Dear AMS
I wish to run a holiday program for primary age kids at my church in the comming school holidays that brings out the gospel using Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

Does anyone know of material I can use in conjuction with The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe DVD?  I know AMS has reported on a church doing a holiday club like this over the Easter break, but where did they get their material?  Can it be purachased or does one have to make it up oneself?

If anyone could point me in the direction of a helpful website, it would be much appreciated.

Thax <><

Hi Craig

I understand that the Christians in the Media church ran and Lion, Witch and Wardrobe children’s event that went for a couple of afternoons for their mission around that time that the movie came out. Maybe you could ask them for their ideas and pinch some good stuff from them.

Roger

This article from last October has several web sites that might be helpful in tracking down resources:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/special/narnia.html

Happy hunting.

.

Craig, Roger is right - CIM *did* run a LWW program last year, and it was very successful.

If you are interested in chasing someone up about what they did, PM me.

Dear all,

The church which got the article on Anglican Media was ours at Padstow Anglican.  We did make up the material ourselves (rather, it was mostly done by our trainee children’s minister Melinda). But you don’t necessarily have to do it yourself. We would be happy to share some info if you want (try a Private Message).

Over the three days we did four ‘dramas’: on Day one (2 dramas) we were setting the scene and explaining ‘why it is always winter in Narnia’ (sin); day two was why Aslan had to die for the human; day three was about Aslan coming back to life. When we broke up into groups we had discussion questions to draw out the significance of the story.

We did look at the material from Annandale Community Church / Christians in the media, but it was not quite what we were looking for (we went for a half day at a time). We found out that Dapto Anglican also did a Narnia theme at the same time as we did - they probably have some suggestions. The trickiest part is that your program will have to depend on the number of team members you have (and their talents!)

One place you should definitely check out is the Bible Society - who have some good Narnia / C.S. Lewis booklets / leaflets. Remember that you have to be careful with copyright issues showing too much of the movie - perhaps just showing exerpts may be most helpful. In fact we found an older animated version of the story (on DVD) to be better for this - we used it for the ‘resurrection scene’.

Richard

I’m looking for similar resources - not for a whole week program but just for a one night girls’ sleepover.

These resources sound like they’re a bit chunkier than this. Can anyone suggest a shortish gospelly type thing I could run?

I’m in Adelaide so getting props, etc from Sydney churches isn’t quite feasible.

Cheers!

Thank you every one that has contributed to this discussion, below is the link to the offical church resource guide for Narnia products.

At this site you can order posters, buy the DVD, free download 3 kids lessons and purchace the licence to show the movie at Church.  It seems even to show small snippets outside of a home requires a licence.

Thank you to Richard for suggesting the Bible Society, they have a small range of tools that are cheap and accessible.

Tamie there are Bible study guides from the Bible Society for adults, you may like to choose just one of the studies for your sleep over.

Thax <><

On a slight tangent- but something I have been thinking about for a while- it would be really good to have a site which acts as a kind of repository for material like this (especially kids programs). If the authors were willing to make it available for free download (perhaps in a password protected area if appropriate?) it would be a great resource for a whole stack of ministries out there.

Whilst there is something to be said for coming up with your own program (as I did last year for a Crusaders Camp where I wrote scripts, talks and discussion papers based on Charlie and Chocolate Factory mirroring the parable of the sower/seed), it can also be helpful to not have to reinvent the wheel each and every time (a point which I have found particularly pertinent during college mission where there is very little time to do so!)

Is a kind of ‘collective’ along these lines something which people would be happy to be involved with or contribute to? If so I might be able to make it a little bit of a mid-year holiday project…

Dear Dani
That is a great idea.  Youth Works was doing it a few years ago for youth Bible Studies, but now the site has been closed.

I’m keen to contribute what I have, however as I’m starting out in this buisness I would benefit far more than I would be able to contribute.

Sandy Galea has a site for her stuff that would be worth a look to see how that sort of site can work.

I hope people are willing to participate in this as I know every time I go to mission there is some creative genius that goes on that often gets used once then never again.  For example Memory verse ideas; I heard Philippians 2:10-11 put to the tune of ‘I’m a Believer’ by the Monkeys.  It would have to be the coolest memory verse tune I’ve ever heard, but now it is lost.

