We turned our back yard into Narnia to celebrate our son’s eighth birthday. My husband had been reading the C.S. Lewis books to our boys, and our little guy was quite taken by the whole world of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.”
Going through the Wardrobe
Our guests entered our backyard by walking through a wardrobe. We had a couple of old closet doors in our basement. I clamped them to the fence and attached a thick dowel across the top. We borrowed a few full-length coats from grandma and hung them up. The photo is at the top of this post. Isn’t it great?! We also borrowed two artificial Christmas trees to make it look more like a forest when the kids came through the doors.
Narnia Fashion
The first activity of the night was turning our guests into the creatures and royalty of Narnia. Many came in costume, but those who didn’t soon looked the part. We had lots of ribbon, sashes, capes, and giant pipe cleaners. These supplies were turned into crowns and animal ears. My husband painted faces… beards, whiskers, war paint, etc. Everyone was able to choose what they wanted to be. Most of the girls were queens but the boys loved being fauns, dwarfs, and talking animals. I took the part of the white witch.
Activities
After costuming and dinner, we started the activities. We divided the kids into three groups for battle training: swords, bows, shields. Our party had about 25 kids- so 8 per group. You could definitely hold this party with less guests. You could just keep everyone together instead of dividing into groups. We rotated every 10-15 minutes. I just watched to see when it looked like the groups were ready to move.
Swords
I cut swim noodles in half with an electric bread knife. The children practiced sword fighting against each other and their trainers (adult aunts and uncles). After a bit of practice, we played sword tag. If you blocked a sword hit, you were fine, but if you got hit in the chest, you had to lay on the ground and count to 50 before you could get back up.
Bows and Arrows
My dad helped me make a PVC pipe bow for each guest. We used 4 feet of ½ inch PVC pipe for each bow. We used a kitchen knife to make a ½ inch notch in each end of the pipe. Then we used masonry twine to string the bow. Our arrows were wooden dowels, cut in thirds, with a pencil eraser cap on the end. I took an eraser cap to the store and chose the dowels that fit inside (pencil size). We cut a notch in the end of the arrow so it would sit against the string. We made enough for the kids to each take one home, plus a few extra in case some were lost or broken at the party. Here’s a link to a video with instructions for a little bit fancier bow and arrow set: PVC Pipe Archery Bow
Our next-door neighbor let us use his yard for archery practice so the kids would not be shooting arrows near the sword and shield groups. We set up cardboard targets in the bushes, attached with some wire. The kids practiced shooting. We also had some markers and colored duct tape for them to decorate their bows. They were all excited to take their bows/arrows home with them after the party.
Shields
The children were all given a shield to use as they ran through an obstacle course. The adult helpers threw foam blocks at the kids as they ran. The kids used the shields to dodge the blocks. We let them each go through the course 3-4 times until it was time to rotate. Our shields were store-bought. I didn’t give these to the kids so I only needed four to keep the obstacle course running.
The Quest
After training, we gathered everyone for a game we usually call “Fugitive”. For this event, it was called “The Quest”. We mixed up our groups into four new teams. Our quest required the teams to find Aslan and bring him back to the house. As you know, Aslan is a lion, so we used four lion stuffed animals. We hid the lions around a church 3-4 blocks from our house. The kids had to go to the church, find a lion, and bring him back to the house, without being spotted by a wolf. The wolves were three adults (dads) on bicycles. The kids were given a two-minute head start. When the wolves saw one of the kids, they’d jump off their bikes and try to tag them. If a child was tagged, they were out of the game, but the rest of their team could keep going. The parking lot and grass around the church were a safe zone where the wolves could not tag kids. At our party, most of the kids made it back to the house without being seen. They were very sneaky and super excited about the challenge.
Outdoor Movie
After the quest, it was movie time. We projected “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” on a sheet in our back yard. We invited the kids’ families to join us for the movie. We popped popcorn and passed around licorice buckets. The kids brought their pillows and blankets. It didn’t get dark until 9:30, so it was a pretty late party. –But that made the kids really excited to get to stay up late. Ah! Isn’t summer great?!
