Bad luck brings out best in orphans

Your family's spring break camping trip has become all too adventurous. What started as a sprinkle is now a downpour. Your son discovers a hole in the tent and finds that the s'mores are soaking wet. As everyone complains, your daughter cobbles together some odds and ends—gum, sandwich bags, walking sticks—to create a temporary patch. The family looks at her like she's crazy—but her makeshift repair actually works.

When life throws you a series of punches, look to the film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events for inventive ways to overcome obstacles. After watching the movie, released on home video April 26, use our questions below to start a family conversation about conquering challenges with creativity. Then play our game, Misfortunate Missteps, to bring the big-screen lesson to life!

Based on the best-selling children's books, the film features the Baudelaire siblings, whose misfortune begins when their rich parents die in a mysterious fire. Young inventor Violet (Emily Browning), bookworm Klaus (Liam Aiken), and toothy toddler Sunny (Kara and Shelby Hoffman) are sent to live with their distant relative Count Olaf (Jim Carrey), an eccentric actor.

The crazy and conniving Count Olaf proves to be one of the orphans' most unfortunate encounters of all. Aided by a troupe of evil entertainers, Olaf plots outrageous ways to kill the children so he can assume their vast inheritance.

The children—faced with insurmountable situations—must rely on Violet's ingenuity and Klaus' encyclopedic knowledge to break the chain of doom and stay alive.

Talk Together

Of all the unfortunate events, which one did you think the Baudelaire orphans wouldn't be able to escape? Which of Violet's inventions do you think was the most amazing? What do you think was the most fascinating fact Klaus remembered from his reading?

Take turns sharing what your strengths are. Are you skilled at solving story problems in math? Do your jokes crack people up?

Share something that causes you trouble—such as fellow students trying to peek at your answers during a test. If you could invent something to solve your problem, what would it be?

The orphans certainly had reason to be sad and upset with their unfortunate circumstances. But instead of complaining, they took action. How do think this helped them in the end?

In the future, instead of complaining, how can you use your strengths to solve your problems, not wallow in them?

Play Together: Misfortunate Missteps

Put your best foot forward with this game of inventions.

You will need:
• 6 sheets blue construction paper
• 6 sheets yellow construction paper
• Markers
• Scissors
• Dice
• Two dozen various household items
• Watch

Fill a laundry basket with a random assortment of items from your home—such as an ice cube tray, a remote control, and a stuffed animal.

Cut the construction paper into oversized footprints—using the blue paper for the right feet and the yellow paper for the left feet. Number each colored set 1 to 6.

Divide the feet among the players. Without anyone seeing, each player secretly writes on the blank side of each yellow foot one unfortunate event—such as your little sister stealing your journal. Flip over the feet so no one can see what you wrote.

On each blue foot, write three different items in the laundry basket. Make sure each foot has a different combination of items. Flip over the feet to hide the words.

Scatter the feet all over the floor with the numbered sides up. The first player rolls one of the dice and picks up the yellow foot and the blue foot with the corresponding number. The player has one minute to come up with an invention using the three items listed to solve the problem. Then it's the next player's turn.

Your kids will learn—just like the Baudelaire children did—to turn lemons into lemonade, even if that means using duct tape to do so!