Preparing for Harvest

Use harvest season decorations to give your church a new, inviting look for fall. Add borders such as this Autumn in Clay Border around doorways and windows as well for traditional bulletin board trims.

Choose creative church members to select ideas from the following suggestions. They also may have some creative ideas of their own, using items available in your community. The helpers can do the decorations themselves or form a decorating committee. Have your Sunday school classes, Bible clubs, mom's groups and others meeting at your church make harvest decorations to spruce up your church.

Cut leaf shapes in various colors and sizes to use as wall decorations and name tags for your harvest events. (Or, if you prefer not to have to cut out leaves yourself, pick up a few Falling Leaves Designer Cutouts instead. They come in a package of 36.)

Make pumpkin garlands from orange construction paper. Use the garlands along with orange, green, and brown crepe paper around doorways, windows, hung from the ceiling, and as runners across table tops. Decorate your bulletin boards with Pumpkin Borders (35 feet of trim).

Ask families to bring in harvest items from home to decorate hallways, windowsills, shelves, and table tops: pumpkins, gourds, miniature bales of hay, colorful leaves, nuts, apples, squash, dried corn husks, scarecrows, baskets, bushel barrels, cornucopias, colorful rocks, pussy willows, fall flowers, etc. Make a large banner for one or more walls that reads, "The Harvest Is the Lord's." Post a similar banner at the children's eye level for your young students to decorate with crayons or markers.

Have children draw pictures of people for whom they are thankful. Hang the pictures on the walls after they are signed by their artists. Hang Harvest Attendance Charts in your classrooms. These come with 1400 matching stickers.

Draw harvest fruits and vegetables onto construction paper. Cut them out and hang them from drinking straws or dowel rods to make mobiles. Hang extra shapes from ceilings, windows, and in doorways.

Collect canned food to give to a local homeless shelter or food pantry. Let your students decorate large collection boxes to place around your church campus. Have bundles of dried corn stalks standing nearby. Arrange pumpkins, squash, and dried gourds around the base. Use these as collection spots for your food drive.

For more harvest decorating and outreach ideas, take a look at A Church Family Harvest Celebration program book with CD-ROM from Christian Ed Warehouse.

If your church holds a harvest festival or other fall event, invite your community to join your congregation. Then invite the visitors to return for worship, Sunday school, and Bible clubs!

SonSurf VBS Ideas

The large SonSurf Coloring Mural is a great way to involve all your kids in your beach bash! Let your students color the large 77" x 44" mural before VBS to introduce them to the theme (and to help decorate your hallways). Or you can hang the mural during VBS and have children color it as they arrive each day. Place some old boogie boards or subskates near the mural for kids to stand on while they color.

Tape one mural to the wall in your preschool room (at the children's eye level) and let your little ones add SonSurf Stickers (pack of 10) and color the mural during their free play times.

PandaMania VBS Decorating Ideas

Dye old bed sheets shades of green. Ask your church members…they may have old sheets with rips or stains they no longer use. Staple or pin the washed and dyed sheets to the ceiling for a jungle canopy effect. Tape some of the sheets to your walls (about waist high) to resemble tall grass.

Twist green and black or brown streamers to look like vines. Drape them around the room. Tuck plush jungle and rainforest animals among the vines. Scatter a few green or brown shag area rugs around the room. Use the Vine Pop-It Border to decorate your hallways and classroom walls with a 3-D vine look.

Mosquito netting can hang from a wall or corner of the room with a few plush animals tucked in it. Bring in a hammock or two for children (or volunteers) to relax in during their free time.

Hang the Bamboo Fabric Backdrop as room dividers, wall coverings, or backdrops for your photo display. An instant, panda-pleasing bamboo forest! Has button holes to hang from hooks. You get a huge 8-ft. x 30-ft. fabric roll. (This is an outlet item so quantities are limited.) 

Put together PVC pipe to form bamboo stalks. Connect them on the bottom so they can stand. Cover the bottom stands with green shag rugs or grass borders. Then cover the pipes with Bamboo Wrap. Use this paper wrap on carpet tubes as well as PVC pipes to create an instant 3-D bamboo forest. Four rolls of wrap give you a forest! Each roll measures 3 ft. x 15 ft. Comes in a set of 4 rolls. (This is an outlet item so quantities are limited and it is currently backordered from the publisher.)

