Hi everyone, I am hoping some of you may have suggestions for our VBS follow up. Each year we have many kids come from unchurched homes to our VBS. They come, have a great time, many accept Jesus, get bibles and that is it. Some come back the next year but usually we don't see any integration into the church during the year. Last year we had 210 kids with 40% unchurched. We had a coffee bar for the parents to hang around at which quite a few did, taking in the worship and drama as well. We do a mid week free VBS carnival that the whole community is invited to and we always hear much positive feedback on the energy and friendliness of our church at these. Still no carry over.Even the people that say they are going to start coming don't show up. I feel we are missing something big time. We rejoice over the kids who make a commitment but we would love to nurture them more and reach out to their families as well.There should be some ways we can keep the connection that begins at VBS and have it grow. If you can shed some light and share what has worked and not worked for your church I would appreciate it. We are a mid size community of about 60,000 with our church of about 600 people. Many blessings, Jan
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2) Noah's Ark Crafts
Kathy,
You may wish to go to http://mssscrafts.com/oldtestament/noah.htm to get wonderful ideas for crafts and food based on Noah's Ark. I also have a lesson plan that incorporates object lessons, food, and crafts. Many of the ideas came from the link above. However, there are some additional ideas in my lesson plan. If you would like a copy of this lesson plan, please e-mail me at cmgordon@midamerican.com.
I hope these links work for you. I found several Noah's Ark craft sites. Our church had a carnival day at the end of VBS last year. I drew a Noah's ark by hand and we mounted it to wood cut to match it's shape and used a hole saw to make 6" holes in it here and there. We used bean bags to toss through the holes and gave out prizes. My original idea was to use beanie babies and the object was to load the animals on the ark, two by two, but time ran out on collecting the animals for last year. We also used a child's wading pool filled with sand and buried plastic animals in the sand for archaological purposes. lol
Good luck and God's blessings to you, Anita
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4) Country Songs
Two years ago, we had a new choir leader come in. The youth in our church, even the tiny ones, wanted to be in the choir too. Our choir leader used youth night for choir practice for 3 different age groups. The kids learned the traditional songs in the songbook, but also learned mainstream christian songs and even country songs with a christian theme. We have a singing once a month during evening service on Sundays. The youth choirs performed for the church and their families to show what they had learned. They particularly liked to sing "Long Black Train" and "Don't Laugh at Me". Kenny Chesney has a great duet with Randy Travis called "Baptism" that is a wonderful song. You can usually find these songs on accompaniment tracks in your local christian bookstore and they can also be found on Ebay sometimes from someone who is thinning out their collection. Good luck and God's blessings to you, Anita
Does anyone have the recipe to make resurrection rocks? I've seen them made. They use coffee grounds and other ingredients. Something is put in the center and they are baked at a low heat. When done you break it open just as the seal on the tomb was broken. Thanks Blessings Ann Salyer
In the back of a teacher training manual I created in 2005, I have a list of websites that have game ideas. Also in that same section of the manual are some descriptions of games that you could use. If you would like a copy of this manual please feel free to e-mail me at cmgordon@midamerican.com. I would be glad to send it to you via e-mail free of charge. You may also wish to check out http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/gameboard.htm#makeyourown for free game boards that can be downloaded.
Sincerely, Connie G.
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7) Teaching communion
>I teach Chiildren's Church, age 3 to 10 and annually do a lesson on >Communion. Any ideas on how to teach small children
We have used the communion cup (we use small, clear, plastic cups) to make grape clusters. Have children dip the rim or bottom of cup in green or purple paint. Start with four or five "grapes" at the top and finish with one at the bottom. The result will be your grape cluster (it may look like an upside down triangle!) After have children or teacher make the stem using a paintbrush or finger with green paint. It's a fun hands on activity. We used this activity with our 2 and 3 year olds and they loved it!
Serving Him, Tami in Turlock, CA
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8) Midweek Ideas?
We have tried several things for our children during midweek services and have had little success with the 3 to 5 year old sessions. Ideas used were Mission Friends, Choir, and letting volunteers pick their own agenda. What has happened is a loosely coordinated play-time. I have no problem with play, I just think it should teach something that God would want them to learn.If you have used a particular curriculum, or have ideas about creating our own..please share. With little help from volunteers on Wed. nights (God bless them, they work diligently other times), I will need to do this myself, and since I work, teach the toddlers SS class, and help with Awanas..I don't have a lot to time to prepare. Thanks & God Bless, Mary
--from SSTN: All of our hands-on Bible lessons have been piloted in multiage, midweek classes: http://www.sundayschoolnetwork.com/curriculum.html
For a younger-aged group I highly recommend the Pray & Play series in our bookstore: http://www.sundayschoolnetwork.com/bookstore.html
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9) Owl and moose craft idea
I homeschooled. When my children were little we studied owls...we made an owl by taking apart pine cones (dried); turned the pieces upside down and placed them (using Elmer's Glue) like shingles on a house to cover a pre-drawn shape of an owl...we used orange felt for nose and claws; Large wiggle eyes (glue guns would probably work much better these days). Scripture was placed on a twig which we wrapped the claws around and string was added at the top so it could hang on the wall......my children are now married...I still have these owls hanging on the wall....Scripture used was (KJV) 2 Timothy 3:15 "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus"
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10) Policy and Procedure guide?
Our Preschool Committee is update our Policy and Procedure guide. I would appreciate input from others who have been through this process already in their churches. I don’t want to reinvent the wheel! Can anyone out there help me?
Gayle Young Children's Minister First Baptist Church
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