Star Quest VBS 2015

Our VBS this year was WAY OUT OF THIS WORLD!  This is in the auditorium up on the stage area.  The astronaut is hanging out of the baptistry!  Unfortunately we're having to purchase a new one due to this one leaking, but it made it easier to decorate because my brother-in-law (our preacher) and sister-in-law could put screws into all of it without worrying about the damage!

 I have to admit, that since I'm not a Star Wars or Star Trek fan, this theme didn't excite me. I was excited about teaching the children about the Creation of the stars...God's promise to Abram (Abraham) that his descendants would be like the numerous stars in the sky...and about the Wise Men following the star, but the theme decor didn't sound like "me".

However, I DO like black lights, so when I decided to use a lot of black light effects in my room, I got really excited! At the time, I didn't realize the whole auditorium would be used in blacklight, too!

 I soon realized that it would be one of the students very favorite and probably the most memorable of all.  One of my boys and my nephew found this "rocket" in a room behind the baptistry.  They brought it out and painted it.  It worked out perfectly!

Our class used robots and I told the kids we were playing like we were inside a spaceship, traveling back to the Bible days when the stories actually happened.

My daughter made this great jet packs we saw on the internet!  She did great!  It's 2 two liter bottles, in case you can't tell.

I wanted to make some rockets, but one of my husband's coworkers is a genius in many ways! We only asked if there was some 3-inch PVC pipe and were going to use paper and styrofoam for the cone shape and bottom.  We got home and he had built these! He cut and melted the PVC to form the pointed shape. That's amazing!!  And real wood on the bottom part!  My daughter painted and decorated them, we added some glow in the dark paint, and the rockets stayed there all week!

I only had six students in my class, which was different.  While, of course, I wish there had been more in that age group, it was kind of nice getting to have a round, planet-shaped table and lots of room!

When the black lights were on, the room was beautiful! Stars glowing all around!  You can't really see it....

Small details in the Bible are often overlooked by most of the "Christian" world.  At Christmas, we see and hear of the 3 Wise Men, yet the Bible doesn't say how many men went to the HOUSE, not manger.  There were three gifts, but we don't know how many....and they didn't arrive the night Jesus was born.  He was older.  It was a little scary that my almost 17 year old son heard me teach that lesson and came out saying he had never heard it before!  I am sure I've said it, but he probably didn't remember it.  That means, as a parent...as parents, we/I must REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT!  

Amazing Adventure - VBS 2014 (Expedition Theme)

As soon as I knew our VBS was going to have an expedition theme, and knew the lessons were going to be about Jesus' Resurrection, The Valley of the Dry Bones, and the Lost Coin, I knew I was going to "dig" for a rock, a bone, and a coin.  But it wasn't until the weekend before VBS began that I really knew what I was going to do in my room. It's always that way! I can never think about it enough in advance to come up with what I want to do, but it always works out anyway.  Thank you, God!

The resurrection wall came together pretty good. I liked the crosses that my husband cut out for me. It gave a 3D effect, plus the death of Jesus was the beginning part of the resurrection story.  It made it visibily clear for the children.

 These scrolls were from a VBS theme at Mardel.  I really liked how authentic they looked!  Each wall had the title of the story for that day....

 ...and a scripture from the story.

 The Valley of Dry Bones had to be the oddest thing for me to have to decorate, because the bones gave me the chills! I didn't know if I would be able to touch them at first!

 But by the time I had to get them out of the bag, I was fine.  I'll share more about each lesson in the next few posts.

 I used this story in the ladies class I teach for a few weeks. It has great spiritual application for our lives today.

 Even this scripture is profound because it shows that Elijah knew that only God knows what can be done!  His power is awesome and mighty!

 Each  day, the children would write on these scrolls. They made them like a map...telling the story, where it was found in the Bible, then they glued what they searched for that day: the rock, coin, or bone.  They thought these were pretty neat!

 I found this GREAT mural (actually it's two put together) on Cokesbury.com.  It is beautiful, and I can use it for many years.   It gave the feeling that we had traveled to somewhere - a REAL EXPEDITION!

For the lost coin, I just used a small part of the room.

I built a house out of styrofoam painted "bricks" found at Hobby Lobby. I made a dirt floor and hid coins in the dirt.

Each day we reviewed our "expedition".  I came up with these blanks to fill that were answered by listening well to the story.

I love having a "hanging" element in my room each year.  This year, because it was a little different type of decorating, I used bones, coins, paper rocks, skeletons, X-rays, and magnifying glasses.

