Vacation Bible School
My passion is knowing Jesus and making Him known. Vacation Bible School is one of my favorite weeks, because I get to pour God's love and God's Word in the lives and hearts of many kids while we all have tons of fun. I will post my ideas and resources here.
My church is using Lifeway's Game On curriculum. Lifeway has coordinating clipart provided for free on their website. I have used some of their clipart in my materials to help them fit the theme. My ideas and materials are not made or sponsored by Lifeway.
Here is a link to Lifeway's website in case you want to download the clipart for yourself.
https://vbs.lifeway.com/downloads/
My church is using Lifeway's Game On curriculum. Lifeway has coordinating clipart provided for free on their website. I have used some of their clipart in my materials to help them fit the theme. My ideas and materials are not made or sponsored by Lifeway.
Here is a link to Lifeway's website in case you want to download the clipart for yourself.
https://vbs.lifeway.com/downloads/
Back-Up Activities
I like to keep a couple simple activities on hand in case I end up with a few extra minutes or a few kids who arrive early or leave late.
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This file has 2 pages that are just for fun. They are a Hidden Words (word search) page, and a Hidden Pictures page. I will keep these on hand just in case I need an extra-early-arrival or late pick-up activity. This is also good for the first day if kids finish their trading card and we aren't ready to start the lesson yet.
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This game is designed for kids 8+. One person stands in the front of the group and selects a card. That person may speak, act, draw, or any combination of them in order to get the rest of the group to guess the sentence on the card, but none of the words can be said.
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Pass the iPod
If you end up with a couple minutes in a hallway waiting on a rotation, you can play Pass the iPod. - -
- Ahead of time, make a PowerPoint with one word of the memory verse on each slide. Save the PowerPoint slides as jpgs and sync them to an iPod.
- During a waiting time, hand the iPod to the first child in the line. The child reads the word, and passes the iPod to the next person in the line. That child swipes to the next word, reads it, and passes it. Continue until the verse has been read.
- You can time this activity with the stopwatch on your phone and challenge kids to beat their time. (A time penalty could be given if kids are too loud, in order to help keep the noise down in the hallway.)
If you end up with a couple minutes in a hallway waiting on a rotation, you can play Pass the iPod. - -
- Ahead of time, make a PowerPoint with one word of the memory verse on each slide. Save the PowerPoint slides as jpgs and sync them to an iPod.
- During a waiting time, hand the iPod to the first child in the line. The child reads the word, and passes the iPod to the next person in the line. That child swipes to the next word, reads it, and passes it. Continue until the verse has been read.
- You can time this activity with the stopwatch on your phone and challenge kids to beat their time. (A time penalty could be given if kids are too loud, in order to help keep the noise down in the hallway.)
Check the Puzzle Pages for activity pages related to your Bible lessons.
Felt board characters for Believe It, Jesus Lives (Day 3) can be found here.
Felt board characters for Paul and Silas Shake Free (Day 5) can be found here.
Felt board characters for Believe It, Jesus Lives (Day 3) can be found here.
Felt board characters for Paul and Silas Shake Free (Day 5) can be found here.
Teaching Tips
Here are some tips for teaching kids Biblical content. This is from last year's training session. It will be updated with this year's session soon. If you attended my training session, these are the notes from that session.
| vbs_training_day_lesson_plan.pdf |
Decorating Ideas
It is important for children to feel like a part of the class as soon as possible. One of the first things I do each year is an activity for kids to display in the classroom. This not only gives the children a chance to be creative, but hanging their work up in the class gives them ownership in the class and a sense of belonging. This year, when kids arrive they will make their own trading card.
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This year, when kids arrive they will make their own paper-size trading card. They will fill it out, color it, and hang it on the Wall of Fame (one of the walls in the room).
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Next to their trading card they will put a paper trophy. (They will cut it out from this handout.) During the week they can earn star stickers to put on their trophy. Stickers are earned by memorizing Scripture, participating in activities, showing kindness to others, etc.
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On another wall, kids are going to put their own paper jerseys. I printed this template on cardstock. Kids will select a colored piece of paper, trace the jersey, and cut it out. Then they will put their name and favorite number on the jersey. (The kids' jerseys will go near the large jerseys to the right and left of the wipe-off board.)
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Be sure to post the schedule somewhere so the kids know what to expect.
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This file has one megaphone on each page with the title of the day's lesson on it. I printed mine on different colored paper.
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