Choosing Teams Creatively

Here are a few creative ways to let your students choose teams or partners so nobody is left out or chosen last.

1. Use a deck of children's playing cards such as GO FISH or OLD MAID. Hand out a card to each student and have them pair up with the person who has a matching card.
2. Cut several cereal box fronts into four or five large puzzle pieces. Hand one piece to each child. The children with the interlocking pieces are on the same team. Have a race to see which team can complete its puzzle first.
3. Group students according to birth months. If you have a smaller group of students, have January through June form one team and July through December form the other.
4. Ask students to hold one hand behind their backs with 1-4 fingers pointing out. Group students in odd or even groups or group by numbers if you need four groups.
5. Line up students alphabetically and split the line into equal groups. Vary lining up by first, last, and middle names.
6. Give each child a piece of hard candy (red, purples, yellow, green, etc.) to eat. Have the children stick out their tongues to form groups of similar colors.

Main Street VBS: Prodigal Son Craft

Let your students make a story wheel to help them remember the story of the Prodigal Son from Day 4 of Inside Out and Upside Down on Main Street VBS. Bring a dinner-size paper plate and a paper fastener for each child and copy the pattern page below. Provide scissors, crayons or markers, and glue. Talk about the story of the Prodigal Son to help the children review the story events.

Have the children cut out the word strips, the arrow and the story circle. Let them glue the story circle in the middle of the paper plate and glue the corresponding word strip next to each picture. Let older children help younger ones read the word strips and match them to the pictures. Punch a hole in the arrow as indicated. Poke a hole in the middle of the paper plate. Help each child add the arrow to the plate with the paper fastener.

Talk about the events in the Bible story as the children move their arrows to the appropriate picture. Then say the memory verse together a few times.

Click on the image below to download the craft pattern for just $3.99. Then make as many copies as you need for your students.

Click on the image above to download the craft.

VBS Appreciation Idea & Thank-You Note

Print this thank-you card to let your VBS volunteers know they are appreciated. Feel free to replace the star with your own VBS logo. Then copy or print the page for every two workers and cut the page in half. Fold each card in half and add a personal note or VBS memory inside.

For an inexpensive gift, purchase an All-Stars for Jesus water bottle for each of your volunteers. Place a plastic bag of chocolate hugs or jellybeans or a single-serving sports drink mix inside. Twist the lid back on. Punch a hole in the card and slip a ribbon through the hole. Tie the ribbon around the water bottle. Give a bottle to each of your workers on the last day of VBS (or midweek so they can use the water bottle during VBS). Explain that you appreciated the way the volunteers helped the children feel like stars in Jesus' eyes. Then present a bottle to each worker.

Click on the image above to download the card.

VBS Clearance Sale This Week

We're clearing out our warehouse and you'll save 30%-50% on leftover VBS items this week. Hurry! Quantities are extremely limited. We have Pandamania Memory Buddies, Bamboo Border Trim, Pal's Bible Play Pack, Gold Rush Super Starter Kits,   MegaSports Go the Distance Water Bottles with Gospel Balls, SonSurf Magnets, High Seas Outdoor Banners, and lots more!

These items will sell out quickly so don't miss the chance to save big. As our blog readers, we're giving you advance notice of the sale. For you, it begins today. Visit our VBS Sale now.

VBS Follow-Up Program: All-Stars for Jesus

Winding down your VBS program? Looking for a way to invite those same children back to your church for another exciting event? Take a look at All-Stars for Jesus Bible Clubs. There's a Bible club program for children from age two through grade six. Plus, Christian Ed. Publishers has downloadable programs for middle school and high school with the reproducible Bible Basics and Christian Basics curriculum.

God loves his children. He commanded parents to "train up a child in the way he should go" (Proverbs 22:6). We want each child to know that he or she is a star in Jesus' eyes, no matter what the child's skills and abilities are. Jesus loves children just as they are. Share that love with the children in your community. Begin a Bible club program at your church or in your neighborhood. It's easy to get started.