I also used strips of muslin to make it seem like we were inside a tent or market.  It was a neat feeling.

The X-rays came from Mardel.  They were a fun element to help teach the dry bones story.

I like to cover the tables in my classroom, too. This years' theme was cute on the tables because I drew dotted lines to make it look like we were traveling a map's directions.

VBS is such a special time for children to learn about God, Jesus, the Bible, and the church.  What a blessing it is to touch the life of a child - and share Jesus with them in this way.  I had a great group this year!

"It's a Blue Ribbon Life" VBS - Part 4

Last week was our Vacation Bible School, and I posted about it several times....showing you the pictures of my room, as well as others.

For the first time ever, my walls didn't tell the stories we were learning.  Mostly because I was so busy leading up to VBS (daughter's graduation and party/Italian meal for 50 people, end of school activities, decorating responsibilities for events, helping with tornado relief, sending family to help with clean up, etc.), that I honestly didn't have time to think about it or have the energy to even do it.  School ends on a Thursday, I do the Teacher of the Year reception decorating on Friday, and begin VBS decorating/lessons on that afternoon,  finishing on Memorial Day each year. VBS begins the next morning.  WHEW! Makes me tired just typing it - reliving that whole two weeks!!! It was kind of a whirlwind.  

In the midst of decorating, I had a sinus infection which was making me dizzy for about five days.  In fact, I fell the first day of VBS!  I still have the huge bruise and scabbed elbow to prove it, too!  (I was so embarrassed, I hopped up quickly.) Thankfully, only a few people saw my fall, and I'm having to wear longer sleeved shirts in public just so people won't be shocked at the sight of it - and because my children ask me to so they don't have to see it!

So, I settled, and just made my room fit the general theme, and then taught the lesson straight from the Bible and through journaling, activities that emphasized the story, and specific Bible crafts (see my "Jesus on the Cross" craft HERE.).  I like to play question and answer games to review the story.  I'm always amazed at how they learn so much so quickly!  We only have an hour and a half, so it's not much time to do too much, but I strive to make the class interesting, while increasing Bible knowledge.

I showed you in another post my mother-in law's room, where she had each story displayed on each wall.  These pictures are from a friend.  They also did the "Blue Ribbon" VBS.  I love her perspective and beautiful pictures of each Bible lesson!  I also like how she used the blue ribbon part for each of the fruits of the Spirit.  Just beautiful and so creative!

What I thought about doing, but not until it was too late was using the "big top tent" theme on each wall, but opening it each day I could have had the Bible lesson displayed.  That's the kind of thing I usually do.  I'm a big "theme" person and that's the way I like to teach/decorate.  We're all different and unique and have different talents.  These beautiful photos show that truth out in a wonderful way!!

Here's my friend's statement on how/why she did her classroom this way: Jesus is our #1 example. Found some coloring pages for each lesson, blew them up on the overhead, altered the drawing slightly, and colored with pastels. Each picture is about 5x7ft. I wanted to keep the VBS decor Bible centered.

I might add that she also has a newborn baby and three other children, so she worked very hard to get her room ready!

Of all of my posts - over 1,000 - the VBS posts are the very most popular of all on this blog, as well as my "Life's a Bowl of Cherries" blog.  I appreciate my friend letting me share these pictures with all of you and pray that they will be a blessing to you as you strive to teach little ones about Jesus.  She's right - He is the #1 example.  There is no one and nothing else more important than His life and what He did for each and every one of us!

Finally, I want to show you one more picture.  The minister's wife at this same congregation decided to make the Greek alphabet to teach the 4th - 6th grade students more about the words of the fruits of the Spirit.  Neat!

I forgot to show you our VBS t-shirts.  Everyone that helps with VBS and attends VBS gets one.  This is the back of the shirt. The front has our church's logo and name.  It's a great outreach in our town.  We're a very rural, low socio-economic community, so a free t-shirt means a lot to a lot of people.  We also provide a lunch for everyone and an ice cream party at the open house.  It's great seeing the faces of those who are visiting.  They're proud of their shirt, and we all wear it every day!  (Makes getting ready each day pretty easy :) )  They're proud of the free lunch and open house night.

So, as you plan to teach, decorate, or help for VBS, remember that the primary and most important thing is that you are teaching the kids more about God and Jesus.  You are getting them more acquainted with His Word.  Hopefully you're planting a seed that God will grow.  Keep it centered on God's Word.  I gave my class a scripture each day.  We would scramble it up, put it in order, recite it, write it, and memorize it.  They can memorize so well at that age!  (Much easier than I can, for sure!)  But what a wonderful ministry Vacation Bible School is to the children who come.

