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.