Army of THE One - VBS (Part 4)

The last day of VBS (Thursday), was on the Armor of God.  I found a really cute coloring page to go with the scriptures (Ephesians 6:10-18) at http://www.ministry-to-children.com/. (Here's the link for the color pages).  Thank you Mandi Groce for the cute artwork!!  I wrote and told her how I was using the color pages for VBS.

I copied the color pages onto transparent paper (as I did for all of my wall art) and put it onto an overhead projector, blowing it up and tracing it with a Sharpie onto the light brown paper.  Her artwork had a scrap-booky (not a word, I'm sure :) feel to it, which I really liked!

I did some gold glitter paint on each of the pieces of armor, just for added sparkle!!

I was really surprised at how well the children listened to these passages about the armor of God.  I wasn't sure it would be as interesting to them, but it was.  I began by talking to them about the first sin and how the devil tempted Eve.  This led into why we need this "spiritual armor".  Verse 11 of Ephesians 6 says, "Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes."  I talked to the children about how the devil is trying to get us to follow him and not God and explained to them how each piece of "armor" would help us in that battle. 

We talked about how God's plan for salvation is His plan and how the devil doesn't want us to have that salvation.  We also talked about how we have the choice whether to do right or wrong...that the devil tempts us, but that he doesn't make us do things wrong.  We talked about how if we would look at evil (I probably said "bad things") in the world as being from Satan...the devil....then we would realize that God's power can help us win the battle.  That's good for us to all remember:  The "Battle Belongs to the Lord" as the song says!  I'm thankful that it does, aren't you?!

I looked for a snack that would go along with the "Armor of God", but couldn't find one.  I made this one up and it really turned out cute!  I've posted the "recipe" for this snack craft on our family recipe blog.  (Click here to go there.)

This is one of the children's versions of the "Armor of God" snack craft.

The rest of the time during that last day of VBS we spent making "armor" to help the children remember the story.  I'll admit that this was a little hectic!  I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do about the breastplate and the shoes when we got there.  I should have had a lot more prep work done, but all in all, it worked out and it was just fine.  We finished in time (well, five minutes late :) for meeting back together to sing.  Not too bad!  The five minutes late part was because......

....I wanted a picture of everyone in their armor!  So cute and they seemed to enjoy it, too.  They also seemed to learn more about God, Jesus, and His Word, which is what VBS is all about!

Some people have come to my blog searching for Army VBS shirts.  I realized that I hadn't posted a close up.  Everyone is given a shirt when they come to VBS.  Such a neat keepsake!  I appreciate our elders for allowing us to do that each year!!

I've mentioned that my two oldest children were my helpers and that my youngest was actually in my class.  That is so special!  I only wish that my other middle son could have been in there, too.  He was in his last year of class as a VBS student.  Next year he CAN be my helper, but the youngest will move up.  He's excited, though, because he'll be in my mother-in-law's (Grammy's) class!!  Zachary (oldest son) also served as an unofficial junior VBS director.  He helped the director by making copies of the postcards and handing them out the last week of school, he led singing, and helped with enrollment.  Since he's wanting to be a youth minister when he grows up, this is great experience for him!

Daughter Lauren is such a great help in class every year!  I don't know what I'll do when she graduates in a few years.  Maybe she can still come home for VBS :).  She's great with kids, but also not afraid to get on to them if needed....and thankfully, we didn't need much of that this year! 

I have to thank my husband, Joe, too.  He does A LOT to help me with VBS.  He covers the walls every year just how I want them.  He moves in tables, chairs, etc.....then puts them all back.  The younger two boys help a lot, too, so thank you Jacob & Tyler!

So, a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to my family!  I appreciate you and love you all very much! :)

Army of THE One - VBS 2011 (Part 3)

Day two of VBS was the lesson of David and Goliath.  This isn't a very good picture of that wall, but you may can click on it and make it bigger to see the left wall.  

Goliath was standing with his feet spread apart in my picture and his head was at the top of the wall - so about 8 feet tall. If he had been standing with his legs together, his head would have been higher than the ceiling and closer to his over 9 foot real size. My 1st and 2nd graders were impressed with his size!

Just for fun, my daughter, Lauren (one of my helpers in class) measured each child to see how far up the giant they would stand.  They really liked that part!