I hope you've enjoyed the posts about "It's a Blue Ribbon Life".  This may be the last one, unless I hear/see other pictures with another perspective, then I'll have to share them with you, as well.

It's a Blue Ribbon Life - VBS 2013 (Open House)

Because we only do a three day VBS, we don't buy the workbooks for each student.  Also, because of copyright laws, I don't copy out of the workbook sample we get.  However, there is plenty of lesson materials you can find online for free.  I really liked these "Garden of Gethsemane" posters. 

I found them and this "A Hero's Sandwich" (for the temptation of Jesus lesson) at this website.  www.mahwahjim.com  There are some excellent materials there! I'm not sure if you have to register or not, but when I go there, I just have to click on "submit".  Maybe that's because I'm already a member and we purchase the whole curriculum a few years ago? Not sure, but almost all of the lessons are great - so be sure to take a look!

Danielle's Place is also a great place to find crafts, activities, and ideas for the lessons.  We have a group subscription so that all of our teachers can use it.  Another great paid site is Kid's Sunday School Place.

For added fun at our VBS Open House Wednesday night, I had these cute polka dotted balloons inflated with helium and tied to each chair. The children who attended got to take their balloons home with them.

Here's another room at VBS Open House.  These are "Fruit of the Spirit" booklets for the 4, 5 and Kindergarten age.

They had also decorated their own blue ribbons.

Here is a close-up of their fruit buckets I mentioned yesterday.  So cute!!

Decorated frames are always a great idea for an activity for the students.  A great keepsake of VBS each year!

 One teacher found these really cute "Fruit of the Spirit" totes at Oriental Trading.

These activities came from Danielle's Place.

After everyone tours the VBS classrooms, we have an annual Ice Cream Party.  Lots of fun for the kids and the adults!

It's a combination of VBS and celebrating the end of the school year.  What a fun time!

Yesterday was the end of our VBS.  I mention each year that it is also the end of my huge month of decorating.  I enjoy every bit of it and wouldn't change anything about it, but I can say that I'm always excited for today.....the last Friday in May each year! It means that we can sleep a little later, be a little less scheduled, and have extra family time with the absence of activities.

Oh, yes......there is one small thing left to do.  Clean out the Expedition that is full of decorations!

It's a Blue Ribbon Life - VBS Part 2

I thought I would share some of the other VBS rooms with you.  This room is the 4's, 5's and Kindergarten class.  

 It's really a cute room!

The fruit stand was a great addition.  Each student has a little can and I think they buy "Fruits of the Spirit" at the stand.  What a fun way to teach!

 This is adorable! Buckets with wooden planks for benches!

 This is the 2 and 3 year old room.  It is festive with the red and white striped banner and carnival type decorations all around. The teacher found a lot of things at Oriental Trading online.

 On the purple wall, there are attendance charts that she made. It's a hot air balloon type of craft she saw on the Oriental Trading site, but just made it herself to save money.

I thought the way she did this blue ribbon was especially cute! Her young daughter told her she needed stripes on the door, so she did it!  Looks great!

It's a Blue Ribbon Life theme all the way through!

My mother-in-law teaches the 3rd and 4th grade class.  She typically doesn't decorate with the theme, but rather just the Bible stories themselves.  As you can see, she does an excellent job of portraying the scenes!

 She made it to where her "Jesus" could be moved from scene to scene each day.

 I'm sure the children enjoy hearing the stories come to life on the walls of the room!

The 5th and 6th grade room has a theme of ribbons, plus each days' lesson.

The teacher concentrates on craft activities that drive home the lesson theme of the day and does a super job each year!

This age group is in the preteen group, so of course, their ideas need to be a little more mature.  And some of this age group may be thinking they're a little young for VBS!  So, to keep their minds learning and their attention turned toward the lesson of the day takes someone who knows what they're doing!  I prefer the younger ones, so it's not me :).

It's so interesting to give people a topic or theme, then see how their ideas come about in all different ways!  This just goes to show that we all have talents.  We're all different, but everything can come together for good - and for a good cause, such as VBS!

Don't be afraid to let your imagination go!  Don't think it "has" to be a certain way! Don't think your ideas have to match someone else's ideas!  You are unique.  It will show through in what you do, but you have to do something for that to happen.  That's the important part.  Just doing it!

Tomorrow I'll show some specific crafts and activities in each of the rooms.  I hope you're enjoying this "It's a Blue Ribbon Life" theme!  We sure are!