The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Book Club

There are few things quite as magical as going through the wardrobe for the first time with a group of kids!

Aslan's Pavilion set up in our living room

Look at these kings and queens of Narnia all geared up for their epic adventure!  

As the kids came in, there were supplies set out for them to each make and decorate a crown.  There was a paper slip for each of them to attach to their crown, saying, "Once a king or queen in Narnia, always a king or queen.  Bear it well, Sons of Adam.  Bear it well, Daughters of Eve."

Then it was time for a quest!  They were given the first clue (taped onto the bottom of the "arrest warrant" for Mr. Tumnus) and had to follow steps, do some activities, and answer some questions related to the story.  With a brown fuzzy blanket wrapped around me and some "teeth" tacked onto a raccoon hat we had, I became Mr. Beaver!  :)

Their first clue said to follow the Beaver, and I led them around our outdoor area where I asked them some questions.  I then led them to a pretend cave, and when I went out to "look," my friend up as Father Christmas.

She said a few lines from the book and gave them each one of the miniature bows and arrows I had made.

They came back inside to the "pavilion" where I had hidden a small toy lion.  After finding it, they proceeded out to our yard (the Witch's "Castle") to free the animals I had frozen in ice.

They wrapped up the quest by shooting their arrows at a large image of the Witch, administering "cordial" to the "wounded" animals we had scattered on the ground, and returning inside for their coronation as kings and queens of Narnia.  You can find the clues and "script" I put together for the quest here.

We had a wonderful discussion about the book and a yummy lunch.  For the discussion, we just follow and adjust by what comes up as we're talking, but I always have a few questions jotted down to help me to get things started or in case we hit a lull.
I missed taking photos of part of our lunch, but we had lightly boiled eggs and sugar-topped cake from the tea at Mr. Tumnus's house (though I boiled the eggs more than lightly to make them easier to serve and eat!).

We also had broiled fish, boiled potatoes with a "great big lump of deep yellow butter in the middle of the table from which everyone took as much as he wanted to go with his potatoes," finished off with a "marmalade" (we used jam) roll like the dinner at the Beavers' Dam.

We served hot chocolate or tea to drink.

We also had a really big map of Narnia printed at the local print shop (SO much cheaper to have done here than in the States!) from this great free download.