Bringing the Ark to Jerusalem

King David bringing the Ark to Jerusalem is another lesson that lends itself to drama. Click here for the outline to act out this story.

I told the story first via power point using Free Bible Images. Then we acted it out in two parts.

Children's Ministry

Live On Location - VBS

Watch this short interview with Amy Livingston to learn more about the effect of event decorating.

Catch a few of our VBS decorations in the video below. I heard dads go "Wow, this is cool." when they walked through my favorite room filmed below. I expect that from moms, but to hear dads say it meant were really making an impression.

You can see some of the other decorations we made for this VBS here and here and here.

Sunken Treasure Shop

We made this Sunken Treasure Shop with all repurposed equipment. We borrowed an old trunk and an old barrel. We raided our wise men and king costume box for treasure like material. The wise men's present boxes for gold, frankincense and myrrh became containers for prizes. Check out the video below.

Stressing and Obsessing with VBS Decorating

To decorate or not to decorate, or maybe the real question should be, "Just how much should we decorate our church for VBS?"

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Let's start with asking why we decorate in the first place. I think we decorate for VBS for the same reasons that we theme our children's areas or church platforms. It creates a "wow" effect. It makes VBS feel like something special. And it sends a message that you cared enough to make the place special for your VBS guests. That "wow" effect makes a very good first impression - so it is important.

So how much decoration does it take to get that message out? Only you and your team can decide that. I just want to give you some ideas for getting the most bang for your buck in this post.

Sanctuaries take a lot of work to make an impact. We share our decorations with another church. This year they made these big coral reefs for on the platform. We had jelly fish hanging from the lights and cardboard water bubbles on the walls.

The short video below shows what we did in a small walk through room and in our craft room. We covered both in blue. For about $70 you can buy a 1000 foot roll of colored paper. We used less than 1/2 of it to cover our craft room. In the smaller room we used blue plastic which had been used 2 years running. We added some Dollar Store plastic tablecloths.

Ocean Commotion Decoration Part 2

I found some more pictures from week 1 of Ocean Commotion VBS.

This treasure chest was for the kids to put their offering in. There was one for the boys and one for the girls. They were made from Styrofoam coolers. Another Pinterest project.

VBS Week 1 always includes a photo op for kids.

The platform decor used insulation panels. The back panels were painted to look like the bottom of the ocean. These coral panels in front were also painted onto insulation panels.

This is church number 2 where Ocean Commotion will take place. We decided to cover the murals with blue paper to make underwater scenes. You can buy a 1000 foot roll for about $70. We covered all the walls and have lots left. The paper is 3 feet wide and our ceilings are 9 feet high, so it is a perfect fit (sort of!).

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