After the Bible story, I had the kids throw "rocks" at Goliath.  Our "rocks" were chocolate marshmallows!  They loved this activity!  (This is my son, Tyler, "pitching" at Goliath!) Each person got three throws at the giant.  Lauren marked each child's best hit.

Samantha won the game by hitting Goliath in the eye.  The winner was the one closest to Goliath's forehead, just where David's rock hit the giant and caused him to die.

The kids made mock sling shots using a square piece of leather and two leather straps.  I cut small slits in each of the four corners of the leather squares.  The kids put the straps through the slits.

Here's a picture of the sling, though not very clear.  I also found little money bags at Mardel (Christian bookstore) that I gave each of the kids.  They were able to have five river rocks (Dollar Tree) to put into their bag.  They could put one in the sling, but were warned to NEVER USE IT!!  It was strictly an example and they understood. 

In the marshmallow throwing, I did give them the option of using the sling to hit Goliath.  Only Kaehlen took the challenge with one of his marshmallows!  He actually slung it pretty good!

The kids played a David and Goliath game, which I found on http://www.dltk-bible.com/.  I didn't even have to make it because my mother-in-law had made it for her class!  We just borrowed hers!  My helpers divided the kids into two groups and asked them questions about the story.  That's how the kids earned their turn in the game.

The kids made a David's Sling & Stones Snack Craft.  I've posted the recipe here, on my family recipe blog.

Tomorrow I'll post a Part 4 about the last day of VBS - The Armor of God.

Army of THE One - VBS 2011 (Part 2)

This post was started last week, but my computer had issues.  Would you believe that it was TOTALLY full and I couldn't save one more thing - certainly not any more pictures!  I know, I know, I shouldn't keep them all on my computer.  I'm working on that situation!  So, on to VBS - part 2....

Our Vacation Bible School (VBS) "Army of THE One" theme was made more authentic with this "real" camouflage netting.  Thank you, Kimberly C. for letting us borrow it!  It worked perfectly in the lobby.

This camo plastic was found at a party store.  The army man was ordered from Oriental Trading Co.  My husband, who claims to be a non-decorator actually decorated the auditorium area.  He did good, didn't he?  Several of us were startled by the army guy a few times - walking in thinking he was a real person!

A neat idea for Army decor....made by our VBS director, Gray.

The first day we learned about Joshua and the Battle of Jericho.  This is my "Jericho" wall.  The boxes were wrapped and added to the wall scene, but also served as a wall for the kids to act out the story outside.

The kids helped carried out the boxes, built them into a wall, and blew their trumpets as they marched around.  My two oldest children were my helpers for VBS.  Zachary served as the leader for the marching, holding up his hands for each day of the Bible story.  On the seventh day, as the scriptures tell us, they marched six times quietly then blew and shouted with a loud shout....

....and the Jericho wall fell down!  Of course, the kids had to push our wall down and had fun doing it!

I found this idea online (not sure where), but the kids really enjoyed it:  Divide the kids into two teams.  Ask questions about the story and the team must hold up "Yes" or "No" as a team answer.  Teams answering the question correctly get a domino.  At the end of the questions, each team builds a wall of dominoes and get to knock it down when they are done.

I found this cute "Joshua and the Battle of Jericho" snack craft idea.  Here's the "recipe" for it on my family recipe blog.

This is my son's version of the snack craft.  The kids had a choice between chocolate and vanilla icing and as I mentioned in the recipe, they used gummy bears.

On this GRATITUESDAY, I am grateful for VBS!  It's a great time for learning more about God, Jesus, and the Bible, but also a time for fun while learning.  Thank you to all the kids for coming and to the adults who brought them!  Thank you to everyone who helped.  It was a great week!

Join us for GRATITUESDAY at Heavenly Homemakers!

Oops! - Tales from VBS 2011

When I was first told that our Vacation Bible School (VBS) theme would be Army of THE One, I heard the stories that we were supposed to teach, but didn't remember what they were.  All year, from time to time, I would ask the director the lessons we would be teaching.  The only one that I ever could remember (because I never wrote them down) was David and Goliath.

