I'm a little nutty and I love my kids a whole lot, so after summer camps were canceled for the oldest two and I realized summer was going to stretch on forreeevvvvver, I planned a week of VBS to do at home. I searched and found parts of an old VBS free online, including the worship songs, and went from there. All credit to the inspiration for our at home VBS goes to Cokesbury, who published the original G-Force VBS in 2015.
I ordered VBS tie dye shirts from Groovy Naturals. This was totally unnecessary, but a huge treat and helped us transition from "at home" mode to "VBS" mode each night.
NIGHT 1:
Night 1's theme word was MOVE!
Our story was about Moses and how God called him at the burning bush to MOVE and get the Israelites out of Egypt. We talked about how, even when he was uncomfortable and unsure of himself, Moses followed God's word anyways.
VBS can be light Bible stories, or, in our case, when we intimately know our audience, it can be deep in depth discussions, especially with our older children.
VBS should also be FUN!
Micrography was our craft for night 1. We made burning bush pictures using the word MOVE.
After craft we went outside for games! Night 1's game was to get us MOVING. We did water bucket sponge races. This game was a huge hit!
Then we headed back inside to make snack. Did we need snack? No. Isn't there always a fun snack at VBS? YES!
We made burning bushes! A graham cracker with frosting as ground, pretzel sticks as "wood", and mini goldfish for fire.
Baby goldfish muncher...
After snack we went back and closed our night with prayer, review, and worship songs. No one came to pick up the monkeys we'd hosted, though, so we had to keep them. HA.
NIGHT 2:
Night two's theme word was ACT!
Our devotion was about Solomon who was called to very specific action in his task of building the Temple. We also related the story to another man who was given very specific instructions about his action for the Lord - Noah.
We worked together and followed very specific instructions for building a temple replica for our craft activity.
2 longs walls, 16 sticks wide
1 short wall, 9 sticks wide
4 "golden" doors/curtains made from paper
2 columns, made from 4 sticks each
Everyone had a job to do to complete our task.
My plan for games was for each child to use newspaper/scrap paper and masking tape to build a structure. However, I had some kids who needed to RUN, so we did freeze tag instead.
Then the kids came together to build one structure. I had not taken into account the fine motor ability and age of some of my little students with this "game" activity, so I probably wouldn't do it again if I were repeating the week, especially since we'd already "built" a temple from sticks.
Back inside for snack! We made ark of the covenants since that's what the temple housed.
A wafer cookie broken in half, and stacked double high (stuck together with frosting). More frosting to adhere some pretzel rods on the sides and 2 gummy bear "cherubim." This snack was a hit (mom tip - Voortman wafer cookies are dye free).
We closed out with review, worship, and prayer before getting the kiddos through the shower and to bed.
Night 3's theme word was CARE! Our devotion was about the 4 friends who helped their friend get to Jesus by lowering him through the roof. Our activities were all based around CARING for others.
We painted iCare flower pots to later give to people to show our love.
Painting was a fun activity that we don't do enough!
Our game was "minefield." Each child was either blindfolded or walked backwards, and had a guide to CARE for them and get them through the minefield unscathed.
After games we headed in to make caring cookies. Happy faces show care and love.
I had showered the kids after they got out of the pool, before VBS, so after snack we had them brush teeth and slip into PJs before closing worship.
NIGHT 4:
FOLLOW was the theme for night 4!
We reviewed the story of Bartimaeus, a blind begger who sought Jesus from the side of the road. Jesus healed his blindness and then Bartimaeus followed him. We talked a lot about what following Jesus looks like, even here at home.
Our craft was making stop lights. STOP
and listen to God SLOW
make time for God GO
God's way everyday
At the top of the stop light we wrote, "Come, follow me." Matthew 4:12a.
It's a bit challenging to find a craft that both upper elementary and preschool can do and enjoy, but we've had pretty good success with this week's activities.
The game was Red Light, Green Light. Sometimes it's fun to play an oldie that everyone enjoys.
Some of our kids had showered for the night, so that's why they are in PJ pants/shorts with their tie dye.
Snack was supposed to be Jericho Journey pops (popsicles) because Jesus and his disciples traveled to Jericho when they found Bartimaeus by the roadside, but the freezer opened and ice cream sandwiches were chosen instead.
Mike was having his snack and Ev gave him the stink eye until he shared. Look at that stare down.
Tonight's VBS was pretty simple and ran very easily. We closed out with some favorite worship songs.
NIGHT 5:
Our final VBS night theme was SHARE!
In lieu of a "program" like a VBS usually has, we did a review.
Our lesson was about Mary, Joanna, and Mary Magdelene who went to the tomb to prepare Jesus' body and found, through the message of the angels, that He had risen from the dead. They didn't keep this Good News to themselves - they SHARED it with the apostles. We discussed what sharing the Good News looks like to us, especially during a pandemic, and brainstormed ways we can spread God's message.
Our craft was coloring in a world map to remind us to share the Good News in all the world. We colored all the continents different oil colors, and then watercolored blue for the ocean water.
Beautiful art!
I used chocolate kisses to show the kids an example of how big of an impact just one person can make.
Then fun Dad took the kids outside for a game!
The kids really enjoyed it - it was like freeze tag with a code word. Mike said, "I just made this up a few minutes ago." I told him those were the famous words of every youth group leader everywhere. Ha.
Snack was a "share a snack." In theory every child would have chosen an item to bring to the table to "share" and we could combine them to make a trail mix type of snack. However, mom laid out all the ingredients and I shared them with the kids to choose what they wanted in their mix.
We had white, chocolate, and peanut butter chips, pretzels, goldfish, bugles, peanuts, cinnamon chex, honey nut cheerios, gummy bears, and mini marshmallows.
Xavier shared his snack with Dad and Evie (she ate the chex).
We did showers and jammies before closing worship and then had a family chat about what our favorite parts of VBS were.
Mia loved the Bible stories and has asked to be more diligent at family Bible stories/devotions every night (that's not convicting at all, sweet girl).
Zayden loved snacks.
Natalee loved the share a snack.
and Xavier loved games every night.
Mom loved planning it, and watching my kids enjoy something so much and have something to look forward to on this longest summer ever. I enjoyed spending specific time together every night - learning and growing.
Dad loved getting to do it all with us - these are things he would have missed out on previously.
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