Also peoples Mission programs would make for great kids club programs, there must thousands of them out there.

Thax <><

www.cslewistoday.com

[quote author="Dani Treweek"]On a slight tangent- but something I have been thinking about for a while- it would be really good to have a site which acts as a kind of repository for material like this (especially kids programs). If the authors were willing to make it available for free download (perhaps in a password protected area if appropriate?) it would be a great resource for a whole stack of ministries out there.

Dani, this is such a good idea that it makes me wonder why someone hasn’t thought of it already… wait a minute! Guess what? Someone has!

I just heard from someone involved that the web site (www.cslewistoday.com) from the recent C. S. Lewis Today Conference a few weeks ago is now going to be an ongoing focal point, resource and forum for things on and in the spirit of C. S. Lewis’ life and work. Its aim is to provide precisely what you are talking about; providing resources and news of events and so forth to keep the momentum of the C. S. Lewis conversation happening. I believe there will be a special focus on church ministries and also on children and the Narnia theme.

(Apparently it will also contain news about the next film in the series, Prince Caspian.)

So I highly recommend you add this one to your favourites and keep checking it out to see what updates and resources are being added in the near future.

Grace and peace

Ian

Thanks Ian,

Will check it out :)

I’m still keen to bring together a whole range of kids programmes though… not simply CS Lewis related ones. I’ll try and make some headway on the concept during the July holidays.

[quote author="Dani Treweek"]Thanks Ian,

Will check it out :)

I’m still keen to bring together a whole range of kids programmes though… not simply CS Lewis related ones. I’ll try and make some headway on the concept during the July holidays.

Absolutely - the more the merrier - just so long as we don’t unnecessarily duplicate each other’s work, I guess.

Cheers
Ian

Just an update for those interested.
We at St Martin’s Kensington have just completed a three day holiday program based on the Narnia movie ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’.  We had on average 20 kids per day from the local primary school, mostly contacted through scripture classes and kids inviting their friends.

We obtained a licence to show the movie from www.narnia.net.au and borrowed a program from Christ Church Gladesville for the activities.  Gladesville has been running a Narnia Holiday club for over 10 years now based on each of the seven books.  PM me if you would like a copy of the material as it is free.

The basic formula was;
9:30am Kids arrive - kick the ball around
9:45am Welcome and explain the safety rules.
9:50am Game based on the book
10am Watch some DVD
10:30am Morning tea
10:45am Meet Mr Lewis.
11am Craft
11:45am Game based on book.
12noon Parents pick up kids.

The first Day was great because we painted the hall to look like Narnia, showing the Wardrobe, Lamp Stand, Beavers House, the White Witch’s Castle and the Stone Table.  We had a church member draw the outline and the kids painted between the lines.  This was the pride and joy of the three days.

Anyhow I just want to thank the people that contributed to this discussion and offer the ideas to anyone interested.

Thax <><

I wish I could go.

Just to continue on with something Dani mentioned;

Is a kind of ‘collective’ along these lines something which people would be happy to be involved with or contribute to? If so I might be able to make it a little bit of a mid-year holiday project…

I’m am always trying to come up with new ideas for kids activities.  One that I borrowed from Ken Moser is the Biblical Secret Sound to introduce a lesson, or as a stand alone activity.  I started recording sounds on a casset recorder many years ago, but it just occured to me that any sound you want can be downloaded from;

I’ve got sawing and hammering to go with heavy rain (Noah’s Ark), Fire (firey furnace), Lions (In the Lions Den) and so on.  This is alot of fun and can make a great introduction to a dramatised lesson.

Also I’m preparing some material for family devotions with preschoolers to primary age that can be put in your weekly bulletin, below is a sample that I made that follows ‘The King the Snake and the Promise’ CD rom;

Family Time Box
Here are some fun things to do with your kids.
Read Genesis 1 & 2.  Then discuss;
*For 3 days God formed the universe, then for 3 days He filled the universe.  What did God make to fill; 1. outer space, 2. the sea and air, 3. the land?
*What was the best thing God made and what day did he make it?
*God gave Adam a special job, what was it?
*Who is the King that gets to decide what is good and what is bad?

If people are interested I’ll put the rest up on this page.

Maranatha
Thax <><