Family Book Club Week 2: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Did you enjoy the first week of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea activities and discussion questions? M and M begged me to continue reading (and we’ve read this one before). I hope your kids are just as excited.

Remember to chat with us in comment section or email me directly at amomwithalessonplan@gmail.com. (The feedback helps me shape the Family Book Club series so that it’s a fun and useful experience for everyone.)

If you haven’t done so already pick up your copy of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, you can join the fun anytime. This is an affiliate link, but as always I encourage you to check your local library first.

Reading Goal

This week read chapters 6-9.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Discussion Questions & Activities

At our house the kids are close in age (9 and 7) but I know that’s not true for a lot of you. I try to mix the discussion questions with some for younger kids and some for older kids. I recommend you simplify any questions that you feel need it or expand on questions as you’re chatting away.

Use whichever questions you think will interest your kids and skip the ones you don’t want to ask. Let these questions be a guide, don’t be afraid to change them up or come up with your own questions. There are no right answers and the idea is to get your family talking.

Chapter 6 – Activity & Discussion Question

• While Mr. Aronnax is standing on the deck in the beginning of the chapter, a crewman comes out to measure the height of the sun. Make a homemade sun dial and talk about why people used the sun to tell time. Here are some different sun dial activities: kid made body sun dial and paper plate sun dial.

Chapter 7 – Activity & Discussion Question

• Draw a picture of the men walking on the bottom of the sea. Try to include a lot of details. What types of plants and animals do you think they might see?
• Taking an adventure like this would be an experience unlike any other, but it is also dangerous. They walked for hours, far past the point of being exhausted. Is this an adventure you think you would like? Does it make you think of adventures you might like to take someday?

Chapter 8 – Discussion Question

• “Their simple clothing was well suited to the climate.” What does this mean? Talk about other climates and the clothes people might wear.

Chapter 9 – Discussion Questions

• On the bottom of page 57 the author describes Captain Nemos appearance. How do you think he is feeling? Talk about why he might be feeling this way. We haven’t gotten any information about this yet, so you’ll have to use your imagination.
• One of the crew members dies in this chapter. This is a great opportunity to talk to your kids about death. If they have experienced losing someone you can relate the feelings to that. If not, talk about how the crew feels, what might comfort them and ways they might remember their friend.

Sign up for A Mom with a Lesson Plan emails so 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea emails will come straight to your inbox. Leave ideas and discussion questions of your own in the comment section. Or just let us know you are reading along! Happy reading.