Books with Kids: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Welcome to month 5 of my “Books with Kids” series! It is hard to believe that May is not only here already, but in full-swing. Last month we finished reading a biography of Saint John Paul II, just in time for his canonization. It was a great read, and I highly recommend it.

This month we’re moving into fiction and fantasy, with “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis. We have read this as a family before, about 2 years ago. The second time through is even more exciting, and it’s hard to put down once we start! We stop every now and then to discuss the themes of choosing right over wrong, and how easily we can fall into sin from temptations (poor Edmund, he keeps telling himself it is too late to turn back, thinks so much of the Turkish delight that he forgets how sick he felt after eating the whole box…). I just love how imaginative C.S. Lewis wrote the story, and how detailed his descriptions are; we are all drawn right into the story! On days such as today (we’re having another spell of winter weather!), it is not hard to imagine trudging through a wintery, snow-covered land.

For this book study, I hope to enrich our reading with more than watching the movie as a treat once we finish. A quick internet search pulls up dozens and dozens of resources for unit studies, crafts, and recipes. Here are a collection of my top searches, from which I will be gathering ideas and using the premade studies. No need to reinvent the wheel, eh?

Home Scholar Books has a very thorough collection of unit studies, with links to science project ideas, Biblical connections, and more.

Free coloring pages to download and print can be found at Oncoloring.com.

Educator’s guides, values’ based activities, and quizzes can be found at the C.S. Lewis Foundation website. These look promising. I will mostly likely use the discussion ideas to deepen our understanding of the themes, but not do all the classroom activities.

There is a lapbook style unit study at Confessions of a Homeschooler. It’s not free, but for the low cost, may be worth buying.

This duct tape sword and shield look easy, fun, and customizable for reenacting scenes from story.

Here are some copywork pages with C.S. Lewis quotes if our study turns to include more than the story but also the author himself.

For those who like to color and play with dolls, there is a darling Lucy paper doll printable.

A very nice map is available at Narnia Web.

And, who can resist trying one of the main sweets of the story, Turkish Delight? It may have been enchanted by the Witch, but this recipe claims to be  “non-evil” and delightfully tasting. Worth a try! Or, you might find a box of the sweet confection in stores such as World Market. We have even seen it before in TJMaxx.

Art project ideas:

Diorama, painting of the wood and lamppost, design a shield, design a dress, design and build a castle. The possibilities are nearly endless.

We are up to chapter 12 already–they keep asking for more! It’s great to read a chapter and have the kids so interested they want to keep going. If you have read this before and have ideas for discussion or activities, please do share!