So, you’ve been given the significant task of planning and overseeing this year’s Vacation Bible School? By now you have considered your overall objective (if you still need a little help with this, read VBS: 10 Things That Vacation Bible School Is, and Is Not) and you are exploring possible themes, looking into curriculum, discussing budget, and rolling it all into a master checklist. With a head full of ideas and a blank page in front of you, the overwhelming task is not made any easier by the plethora of fragmented resources thrown your way. But be of good cheer! SharefaithKids offers 52 lessons complete with videos, slideshows, and activities to choose from that can easily be converted to a complete VBS experience. Top that off with the ease in which you can present video and slideshows on any popular multimedia device, and your planning just got a little easier! Simply pick a theme or series of common themes and you have a week of fun and interactive Bible learning your VBS Kids won’t soon forget!
Using SharefaithKids for Your Vacation Bible School
In order to show how SharefaithKids can provide more than enough material to make an exciting week of fun-filled learning for you and your VBS kids, I have pulled together an overall theme for the week and a step-by-step plan to cover one day in the life of your VBS event.
Theme of the week: Miracles of Jesus
Daily topics:
Day 1: Miracle of Healing: Power over Sickness and Sin
Day 2: Miracle of Calming the Storm: Power over Nature
Day 3: Miracle of Feeding the 5,000: Power over Nature
Day 4: Miracle of raising Lazarus from the Dead: Power Over Death
Day 5: Miracle of the Resurrection: Power over Sin, Nature, Death, and Satan’s Curse
Plan for Day 3: Miracle of Feeding the 5,000: Power Over Nature
9:00 to 9:30 am: Welcome and Worship
- Arrive early to greet the children. If you have high attendance, this would be the time to divide them into smaller groups. Have the helpers sit and talk to the kids until the day begins.
- Sing songs:
“My God is So Great!” by Arranger Charlotte Larsen (1992).
“I Will Sing of the Mercies of the Lord Forever” by Robert J. Powell and Marie J. Post.
9:30 to 10:00 AM: Lesson and Video
- Introduce the lesson with a discussion on miracles:
Miracles are so amazing and awesome that they cannot be explained. Take this bottle of water (demonstrate); can any of you turn it into wine or grape juice? If someone dies, can you bring them back to life? These are supernatural things that Jesus did because He had the authority and power to do them.
- Play SharefaithKids Video: “Feeding the 5000”:
In this SharefaithKids Sunday School lesson, we learn about the miracle of the fish and bread, also known as “Jesus feeding 5,000”. Learn how God took 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and multiplied them miraculously to feed 5,000 people. After everyone was full there were even 12 baskets of leftovers!
- Review the highlights of the lesson:
Jesus is tired from a long day of teaching to the crowds and revealing kingdom mysteries to the handful who would listen. Upon hearing about the beheading of John the Baptist he takes a boat to get away, but the crowds of people follow Him on foot. Jesus is so filled with compassion that he refers to them as sheep without a shepherd—people lost with no direction. He continues to serve and minister by teaching them and healing those who are sick. In the miracle of feeding the 5,000, Jesus continues to prove Himself as the Savior of the world and as God; He displays power over nature by miraculously multiplying a young boy’s small lunch to feed thousands of people, and He shows selfless compassion by addressing the needs of the crowds over His own.
10:00 to 10:30 AM: Loaves and Fishes Craft
- Simply refer to the Lesson Content in SharefaithKids for some great arts and crafts ideas. For the sake of this example I am going to choose the “Loaves and Fishes Necklace”:
Prepare string (for necklaces), dry pasta (such as ziti), and paper fish cutouts. Have children each color and decorate 2 fish, then string them along with 5 pieces of pasta on the string and tie to form a necklace. The five pieces of pasta and two fish will remind them of the loaves and fishes that Jesus made into a meal for thousands of people.
10:30 to 11:00 AM: Snack time and bathroom break.
Snacks don’t have to be thematic but it would be fun if they are. You may want to serve up a couple gummy fish and saltine or graham crackers. Otherwise just go with what the volunteers bring in. At the end of the day, kids just want a snack!
11:00 to 11:30 AM: Activity time.
Refer to the Lesson Content in SharefaithKids for activity options. For this sample plan, I have chosen the activity “Blow Pop”:
Jesus created something from nothing. We can imitate our Creator by being creative, but we cannot make something from nothing. When we blow up balloons, however, we create more space out of a little space. Divide the class into two teams, and give each team a bag of balloons. Have the teams compete to see which team can blow up the balloons in the least amount of time. They must also tape the balloons to the wall. Appoint one team to each wall. Then, when they have finished, have them line up along their respective balloon wall. On “go” they must run to the opposing team’s wall and pop the balloons as fast as possible. The team that pops all the balloons first wins. Finally, for round three, they must pick up all the burst balloons and place them into a wastebasket. The team that completes clean-up first, wins.
11:30 – 12:00 AM: Review and Application
- Through miracles, such as feeding the 5,000, Jesus proved Himself as the Savior of the world, and as God. He can not only satisfy our hunger, he can meet our every spiritual need. We serve a great God for whom nothing is impossible.
- Jesus displayed power over nature by miraculously multiplying a young boy’s small lunch to feed thousands of people. He is not limited by our imaginations, our knowledge, or our abilities. He can do anything!
- He showed selfless compassion by addressing the needs of the crowds over His own needs. Seek out ways to show mercy and love to the hurting and sick among you, just like Jesus did.