As time for VBS neared, I made it a point to ask again and tried my best to remember it.  By then I was remembering them as I thought they were:  David and Goliath, Joshua and the Battle of Jericho, and the Armor of God.  We had a teachers meeting a few weeks ago and someone mentioned Gideon. In my mind Gideon was a lesson that was being done, but it wasn't one of the original lessons we were supposed to be teaching. 

This past weekend I decorated my classroom - getting ready for the three-day VBS this week.  Little did I know that I was the one teaching the complete wrong lesson!  There was a VBS invitation on Facebook, but I never read it (thinking I KNEW all I needed to know) and just quickly clicked on "attending" at the link.

We were supposed to teach the three lessons in chronological order, so it would have been Joshua's story first, then David's, then the Armor of God.  Tuesday morning was the first time I realized there was a problem - some were teaching David and Goliath Monday, then Gideon Tuesday.  Wait a minute!!  Gideon???  Why Gideon???  It was only then that I realized my mistake!  I was the ONLY one teaching Joshua - not just Monday, but at all!!  OOPS!!

I felt bad about teaching the wrong story, but I remember several years ago teaching both of those lessons in my four and five year old Bible class.  The stories are similar.....well they are in my mind:  God helped both men, there were horns blown, and people marched.  Similar....but different;  however, the main idea - that God helps us win our battles just as he did for Joshua and Gideon - is the same.  My 1st and 2nd grade students loved the lesson that day, they learned about God and His Word and that's all that matters.  I learned that I can't rely on my own brain because sometimes it fails me!! :)

Note:  I'm having major computer issues, so can't post all of the VBS pictures I want to.  As soon as I have time I'll fix that problem (if my brain allows me too, that is!) :)  No, I'll ask God to help me use the resources available to me and rely on their brain and HIS power.....even in this computer problem.  That sounds like a better plan!

Army of THE One - VBS 2011

V.B.S. starts this morning!  I'm so excited!  Our theme this year is "Army of THE One".  We have our VBS for three days (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday).  I will be teaching the 1st & 2nd graders and expect to have around 15 students.

This picture is from the door way and is what the students will see when they arrive in the classroom.

These little "Privates" are their attendance markers.  Each child will draw their eyes, nose, and mouth on their person this morning and will add a gold star sticker each day they attend.  I've already added hair to the girl "Privates" that I know will be there.  I may have to make more for others that come (which is great!).  These were made by purchasing shirt-shaped paper party plates and foam head shaped.  The hats are made from camouflage napkins.

This is another view, from the back corner of the room.

Each student will receive a camo hat, a VBS t-shirt, a blank notebook, and a camo dog tag.  These items will be taken home at the end of VBS on Thursday.  The blank book is used as a journal for them to tell the story each day.  Today's story is "Joshua and the Battle of Jericho". The will write about it, but also I have some little pictures copied off for them to glue in the journal.

The wall to the left is the "Armor of God" wall for Thursday's lesson. The right wall will be used today.  I'll show more pictures in tonight's post, but the boxes at the bottom that make the wall will be used for the children to build their own wall to be knocked down.

This little paratroopers were party favors, but I couldn't figure out how to do the parachutes that came with them!  I bought them thinking they were ready-made, but they weren't.  I had bought some natural coffee filters because I liked the color of them, so switched out the white, plastic parachutes with these coffee filters.  Instead of traditional "armor", these soldiers are holding different words that go along with our stories for the week:  courage, trust, faith, truth, salvation, righteousness, etc.

As a cute addition to the room, gold stars with glittered dots at the points are scattered over the walls.  Glitter paint is also around the black-coloring-book-style pictures on the walls.  I'll show more pictures of that throughout the week.

VBS is an exciting time for children.  It works out well for our VBS to be the week after school is out each summer - typically beginning the day after Memorial Day.  Sadly, the other day as I was looking for some room decorations, I mentioned to a lady at a store that I needed the item for VBS.  She replied, "What's that?"  I said, "Vacation Bible School".  I don't think she had a clue what it was.  That made me sad and I should have talked to her more about it.  Instead of being shocked and sad, I should have used the opportunity to teach and talk about Jesus.  Lesson learned:  lost opportunity.

I'm looking forward to teaching the children this week about God, about his promises, and about His Word and His Son!  I'm thankful for VBS and for those who take the time to help with it and who take the time to bring their children.  It's going to be a great week!