Devil and do evil, just like Edmund had to choose in the story, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. He chose to do evil at the beginning of the story, and look at the mess he caused! However, in the final battle, it was Edmund who knocked the magic wand out of the evil White Witch's hand, and he helped win the battle. We all have to make choices everyday to be on the side of good or the side of evil.

Read 1 Peter 3:12. God is on the side of people who choose to follow Him and do good. He is against those who do evil.

Read pg. 9-11 Of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Have a tea party with Mr. Tumnus.

Video Workshop/ Finding God in Narnia

Materials:

• BBC version of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"
• Popcorn, bowls, cups, pitchers of water

Teacher Preparation:

• Cue the BBC version of "The Lion, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" to 1:55.
• Pop popcorn and set up with bowls and cups of water.

Lesson Plan

1. Introduce C.S. Lewis in storytelling fashion, emphasizing his strong Christian faith.
2. Introduce the movie.
3. Hand out popcorn and water.
4. Show the first 45 minutes of the movie.
5. Discuss what you have seen. Talk about how the movie proceeds from here and how it ends. See if they have reached any "theological" conclusions.
6. Play a "faith" activity if time permits.

Introduction of C.S. Lewis:

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, over a hundred years ago, a baby was born in Ireland. His mother and father gave him the name Clive, but he preferred to be called Jack. So Jack he became. He had one brother named Warren. When they were young, the two boys played games and wrote stories about make-believe worlds. Jack especially loved to imagine worlds where the animals could talk, just like human beings. The two children liked to play in a large, carved wardrobe that their grandfather had built out of oak.

Mr. Lewis loved Jesus very much and he wanted to write stories that would be fun to read and also show how wonderful God is.

Today we are going to watch part of a movie that is almost the same as the one showing in the theatre right now. (ask how many have seen the movie) Watch carefully so you can tell me any differences that you see.

Give out popcorn and water.

Show video.

Discuss differences etc.

Craft Workshop/ Finding God in Narnia

Materials:

• Whiteboard and dry erase pen
• Lots of white paper (8 1/2 X 11 printer paper would work well)
• Lots of pencils, pens, felt pens, crayons, scissors, glue, scotch tape
• Paper lunch bags
• Various "add ons" that might be useful to the children as they create
• Cardboard crowns (long strips of lightweight cardboard)
• Tinfoil (cover crowns)
• Glue
• Fake jewels to decorate crown
• Directions for Wee Little Royal Dilemmas game
• Turkish delight for snack
• Book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S.Lewis
• Soundtrack from "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" movie

Teacher preparation:

• Watch the movie "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" if possible or read the book of the same name.

Lesson Plan

Brainstorm with the children the good character qualities exhibited by the main characters in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) Examples might be courage, loyalty, commitment, faith, devotion, heroism, humility, obedience, sacrifice, honesty, caring for others. As the children come up with them, write them on the whiteboard.

Older children's lesson:
Explain that they will be dividing into groups (of about 4 in each group). Have at least 2 teams.

Get the children to think about the kid's meals at restaurants that they have experienced in the past - what are the elements of the meal? Container, toy, maybe puzzles, riddles etc.

They will be pretending that they work for an advertising agency and have an assignment from McDonalds Restaurant. The assignment is to come up with a plan to advertise the new movie "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" through a kid's meal package. They need to design toys, bag to hold the meal, and anything else that they feel would be a good addition to the project (eg. Posters, placemats, take-home flyer etc.) The kid's meal package emphasis must be on at least 4 good character qualities. Therefore, the criteria for the project is:

• 4 good character qualities displayed
• bag or other container for the meal
• appealing to children
• toy

Give the children about 30 minutes to come up with a design and then each group can explain their project to the others.

Turkish Delight for snack

Younger children lesson:

1. Read pg. 14-17 of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"
2. Play the flute music from the movie and ask them what it makes them think about.
3. Mr. Tumnus made some bad choices and some good choices. When we have Jesus in our hearts he helps us make good choices.
4. The bible tells us that if we live a good life like God wants us to he will give us a crown when we go to him in heaven. Let's make a crown now and use it to play a game that will help us know how to make good choices.
5. Make crown. (cover cardboard with foil, add jewels)
6. Play Wee Little Royal Dilemmas game. (from "Kings and Queens" curriculum)
7. Turkish Delight for snack

Resource List

Game Show Workshop:

• "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" video cued to 1:55
• Some type of a timing device, a buzzer, a “ring-for-service” bell, etc.
• Whiteboard with the categories (NARNIA, ASLAN, CRIMES, SACRIFICE, BATTLES) written on it
• 1" X 6" pieces of medium weight cardboard or poster board (enough for one per younger child) Write the word "grace" in large letters down the length
• 5 colors of 1" ribbon cut in 6 inch pieces (write God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense on the ribbons - one word per ribbon. Eg. On the green ribbon write "God's", on the white ribbon write "riches" etc.) There should be enough so that each younger child can have one of each of the words.
• Stapler
• Coloring pages of the story (from purchased coloring book from Christian bookstore)
• Crayons
• Tea and marmalade rolls for snack (from the beavers meal)

Craft Workshop:

• Whiteboard and dry erase pen
• Lots of white paper (8 1/2 X 11 printer paper would work well)
• Lots of pencils, pens, felt pens, crayons, scissors, glue, scotch tape
• Paper lunch bags
• Copy of "being brave" page 4 student page for children's reference
• Various "add ons" that might be useful to the children as they create
• Cardboard crowns
• Tinfoil
• Glue
• Fake jewels to decorate crown
• Directions for Wee Little Royal Dilemmas game
• Turkish delight for snack
• Book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"
• Soundtrack from "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" movie

Video Workshop:

• BBC version of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"
• Popcorn, bowls, cups, pitchers of water

Games Workshop:

• Whiteboard and dry erase marker
• Book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"
• Hard-boiled brown eggs
• Tuna sandwiches cut in fingers
• Toast with honey
• Sugar topped cake
• Herb tea
• Small plates
• Tea cups
• Match Card game directions and cards
• Chalk or whiteboard and dry erase pen

Written by Maureen Lefebvre; Valleyview Bible Church, Kamloops,
B.C., Canada

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