Author Archive

Three Simple Statements

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carol-2Three simple statements, yet they are key to helping you be successful in leading VBS. Have you noticed them? Take a look in your Bible Study Leader Guide, they are right there on the first page of each session. Right along with the Bible story information and the life application. See them now? Good.

Allow me to explain, these three simple statements will help you know if the kids you are leading have made the connection during your lesson. Think of them as objectives, if you will. These statements let you know exactly what you want kids to know when they walk out the door each day. As you are teaching, you can use these statements as a check point to be sure you are reinforcing the main ideas of the day with the kids.

Generally the first statement will be a recall or reminder of information found in the Bible story. The second statement will move kids into applying what they have learned to their own lives. And the third statement generally involves the daily challenge. Each age-group Bible Study Leader Guide includes these statements in leader guides for grades 1-6 they are called “Connection Points” and in the preschool guides they are titled, “What Kids Need to Know.”

All the activities and discussion have been written with these three objectives in mind. By staying focused on the objectives throughout each session, you can maximize the limited time you have to reach kids for Christ!

Crafting with a Crowd

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tomlinson

For some of us crafting makes our day. We love it, the more glue (or for me glue dots) the better. We see an empty box, a scrap piece of paper, or some leftover fabric, and think, “What can I turn that into?” However, not everyone shares our love of all things crafty. Hand them the Crafts Rotation Leader Guide and tell them they will be leading the crafts rotation, and they break out into hives.  It’s one thing to sit down and complete a craft project on our own, but something else entirely different to sit down with 15-20 kids and complete the project. But never fear (Isn’t that the whole point of VBS 2013? Facing our fears.), you can successfully craft with a crowd. Here are a few pointers to help you when crafting with a crowd:

 

  1. Plan Your Time:  You may look at a craft and think, “Well, this will take about 5 seconds to do,” but rarely will a child be able to complete their project in the short amount of time that an adult will. You also need to factor in the time it will take to distribute supplies, give instructions, and transition.
  2. Prep Your Supplies: By prepping your supplies before hand, you can keep the session moving at an easy comfortable pace. Think about asking older youth and Sunday School classes to help you prep before VBS starts. They can cut materials, gather items, and sort them into individual ziplock bags. Then once VBS starts all you need to do is give each child a bag of materials and get started.
  3. Prepare Your Samples: The best way to be confident in teaching someone else to do something is to do it yourself. Once you have selected the crafts you want to do, make samples of each one. Note anything you think will need further explanation or changes that can be made that will work better for your group.
  4. Pace Your Lesson: Figure out exactly how much time you have with each rotation. Plan how much time you will spend introducing the project and relating it to the Bible content, giving instructions, and so forth. When working with children it will be best to give one set of instructions at a time. The leader guide shows each craft with step-by-step instructions to help you know how to transition from one step to the next.

 

Crafting with a crowd can be fearful at times, but when we trust God and are obedient to Him, the blessing will be immeasurable.

 

 

 

 

Tabletopper, Photo Prop, or Something Else?

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tomlinsonIs it a tabletopper, photo prop, or something else? It’s all these and more.

In case you haven’t heard there is a really cool, new product in the LifeWay VBS lineup. It’s our VBS 2013 Tabletopper! And for $6.99 it’s a lot of bang for your buck.

Just check out how we used these at our Preview events this year.

 

 

 

Of course these are great tabletoppers for any table you need to set up. You can use them on your sign up and enlistment tables, registration tables, snack tables, and the list goes on. Here you can see we used the side with the park scene to conceal our extra supplies in the Cotton Candy Cafe.

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But wait! You can turn them around to use the coaster car side as a photo prop. As we’ve done here:

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Would you like to see how we created the coaster car “seatbelt?” Well, you’re in luck, we just happen to have a few pictures to show you how.

First we cut two slits at the bottom of the safety bar on each side. Then we ran some grograin ribbon through the slits. You may want to but a small piece of tape over the end of the ribbon to help you thread it through the slits. We used black ribbon at our events, however I only had blue available when I made these for the post. You can use whatever color you wish.

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Next we stapled the ribbon on one side of the tabletopper. We only stapled one side so that folks could “adjust” the seatbelt by pulling the opposite side longer for large groups or shorter for small groups.

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See how easy that was to give the tabletoppers another use? We would love to hear your ideas about how you plan to use the tabletoppers or any VBS accessory in an unusual way.

 

New Year, New Design

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  Welcome to a new year and a new design for the VBS 2013 Administrative Guide for Directors. Now it’s even easier to plan, promote, and conduct a successful VBS.

That’s right we have redesigned the Administrative Guide with you in mind. The entire guide is divided into six simple steps:

Step 1: Know Your Purpose and Theme– Get a feel for the week and learn how the theme and biblical content tie together.

Step 2: Start Planning– Planning is crucial for any successful event. By starting with these step-by-step tips, you will be on your way to a fun-filled, exciting adventure.

Step 3: Enlist and Train Your Workers– Behind every good director is a good group of leaders. Start pulling your team together early.

Step 4: Promote and Publicize– Use the helps provided to get the best results for your efforts.

Step 5: Registration– From preregistration to registration during VBS, we’ve got you covered.

Step 6: Follow-up– Strengthen the relationships that were created during your VBS. Plan now to follow up with both your visitors as well as your regular church attenders.

Within each step you will find helpful charts, and guides to make planning a snap. And as always you will still find all the same great helps provided on the CD-ROM as in previous years.

So I’d like to personally invite you to browse through the guide and let me know what you think. And I’d love to hear about any great tips you may having for planning for an exciting VBS!

 

Happy Birthday & Thanks for the Props

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A birthday shout out goes out to my sweet son who is turning 13 today! Not only is today his birthday, but we are giving him a “thank you” shout out for helping with two of the props for the video drama for Colossal Coaster World. Yep, his dear ole mom roped him into putting together two roller coasters for the video this summer. Now in my defense when I volunteered him, I hadn’t seen the roller coasters, the 5,000 pieces that would need to go together, or the instruction books with no words just pictures. I just thought, “Hey, he likes to build things with legos this should be a piece of cake.” Well, two eight hour days and 5, 000 (or more) pieces later we had the finished products ready for the video shoot. Take a look at the following behind the scenes pictures of the work in progress.

Just the beginning!

 

Did I mention that I also wrangled his dad into helping?

 

Adding the finishing touches.

 

Final inspection.

 

Look for these “colossal” coasters in the video drama next summer.

Fall Is In the Air

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Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I love the cooler temperatures, the colorful leaves, and warm cozy feeling of a fire. But what I really love about fall is all the pumpkin flavored treats that are available. Have you tried a pumpkin spice donut or pumpkin pie flavored ice cream? If not, what are you waiting for? There are a million tasty concoctions out there all waiting for you! Check out our Pinterest board to find just a few. Let us know which ones are keepers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And if you are looking for some Fall crafts, be sure to check out our craft board, as well!

What are some of your favorite things to do with your kids ministry or family during the Fall?