Family Fun Blog

Prince Caspian is, overall, a good family movie. The second movie based on the Chronicles of Narnia has much to appeal to both children and adults, just as the books. While there are fairly intense scenes of violence, they not at all graphic, except for two scenes that show blood. Even though they are not technically graphic, the intensity of the violence and the realistically scary characters may prove to be too much for sensitive children.

Very young children will also not be able to understand the intricacies of the plot, but the children who watched the movie in the theater when I was there were deeply involved and interested nonetheless.

The suspense, drama, and engaging characters, as well as the underlying stream of allegory, are all points that particularly appeal to adults along with older children, making this a rare family film that the whole family can truly enjoy, rather than one that the adults sit through for the sake of their children.

If you are at interested in the novels, we would recommend reading them before seeing the movie. The movie won’t be spoiled by reading the books, but the books would lose a lot of impact if the reader had already seen the movie.

Remember playing with pinwheels as a child? You can show your kids how to make these easy, fun toys with very few, inexpensive supplies. After making a basic pinwheel, you can experiment with all kinds of variations on decorations. It can be fun to put a design that creates an effect when the pinwheel is spun.

For a basic pinwheel, you will need to first cut a square out of cardstock or construction paper. The square should be about 5 inches on each side. Draw a circle in the center of the square, about 1inch in diameter. Then cut from each corner to the edge of the circle, leaving the center circle intact. Fold down every other corner (don’t crease them) and poke a thumbtack through the four corners you folded down. Press the thumbtack through the center of your circle and into the eraser of a new pencil (preferably unsharpened). Make sure there is enough “give” between the cardstock and the eraser to allow the pinwheel to spin freely. If you like, you can also place a tiny bead between the cardstock and the eraser to allow space.