All-Stars for Jesus Bible Clubs are designed to help churches and parents teach children to know God, to believe in Jesus as their Savior, and to live for Him. All-Stars for Jesus Bible Clubs help children to feel loved and accepted so they, in turn, can share the love of Jesus with their friends and families. Researchers say that 43% of people who are Christians accepted Christ as Savior before the age of 13! We want to help you reach that 43%...and more!

Bible clubs also offer a non-threatening place for children who might never attend a regular church service or Sunday school class to learn about Jesus in a fun, casual atmosphere. In a whole where children are exposed to a variety of bad influences coming from all directions, All-Stars for Jesus Bible Clubs are places of love and encouragement, where kids can safely learn how to say no to those bad influences and learn how to live a victorious life in Christ!

So...what exactly IS All-Stars for Jesus?

All-Stars for Jesus provides everything you need for an exciting ministry to children!

All-Stars for Jesus is:

• A multi-use Bible curriculum in a fun club environment for age 2 through grade 6, with an optional awards program.
• A program that provides solid Bible teaching in a fun and interesting way for kids—one that directs them to know and follow Jesus.
• Curriculum that is easy to teach and includes helpful options for teachers, giving you maximum flexibility.
• Age appropriate memory verses to help children hide God's Word in their hearts.
• Bible- and curriculum-based, rather than activity-based. Each part of the lesson focuses on God, Jesus, and God's Word.
• Age appropriate and fun for kids of all ages.
• Bible-centered—every activity helps kids focus on God's Word and begin to share what they learn with others.
• A way to help churches reach the children and families in their communities for Christ.

The All-Stars for Jesus Bible Club program is designed to lead children from age two through sixth grade to a personal faith in Jesus, to teach them about God's love and care, to encourage them to grow spiritually, and to give them a solid biblical foundation for their lives.

All-Stars for Jesus partners with churches to extend their outreach from just Sunday school to mid-week, Sunday evening, or other times children can gather to learn about Jesus. All-Stars meetings are fun, less formal time with a variety of interesting and fun activities to direct the child's attention to God's Word. The optional awards program offers a further way to extend the Bible learning into the home.

What unique features does All-Stars for Jesus have?

Each All-Stars for Jesus age-level Flex-lesson Leader's Guide has everything you need for two meetings a week—to use for Sunday morning and mid-week, Sunday evening and after-school Bible club, or whenever great Bible lessons are needed. Or, you have extra options for one meeting a week!

• Easy-Trac meeting plans direct the leader step-by-step through each weekly program, and let you see at a glance which activities and materials to use.
• The optional awards program provides more opportunities for kids to learn about Jesus by completing Bible learning activities in their award books at home. When each activity is completed, children earn colorful awards to place on a cap or pennant. Plus, each child could have ALL first-year awards for as low as 82 cents per week!
• All-Stars for Jesus offers not only five age-level programs for children age 2 through grade 6, but also the All-Stars Explorers program for combined grades 1 through 6 in one classroom and the Preschool All-in-One Kit for combined ages 2-5 plus reproducible activity sheets.
• There are no membership fees, dues, or doctrinal requirements—just fun, Bible-based, solid Christian learning.
• The All-Stars Promo Kits (included with your Starter Kits) offer great resources to promote your clubs: promotional posters, clip art, fundraising ideas, and club kickoff plans!
• All-Stars for Jesus offers lots of colorful "fun stuff" as gifts, awards, and promotions.
• All-Stars for Jesus is an affordable program. The Flex-Lesson Leader's Guide provides two lessons a week!
• Christian Ed Warehouse offers Standing Orders on All-Stars for Jesus quarterly curriculum so you don't even have to remember to order! Plus, Standing Orders receive FREE shipping on their orders over $150.
• There is no requirement that you use all available materials—just choose the options that will work best with your group and your finances.

Does all this sound like something you would like for your church? Visit eChurchDepot.com and order your Starter Kits for a 60-day risk-free review! Or download FREE samples of each age level before you purchase the kits. Use Coupon Code ASFJ10 to save $10 on each age level Starter Kit. May God bless you as you lead children and their families to a personal relationship with Jesus.