First Steps for Families Movie Night Summer 2015 the Lego Movie

First Steps for Families Movie Night Summer 2015 The Lego Movie

By: Jane Angha

Time: 120 minutes

Objectives: Movie nights are a chance for families of the parish to gather together. These gatherings and the conversations that follow encourage families to talk about life and faith. These movie nights will: A. Build a trusting relationship between you and your primary faith formation partners, the parents of the children in your program. B. Provide a shared family experience and encourage family conversations.

Session Outline:

Supplies, and . Get a license to show the movie. See the Family Movie 1 Preparation Night resource for general instructions about sponsoring this activity. . Have the PowerPoint slides ready to display in the Core Activity. . Copy the Home Activity (one per household). . Invite three readers for prayer using Resource 1. . Preview the movie. You may also want to read reviews and other information about The Lego Movie. IMDB provides general movie information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1204342/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 Catholic News Service provides reviews and cautions from our faith perspective: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/movies/11mv143.htm  Provide special snacks that match the theme for the movie – see Pinterest for ideas! Cookies or crackers and cheese shaped like legos would be fun, or crispy rice treats cut into lego shapes on sticks.  Provide legos to build skyscrapers.  You will need legos and two small sand buckets and a large spoon for each team.  Choose prizes. Welcome and Welcome families and provide information about snacks and 2 Introduction of facilities. Introduce the movie night: Theme (1 minute) Hi! What a fun evening we have ahead of us! We are together as families and as a church family, too. It looks like all of us are ready to watch a movie, play games and make new friends! This movie is pretty special for all of us who love Legos, love to First Steps for Families, Movie Night Copyright © Center for Ministry Development, FashioningFaith.org, 2013. All rights reserved. 1

be creative, and love our families but sometimes feel a little invisible. This movie is for us! Core Activity Begin the PowerPoint. 3 (10 Minutes) (Slide 2) Invite participants to form groups of 5-6 or gather together as a family or two. Have each group sit in a circle, then go around the circle with each person sharing one of the gifts they have. Have someone in the group write these down.

(Slide 3) Share the following:

Imagine that a really huge snowstorm is coming – yes, even to your sunny city in the summer time! People won’t have time to prepare and it’s going to be a big one! Add in the complications: When it snows you can’t drive to school or work and you can’t get groceries or use your phones or computers.

Write down how you would help people using only the gifts you have in your group.

Allow time for the groups to do the exercise.

(Slide 4) Then invite families into a large-group discussion:

What were some things your group decided they could do because of the gifts you have?

Do you think we could save our community from the storm with our gifts?

Our movie tonight is about team work and being awesome together. Let’s get started!

Prayer (4 Minutes) Invite those gathered to be still and quiet, and then invite them to 4 make the Sign of the Cross with you. (Slides 5-7)

Movie (107 Minutes) After the prayer, allow a few minutes for the community to get 5 snacks, and then begin the movie. You might consider stopping the movie half way through to allow for a bathroom and snack break. Before re-starting the movie, you might have a few people come up for a couple of quick contests. For each contest, invite the audience to choose the winner and give each contestant a prize of a candy bar.

Skyscraper : See who can build the tallest building out of a bag of Legos in three minutes.

bucket of Legos and a large spoon. Each team member will have a chance to fill the spoon and walk across the room to an empty bucket , drop their Legos in and race back to the next team member. If they drop Legos, they must start over. The first team to empty one bucket into the other wins!

Distribute Home After the movie, distribute a copy of the Home Activity to the 6 Activity parents. Invite families to use these questions to talk about the movie in the car on their way home and for a few more minutes back home. Announce your next Movie Night or other upcoming events. Thank them for coming and encourage them in their faith formation role at home.

Resource 1

Reader 1

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

The Word of the Lord.

Reader 2

Ephesians 4:2-3 Live with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

The Word of the Lord

Reader 3

1 John 3:18 Little Children, let us not love in word or talk alone, but in deed and truth.

The Word of the Lord

2015 – Movie Night: The Lego Movie Home Activity

Now that you have watched The Lego Movie together, there are so many things to talk about! Take some time as a family to talk about the story and about your experiences. Consider choosing one or two from the following topics or create your own.

The Special

The Special was someone the residents of Lego City were waiting for to help them get rid of the Kragle, the one thing they were all so afraid of. Think of a time when something happened in your family and things changed. Describe the situation. How did things work out?

Faith connection: In the movie, prayer and faith were not part of the healing or accepting change. How does our faith help us when sad things happen? When we are unsure of the future and are worried?

Prayer: Jesus, help us to turn to you and those we love when we are hurting or upset. We know that love, forgiveness and understanding are the ways to feel safe and secure in you. Give us courage to ask for help, support and guidance. Amen.

Trying Something New

Emmet was an ordinary worker who loved his job and loved his routine. His co- workers sometimes made fun of him because he was so predictable. When Emmet was faced with trying to save the world from the Kragle, how did he do it? Were the others sure of his ideas? What made them change their minds about Emmet? Do you like change? Is it easy for you or difficult? Think of a time when you were uncomfortable or unsure of someone’s expectations of you. How did you manage it? Who helped you with this?

Faith connection: Jesus came into the world to bring about change and do things differently. He asked the rich to become poor, the scholars to become like children in their faith. He was not ordinary and we are blessed because he saw things in a different way. He asks us, his disciples, to bring light into the darkness and to be salt for the earth, to live differently and be proud of our faith. He told us the world needs us!

Prayer: God our loving Father, give us the courage to be different. Give us courage to be kind when others are not, to stand up for what is right even when others don’t. May we be a blessing of joy to others and make a difference in the world. Amen.

What’s Important?

In the movie, there was some tension and frustration between the dad and the son. The Legos in the basement and the amazing city that was built should have been fun, but they weren’t. Can you explain why?

What are some things that are “off limits” in your house? Why is that? What does it mean to respect others belongings? Why is it important to share our belongings? How do we do both?

Faith connection: Jesus had a way to make people feel special. He could find the good in people that others couldn’t. He made friends with sinners and helped them come to love themselves.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, thank you for watching over us. Help us to be kind and respectful of one another. Teach us ways each day to share, to give up things for each other and to want the very best for those we love. Help us to love others as YOU love us. Amen.

Watching a Movie Together

Watching movies and talking about the story as a family are fun and are a great way to share faith and spark opportunities for praying together. Choose another movie to watch together and consider these ways to share with each other:

 Pick a character – At the beginning of the movie, each family member or guest picks one character. Stop the movie every so often and have each person share what is happening and what they feel is coming from the viewpoint of their character.

 Make a choice – Stop the movie at times when one of the main characters needs to choose what to do. Brainstorm the possible choices and consequences of each choice. Take turns choosing and defending the best choice.

 Change the ending – Stop the movie at the climax or high point of the story. Take turns describing different ways that the movie could end.

For help in choosing movies, consider these sources:

List of family movies: http://www.filmcrave.com/list_genre_movie.php?genre=Family

General movie information: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1217209/

Reviews and cautions from Catholic News Service: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/movies/12mv069.htm