Everyone sometimes feels scared. What has scared you (waves, robbers, heights, etc)?
What did you do when you were scared? (importance of telling grown-ups). What helped? (information is the best antidote to anxiety)
What helped you to relax, to feel calmer? (breathing, hugs, thinking about G-d, solving the problem, etc.)
A New Boy
When have you been a newcomer somewhere?
When have you felt left out? What helped?
When has someone you loved had to leave for a while, how did you feel? What did you do to feel better?
Lon Lon’s Big Night
Mistakes are for learning (not self-blame “What an idiot I was to…”, or regret, “Why did I run after…I shouldn’t have…”)
Problems are for solving (When Lon Lon finds himself alone, he looks about for what he can do to find his home.)
Curiosity – How can curiosity help us? What is it good for?How can we find ways to satisfy our curiosity without getting into trouble or danger?
Courage (or bravery) – Courage means to feel the fear but than to overcome it. If somebody doesn’t feel afraid than he is not courageous. Lon-Lon is courageous when he is threatened by the Eagle-owl: He panicked for a moment but than he decided to save himself. He believed in himself and did not surrender to the fear.
The circle of life (maybe this could be a topic for the older children). Lon Lon discovers some facts about life. He finds out that he is a link in the chain of life, which could be very cruel sometimes. He is about to become a predator soon, and on the other hand he might also become a prey. Are the predators really “bad” like we tend to see them?