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.
6 comments:
Amen, sista. :-) I agreed with everything you said, but of course we've talked about almost all of that during nap time or play time at the mall.
The toddler class was the place I saw that needed improvement, but saying that, I mean improvement not getting rid of it.
I like the idea of the Bible character on the stage and the skits in the review and application rotation. Also, songs do need more time somewhere.
I know this calls for a lot, but perhaps a meeting were all people teaching the lesson (crafts, food, story teller, actors, game leader, and songs) could reflect and tell about the lesson in their center for each night would help us be more together as a teaching unit instead of all doing our separate things. I always tried to talk about the story the kids had seen when I gave the little devo in the crafts room even though that wasn't written in the craft book (the character reference).
Adult Bible study was awesome! I can't totally describe how uplifting it was to walk into the auditorium to drop off crafts and see all those adults (members and visitors) in the Bible and sharing with each other. I think it was great and good way to draw in visitors. If only we could keep up the large group the whole time...it seemed to dwindle down.
I'm done. Good job as coordinator this year. I'd be happy to run decorations again next year, but crafts and decorations is too much. (Anyone reading this...head's up to that!) Love you! :-)
I thought VBS went very well. Shout out to phylemon for covering my post Wednesday night.
It would be nice to focus more on the bible story for the night. And I'm for anything that tones down the "wild child" aspect, which constantly plagues our church gatherings.
I'd also vote for a fan for the Food Court workers if they continue to be outside.
I also think recycling the chameleon every year would help save money. Just rewrite a few scripts here and there. I also think there is enough talent to write our own VBS, just not enough time. Though I wish we could have a sasquatch mascot one year. But that may be less about VBS, and more about my foundness for sasquatch humor.
While I think a Sasquatch mascot would ALSO scare the little ones, Randy makes an excellent point about recycling the costume. It could be done for lots of different themes... not an Arctic one (which I understand is out there), but if possible, that would be great.
I also admire the adult Bible study that did go on. I did not take the opportunity to peek in, but I am sure good work was done there. I think maybe next year we need to have adult Bible study followed by adult fellowship, but not both at the same time. I think the efforts of one are watered down by the other. It is my impression that any non-church-going parent who would be uncomfortable sticking around for a Bible study is generally one who would just be dropping their kid off, anyway, so I do not think we would be taking away something vital by saving the fellowship for after the study.
I agree that a music/games station would be a GREAT addition! If they could be combined, that would work better in our current space, but separate stations would be better. Last year we tried for a few nights to combine music and crafts. Did not work so well simply because time at stations is necessarily short, but a combo with games would be more natural. I would be interested to hear from the tour guides and station managers about the time constraints - are we spending too much or too little time at some stations? Could the kids handle a 5 or 6 station rotation and the added time it would mean? If we did that, what would that do to our younger viewers, so to speak? Could the 2's and 3's hang for that long?
Also, get ready for the enormous sound of a big can of worms being opened, how does the congregation feel about moving VBS to a daytime slot?
Just some food for thought. Thanks for the kudos on the registration booth - I had fun and would do it again! :)
I like the concept of daytime VBS, but I worry that you would lose several volunteers who have to work.
I was only there for the first day of VBS, but I thought I would share my thoughts based on that day:
1) The planners and volunteers did an amazing job getting the place ready.
2) While a potluck during VBS wasn't such a great idea, it was worth it to eat one of those tasty chicken salad sandwiches.
3) On the mascot - I seem to remember going to VBS where the mascot was the same every summer. I believe it was called The Lollipop Dragon. She sang some songs, gave us lollipops, and skipped away. The VBS people always made a big deal about when she would come. It must have worked, because we always looked forward to the Lollipop Dragon. All that to say, I think hanging on to Cammi would be a cost-effective idea, and you can probably make it a big deal to the kids.
Keeper - while the Sasquatch mascot would provide a significant opportunity for humor, I think a more humorous option (with a potential spiritual application!) would be Magilla Gorilla.
OK, I know it's been a while since this comment was made, but I am curious about the potential spiritual application of Magilla Gorilla...?
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