Spend a Day in Narnia

We've all dreamed about climbing through a secret door at the back of a wardrobe and finding ourselves in the world of Narnia, but what would we do when we got there?

Come along on an Adventure to Narnia with The Storyteller's Cottage and find inspiration for your own day in a fantasy world!

Back in 2019, we led a half-day vacation activity for middle school aged kids, and repurposed our "Legend of the Fairy Queen" escape room into a portal to the White Witch's kingdom.

This particular room is decorated like a vintage child's bedroom, and the large armoire is actually attached to a door frame that leads into a closet which is decorated to look like an enchanted Fairy Forest. At the back of the closet, another door leads into a room decorated like a medieval castle. We created a storyline where the inhabitants of Narnia reached out to us for our help defeating the White Witch, and designed a series of puzzles, codes and challenges for our students to complete. Each part of the adventure led us to a different location in Narnia, and filled our day with exhilarating, brain-stretching fun!

We began our day as if we were simply visiting the Pevensie children in their country home, and learned how to play vintage children's games like marbles.

How to play marbles:

• Make a circle 3 feet wide out of string if you’re playing indoors on carpet

• Choose your shooter marble- this should be bigger than any of your other marbles

• Put 5 to 10 other marbles in the centre of the ring to play

• When it’s your turn, kneel outside the ring and flick your shooter marble out of your fist with your thumb, trying to hit as many marbles out of the ring

• If you knock any marbles out of the ring, keep them and have another turn

• If you don’t knock any marbles out of the ring, leave your shooter marble in the ring until your next turn and the next player takes their turn

• Continue until the ring is empty

Suddenly, a mysterious letter slid under the door:

Our wardrobe door is secured with a large 5-digit combination lock, and lo and behold, the answers to the questions in this letter provided the combination we needed to open the door.

We threw open the doors, pulled back the black velvet curtains, and walked through to find a mysterious forest where it was snowing cotton balls on strings!

On an important-looking pedestal in the forest, we found this cryptic note:

The answer is "the letter A." Once our intrepid adventurers solved the puzzle, their leader triggered a special light and sound effect (an element of the escape room game normally placed in this space) which let the White Witch, who was waiting on the other side of the far door, to call out "Enter!"

Once inside the castle, the group gathered around the White Witch's table where she challenged them to discover her true name.

The group was asked these five questions, and given a worksheet to record their answers.

1. Sometimes called a rock, often worth a great deal. A bauble or a precious stone, so tempting for some to steal. (​J​ewel)

2. What do unicorns have that no other Narnian creature has? (b​A​by unicorns)

3. Young I am tall; old I am short. I love to glow. Breath is my foe. (Can​D​le)

4. What animal represents the constellation Leo? (l​i​on)

5. What has forty legs, twenty hands, and a big appetite? (ten centaur​S​)

Once the answers are transcribed on this worksheet, the letters in the blue boxes spell out the White Witch's name (JADIS)

When the group decoded her name, the White Witch opened a locked box that contained Turkish Delight and shared it with everyone.

Following that, the group moved downstairs to the dining room, where they made snow globes, hunted for Lucy's lost arrows, and enjoyed Tea with Tumnus, which included Fire Flower Cordial (lemonade) and miniature cupcakes.

All in all, it was a great way to spend the afternoon, and relatively simple to execute. Just replace the wardrobe with a closet door, add a few key decorative items, and you can enjoy an adventure to Narnia as well!

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