Things I've Learned from VBS
by Suzanne Hadley on 06/30/2008 at 8:42 AM
Thank you to everyone who commented on my post about VBS and shared their experiences. I had a wonderful, tiring, exhilarating, messy, blessed week. I've compiled a list of the top seven things I've learned from VBS:
- When conducting a hula outfit making competition, do not divide teams into boys and girls. Boys will immediately use crepe paper to create a mummy and then spin him until he falls down.
- Rewards work. Throughout the week, my kids earned beads by reciting memory verses and completing acts of service. Today they could redeem the beads for prizes. Almost every child in class learned all five verses for the week. God offers us rewards; we shouldn't hesitate to reward others.
- A little bit of kindness goes a long way.
- Sixth graders aren't too old for stickers.
- Example is the most powerful motivator.
- A sixth grade boy can eat five donuts in one sitting.
- Sometimes a troublemaker just needs a mission.
But the best VBS moment happened yesterday after Sunday school. One of my sixth-grade boys approached me. "I accepted Jesus last night!" he said with a big smile. Sure, it didn't happen at VBS, but I know the Holy Spirit used those messages in this boy's life. Today the angels and I are rejoicing for one sinner who has repented and become part of God's family.
1. Adam T. said the following at 9:29 AM on Jun 30
Boys will immediately use crepe paper to create a mummy and then spin him until he falls down.
That sounds awesome!
2. trying to stay balanced said the following at 9:31 AM on Jun 30
It is always nice to have a positive influence on the life of young people. Thanks for sharing this blessing.
3. Elizabeth said the following at 10:16 AM on Jun 30
What an encouraging post! I miss the days of VBS.
4. Elisabeth said the following at 10:21 AM on Jun 30
When kids accept Jesus, it makes all the rest of it worth it. I'm so happy for him and for you. That's what it's all about.
5. DannieA said the following at 12:39 PM on Jun 30
I love the differences between boys and girls. That was great!
6. Suzanne said the following at 1:09 PM on Jun 30
Spoken like a true boy, Adam. :)
7. Sylvia said the following at 2:42 PM on Jun 30
I love VBS. And, indeed, rewards work, and are SO much fun, even for sixth graders! A lot of times there are kids who do well in school but never get rewards because the teachers assume, they don't "need" them. These kids are mightily blessed.
One thing a I want to bring up though, is that I really don't like the practice of giving kids rewards for bringing their friends. I know we really want them to reach out, but it can be really heartbreaking to a kid who thinks he has friends who care about him to learn that his "friends" are using him to get a little toy or a bit of candy.
I would beg any of you involved in VBS to avoid this awful practice. I think a simple enthusiastic "Thank you for bringing Stanley today!" would be a bigger blessing for both the inviter and the invitee.
8. Sheri said the following at 1:15 AM on Jul 1
I helped out with VBS and it was pretty awesome. I learned some pretty great stuff too! Here's my top 5 favorite lessons:
1. Use tall styrofoam cups for the koolaide if you don't want it spilled all over the place.
2. With a mad scientist theme, frizzy hair can become a trend overnight.
3. Tying craft foam glasses onto a little girl's head using yarn found in an unused Sunday school room can make you that little girl's hero (not to mention make all of the other leaders think your a genious. :) )
4. Kids are incapable of holding still in competitive racing games regardless of the nature of the game. We played a game in which the kids formed a line and had to "high 5" every team mate in line while running to the end of the line. The next person in line would do the same and the kids raised to the end of the church lawn this way. The problem was that the kids wouldn't wait their turns and ended up running in circles. As their group leader, it was funny but frustrating at the same time!
5. I was just amazed by how quickly the whole sanctuary filled with kids who knew every song and motion to it by the end of the week.
Those kids have such an awesome heart for God. It was truly amazing, and by the end of VBS I didn't even feel silly worshiping God in the silly VBS way anymore.
I loved VBS as a kid, and probably always will. It's so much fun.
I also have to say that I totally agree with you, Sylvia. When I was in VBS, I always felt hurt when they rewarded all of the other kids who brought friends. I was a home schooled church-goer, so all of my friends were already there. I had no one to invite.
9. Priscilla said the following at 5:54 AM on Jul 1
Suzanne said: A sixth grade boy can eat five donuts in one sitting.
I say: Only five?!
Seriously, though, it's also amazing the kind of friends you make at VBS.
My church when I was growing up was one of those small congregations too small to run a VBS, so several of us kids attended VBS at a larger church around the corner. We made the kind of friends you can only make in two weeks of intense fun, growing together in Christ, crying, laughing, fighting, making up, making messy crafts, learning funny songs, practising weird skits, drinking gallons of lemonade, stuffing as many samosas and biscuits as possible and watching the boys stuff in even more, dunking each other in the Indian Ocean at the VBS picnic...you get the idea.
The point was, we only met those two weeks every year, but year after year, we built a friendship.
It's now over a decade since my VBS days, but I keep bumping into VBS friends -- at evangelistic concerts and on the mission field (it's amazing how many of them will trace their commitment to serve God back to their VBS days), at prayer meetings and church programmes (offering silent, unnoticed essential service), at work (it's so good to spot a fellow Christian at a secular professional event), at weddings (several of them married each other, so it even worked as a matchmaking service!).
Thank God for VBS.
10. Suzanne said the following at 9:27 AM on Jul 1
Priscilla. That's so encouraging!
11. Jo said the following at 3:18 PM on Jul 1
Number 7 is so true!
Years ago I was at a Christian camp thing and one of the leaders had her young mischievous son with her, who was running around irritating pretty much everybody... So my friends and I gave him the starring role in a silly drama sketch we practised and performed for the rest of the group, and he was as good as gold.
He's like 17 now, which makes me feel quite old...
12. nikki said the following at 11:43 PM on Jul 1
i haven't been able to to VBS for a couple years because of summer classes or full time work. but one thing that really sticks out to me about the way my church does it is that when the kids earn their "beads" (i don't know if they get little paper money or tickets or what), they can redeem them not for prizes for themselves, but for things to give to the city mission (christian run) here in our city. actually, our church buys the stuff for the mission anyways, and it all goes there no matter how many tickets the kids earn. :) but everything is set out on tables and "prices" are assigned and the kids learn a very valuable lesson in selflessness and helping others instead of working for your own good. thanks for the posts about VBS, and may God continue to encourage you in your work. (1 Cor 15:58)
13. Leah said the following at 10:09 PM on Jul 5
Sylvia- at our primary school youth group, after much careful thought and deliberation, have recently BROUGHT IN the practice of rewarding children for bringing friends. However, we reward both child and friend- we give them both a chocolate frog, as a "welcome gift" to the friend, and as a "thanks for inviting your friend" to the old-timer. We spent a lot of time discussing how to make sure kids don't start bringing friends JUST for the chocolate, and how they should be doing it out of a desire to see their friends know Jesus, and so far it seems to be working well. It's not like we've had a sudden massive influx of kids bringing friends and then demanding their chocolate- the few kids who have brought friends have gotten a chocolate, and so has their friend. None of the friends has made any suggestion that they felt they were invited just so the other kid could get a chocolate.
Just as an aside: Sheri's comment on being a homeschooled-church goer is my problem with homeschooling. Parents who homeschool their children should go out of their way to make sure their children have non-Christian friends: especially to invite to things like VBS!
14. Megan said the following at 8:53 AM on Jul 6
sixth grade is not too old for stickers?? I remember how excited we always were to get stickers...in second year of college (how many stickers did you get on your test!?)