Ocean Commotion Decoration

Sea Turtles, bubbles and seaweed.

We recently completed the first week of a 2-part VBS. Here are some of the decorations. Like the bubbles? We made them by soaking paper with water and then dropping blue paint onto the paper. See the picture below. Then we cut out different sized circles when it was dry.

They hung a gauzy material from the ceilings to replicate water and put black silhouettes of sea creatures above it.

I love the coral they made from pool noodles and Great Stuff (the spray insulation foam you can buy).

There were swarms of fish everywhere. The older ladies in the church loved cutting these out.

Even the coat racks get covered.

King Saul and the Witch of Endor

Amazingly, King Saul and the witch of Endor (I Samuel 28) is often overlooked when teaching children. The story refers to Saul having banned all of the mediums in the land. Why did he ban them? Deuteronomy 18:10-11 "...And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead." I thought this was a great opportunity to teach about the danger of Ouija boards, fortune telling, seances, and other things the children might be exposed to.

Volunteering in VBS

I love working in VBS. But it can be very demanding.This video that I made captures my feelings about it in 30 plus seconds. I hope you enjoy it. The memes are not original. My thanks to the creators of them.

In the Cave with Dave

This pup tent someone gave me years ago has really come in handy. It has served as the giant fish that swallowed Jonah, the base camp for Joshua during several of his battles and most recently it became

David, Goliath and Water Balloons

David and Goliath is a great lesson on proportion. Do we sometimes see things out of proportion? All the time. You know why? Because we leave God out of the picture. This is one of the lessons we can learn from David's response to the Goliath situation. And why not have a little

DIY Giant Fish for Jonah

It seems that there is no end to the giant fish population on Pinterest these days. But just in case you missed them, here is one more DIY post for making a giant fish.

Materials:

A Good Fish Story - Jonah

Everyone knows that fishermen are likely to exaggerate the size of their latest catch, but how many fish can brag of catching a man (aside from the one in Geico's cheesy 2015 commercial)? There is no exaggeration in the size of the fish that swallowed Jonah, and there is a lot of truth in this story to swallow as well. The message in this book lends itself to drama too, a great plus for your tactile/kinesthetic learners.

Props Needed:

Church Nursery Makeover

Ever seen these babies in the nursery? No, not the father/daughter team, the cribs. A few years ago we decided it was time to do a nursery makeover, even though we didn't have any babies at the time.

5 Steps for Teaching I Samuel 3 - Samuel Listens to God

There are a wealth of sources on the internet for teaching. Here are my top 5 picks for a 30-40 minute class-time (omit #2 or #4 for a 30 minute time slot):

Samuel Listens Snack

The kids in our Sunday School really enjoyed making this simple snack after we listened to the story of Samuel hearing God call his name. I found the idea on Pinterest, but since there was only a picture, I decided to write a blog with instructions.

Re-purposed Stage Makes the Empty Tomb

Have you ever heard of a buzz prefix? If there were such a thing, I think "re" would be one of them. We "re"cycle, "re"purpose, "re"furbish and "re"store everything today. Instead of throwing out the mouthwash no one uses in our house anymore, I goggled how to re-purpose it. Did you know it will kill the germs in your kitchen garbage disposal?

So this Easter, I thought it very apropos