The theme for this year’s Vacation Bible School was The Jerusalem Marketplace. The gym, chapel, c...
The theme for this year’s Vacation Bible School was The Jerusalem Marketplace. The gym, chapel, classrooms, and courtyard were decorated to give the children an idea of what kinds of shops and activities could have been part of Jesus’ life in Jerusalem and nearby areas. The kids were able to dress in first century clothing, walk through the marketplace shops, stop to hear about the importance of bread and spices, make a musical instrument, stomp in mud and straw to make bricks, weave a basket, make jewelry, go to the synagogue, see live animals, watch a fisherman repair his net, seeing how to make a rope, make a seal, embroidery, make sandals, meet with the scribes, engrave, see a stone cutter and even more. Some tasted food that would be common for people in that part of the world to eat. But more important than the visualizing and experiencing of what Jerusalem was like in Bible times was that the children heard the stories of Jesus every day. All week long I have thought about how much Vacation Bible School is similar to the early church. * Much prayer and preparation went into the details of the experience. * The children and teachers were eager to meet together each day. * Children came and invited their friends to come with them. * Every day the children heard stories about Jesus and His love for them. Some chose to ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. * They shared life experiences together. * As parents met their children afterwards, they excitedly shared what they had done and heard that day. * Like the early church, the children and adults collected money to buy and send materials to orphans in another country so they too can hear the stories about Jesus and His love and purpose for their lives. In these coming days, may we also remember, learn, and put into practice the lessons from the early church and Vacation Bible School, even if it means getting our feet dirty. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 1:42-47 (Thanks to Kimberly McClain, Laura Rogers, and Larry for the pictures.)
The theme for this year’s Vacation Bible School was The Jerusalem Marketplace. The gym, chapel, c...
I thought I would share how we decorated our marketplace and "family homes" for Egypt VBS in 2010 and in 2016. We did not do all the marketplace crafts--I'm just including the official crafts for now (we did several alternatives as well...and I'm going to do separate posts for these). The Scribe Shop (Hieroglyphics) Reed mats just add something to table decor. I've seen unlined bamboo mats like these for $1 at the Dollar Store or Walmart. Party stores may have these too. The Food Market The food itself is most of the decor for this shop. A few modern bowls don't detract too much if combined with some baskets. Brickmaking Shop This was my shop during the marketplace. I have more pictures and marketplace tips for brickmaking here. The Basketry Shop Click on either of the pictures above to see them larger. In 2016 we tried out a Basketry shop. This would be the 6th time we had done a Holy Land themed VBS, and so we had collected a lot of baskets (and I believe the shop keeper brought some from home too). So, we were able to make a pretty spectacular basket display around the edges of our basket making shop. In the back, the stone is just part of our church. We used a cheap bamboo fence we got several years back at a party story to cover the window. Sheets we collected from hotels for costumes when we did Rome covered the sides. It really set a wonderful atmosphere. Animal Market Our Animal market took NO decoration. The lovely people who brought the animals from a local farm just let them graze freely in our church's grassy yard. The kids ran around with baby goats (kids playing with kids...and both seeming to have a blast). It was vastly different from having them in a cage for kids to visit. There were some chickens in a cage...and the donkey was supervised more for the kids safety, but in general it was more natural than your typical petting zoo. Both the animals and kids seemed more relaxed. We did NOT have this during our regular marketplace, but replaced one day's games with "visiting herders." We brought the kids in small groups so as to better supervise . Other Shops We did several other alternative shops as well (not from Group's material) . I'll be blogging about these at some point.
Michelle Barrera let me use lots great pictures of how her church, Teaching Word Faith Center (Fort Worth, TX) decorated for Athens VBS seve...
Hello everyone! I hope your weekend is off to a good start. We have been really busy around here this past week working with the VBS program at my church. I'm sorry to say that this week I did not meet my challenge of a new layout per week. But, I do have some pictures to share that will help explain why I have no layout for this week! My hubby, a good friend and myself have spent the last few months working on the set for this year's VBS program....Hometown Nazareth. We worked with 4 foot by 8 foot sheets of foam insulation and carved about a gazillion stones to build our set.... Our program kicked off on Sunday the 4th and ran through this Thursday. We had games, crafts, Bible lessons, snacks and a music class each night from 6:00 until about 8:30. You can see why there was not much crafting done at my house this past week! The kids had a great time and it was worth all the work just to see the smiles on their faces! I wish I could post pictures of some of the events, but they all have shots of the children and I don't want to post photos without permission from parents. It was a great week and I look forward to working on the set for next year (which we will begin in February)! And now it's time to get back to work in my craft corner! My first post with Pink By Design will be this Sunday. I will have a sneak peek for you here, so please stop by and tell me what you think! In the meantime, I'm gonna get busy on that layout! Until next time, Tanya
Hello everyone! I hope your weekend is off to a good start. We have been really busy around here this past week working with the VBS program at my church. I'm sorry to say that this week I did not meet my challenge of a new layout per week. But, I do have some pictures to share that will help explain why I have no layout for this week! My hubby, a good friend and myself have spent the last few months working on the set for this year's VBS program....Hometown Nazareth. We worked with 4 foot by 8 foot sheets of foam insulation and carved about a gazillion stones to build our set.... Our program kicked off on Sunday the 4th and ran through this Thursday. We had games, crafts, Bible lessons, snacks and a music class each night from 6:00 until about 8:30. You can see why there was not much crafting done at my house this past week! The kids had a great time and it was worth all the work just to see the smiles on their faces! I wish I could post pictures of some of the events, but they all have shots of the children and I don't want to post photos without permission from parents. It was a great week and I look forward to working on the set for next year (which we will begin in February)! And now it's time to get back to work in my craft corner! My first post with Pink By Design will be this Sunday. I will have a sneak peek for you here, so please stop by and tell me what you think! In the meantime, I'm gonna get busy on that layout! Until next time, Tanya
Last week, our little family had a special sort of "vacation"... It was time for our Vacation Bible School and Justin decided to take the...
Foam Board Rock Wall by Brian McGuire from Parkview Baptist Church in Monroe, LA. To make a rock wall like the one pictured you ...
I get the opportunity to teach you how to make a fake palm tree. I was asked to decorate for our Vacation Bible School, which was to be set in Athens. Therefore, part of the set design was to be palm trees. Luckily, our MOPS group had already made some palm trees for their Hawaiian...Read More
