What Worked:
- Wade as Emcee. Once again, Wade brought his unique brand of good-natured leadership to the VBS assembly. He gets the kids excited and does a good job of reminding them why they are there-to learn about Jesus. I love the science experiments, too, if only to see him sweat whether it will really work or not.
- The costumed mascot. This year Linda did a great job as Cammi. The costume was great, thanks to Glenna and her little band of sewing elves! I'll get to the drawbacks down below.
- The Music. Anyone with a kid who was at VBS can attest that this music got in their kids' head and hearts. I would rather hear Katelyn sing, "I will be real like Jesus," than "Fruit Salad, Yummy, Yummy" any day! What a powerful tool.
- Decorations. This was a hard theme to decorate for-especially the assembly area. Anne and Kelli and their helpers did a great job transforming the stage each night, and I was really impressed at how much they were able to use things we alread owned. Jennifer's registration booth area was truly impressive. Joanna, Jen K, and Tracy did a great job of transforming the hallway, and Beri came through with her own awesome travel posters when none were forthcoming from travel agents. It's always gratifying to hear the kids breathe, "Whoooaaaaa!" when they walk in the door!
- Toddler Class. I know there were some glitches to work out, but overall I was excited to have something to offer our younger members. Most of them truly enjoyed VBS (most of the time) and not traveling from place to place seemed to help keep them settled.
- The Volunteers. A big thank you to EVERYONE who helped. Even people who don't get as excited about VBS as I do came to worknights and made a big contribution of time, energy and creativity. Hats off to the people who really made VBS work!
- Adult Bible Study. Finally, all those people milling around were able to get some study time for themselves! I think this was a great addition.
- Mission Project. Making the blankets was not as easy as we thought it might be, but I think it's important to teach our children to do things for others around the world that might not be as fortunate as we are.
Room for Improvement:
- Communication. I learned the hard way that timely, informative communication is really important, but not really easy. I don't know why it was so hard for me to send an email to Kelly for a bulletin announcement, but it was. I also need to learn how to communicate my point concisely but accurately. Apparently, some of my announcements were confusing to those who had not been at the original planning meetings. I need to get the "vision" across early to all my volunteers.
- The Costume. There has to be a way to get a fabulous costume without breaking the bank or Glenna! I'm thinking of partnering with my parents' (much bigger budgeted) church next year to share some expenses/workload.
- The Storyteller Room. For some reason, people in Bible Times costumes with a spotlight shining on them are terrifying to toddlers and preschoolers. I also got frustrated with the fact that there was more focus on the travel theme than the Bible Story theme. Crafts and Snacks centers did a great job of trying to review/preview the bible story and make a connection there, but I felt that the kids remembered more about the skits/puppet shows than the bible story. Someone suggested having the Bible Story skit during the assembly so that person only has to do it once and maybe it won't be so "up-close-and-personal" to the little ones. Then we could have a center that reviews and applies the bible story for each age group. The skits from opening assembly could also be done here, since they are not terribly long. This bears some further thought.
- The Music. I want to have a music center next time, perhaps in conjunction with the game center. Dancing/choreography could burn off energy and still give them a chance to learn even more songs.
- The Skits. Anne and Jon did a fabulous job and the kids totally loved "Emma and Nathan". However, why does the girl always have to be the ditzy one? And why can't they talk about the bible story? I tink there's room to revise the skits given and make them truly awesome!
- The Toddler Class. As mentioned, there are some glitches. Too many kids in a small room, for one. The crafts should have been modified or even changed completely for that class. Next year, it's entirely possible that we may have enough kids for a 2's class and a 3's class. I think that would help a lot. The fact of the matter is, though, that's a tough time of day for that age kids, especially if they've been away from mom and dad most of the day already. The other fact is, their little souls are important and impressionable, too. Not to mention that their parents are very involved in VBS. I think they are an important age group to reach with the message of Christ. They are never to young to brainwash, er, teach. ;)
- Planning. I think we wasted a lot of valuable planning time this year by making a committee decision on what curriculum to buy. Next year, I think Co-Directors should pick and have a first meeting to show off the theme and start planning right away. I also think this meeting should be in February or March at the latest.
- Job Descriptions. Apparently, some people didn't know exactly what they were getting in to when they signed up for their jobs. Last year we printed an insert for the bulletin outlining what all the jobs were. I think we should definitely do that again.
That's my $0.02! Please feel free to share your thoughts, too.