Need more decorating ideas? Take a look at the Monkey Bulletin Board Set with 55 pieces of vines and monkeys. Visit our Classroom Decorations Store for even more bulletin board trims, borders, banners, and classroom decorations. Also watch the creative decorating options on the Decorating Places: PandaMania DVD. Now you're ready to begin a wild celebration of God's unconditional love at PandaMania!

Nazareth VBS Decorating Ideas

Give your Nazareth VBS rooms the look and feel of Nazareth in Bible times. Ask for the loan of large potted plants from your church members. Paint packing boxes to look like stones. Stack boxes and paint them to look like Bible-time homes.

Decorate large poster paper to look like a stone wall for backgrounds. Hang some sheets to use as dividers in your larger rooms. Scatter a few throw pillows and rugs on the floor.

Collect baskets and plastic fruit and vegetables. Hang some baskets from the walls or display them on shelves. Low tables make great work areas (or lay an old door on top a few two-by-fours). Toy animals add a fun touch, too. If you have outdoor areas, bring in clean sand or sandboxes and potted trees and ferns. Also bring large clay or plastic pots.

Do not bring in any poisonous plants or anything that has sharp edges or splinters. Also avoid small objects that can become choking hazards for small children. Any item that can fit into an empty paper towel tube is too small for your toddlers and preschoolers.

Collect colorful blankets to decorate your floors and walls. Place wicker baskets of various sizes and shapes around your VBS rooms. Staple or tape the Giant Decorating Posters to your walls to give your hallways and rooms the feel of Bible times.

Cover one wall with green poster paper so it looks like grass. Fringe strips of green paper for a 3-D effect along the top. Then staple it to the bottom of your wall or bulletin board so the fringe sticks out slightly (roll it over a pencil). Or use a scalloped grass border. Children can add their God Sightings Sheep to the grass wall each day during your VBS program. Preschool children can draw their God sightings on the sheep or have an older child or adult helper write the sightings for them.

Create a photo area with some large potted plants, clay pots, and toy sheep. Old sheets make wonderful backdrops and room dividers. Have the child stand next to a Bible times home or hillside (or stone wall). Take a picture of the child wearing his tribe belt along with a prayer shawl and holding a scroll. Send the picture to the child the week after your VBS with an invitation to your next children's ministry or family event (Bible club, fall festival, or Sunday school kick-off). Include a note reminding the child (and his parents) about the fun time they had at your Nazareth VBS.

Need more decorating ideas? Take a look at the Nazareth Clip Art and Resources CD Set for signs, posters, publicity pieces, and costume patterns. Also watch the creative decorating options on the Decorating Places DVD. Now you're ready to travel back to  Bible times for the VBS journey of a lifetime!

Gold Rush VBS Decorating Ideas

Grab your bandanas and dust off your boots. Use your favorite western props to make your Gold Rush VBS come alive for your students this summer. Use large barrels and wagon wheels along with some wooden benches along the walls of your classrooms or outside your campus areas. 


Paint some small stones gold. Place them near a blue paper or fabric stream lined with ferns or other small plants and wooden logs. Also use rocks to line the river bed. Near the river areas, post some Tree Borders on the wall. Set some pie tins nearby so children can "pan for gold."


Set up some small tents and hang ropes, cowboy hats, and aluminum pie tins on the walls. If you have some saddle bags, place them near the tents. You could also place an old saddle on a bench to give the feel of the old west.

Line the walls of your hallways with Fence Borders. Overlap or layer the fence pieces for a 3-D effect. Hang a small flannel shirt just above one of the fence posts so it appears to hang from the fence. Place some large rocks or stones nearby.  (Spray paint crumpled newspapers to look like rocks.) A toy snake could peer out from behind a large rock.


Set up a corner of one of your rooms to look like a campsite. Place some tin cups nearby. Be sure to include lots of nature items so your students can see who Jesus is—our Creator and Redeemer. 


Gather your gear and join us for unforgettable discoveries!

SonSurf VBS Decorating Ideas

Hang netting from the walls (soccer nets can be used as fishing nets) and place sea stars and shells in the netting and on the floor beneath it. Use parts from the Sea Life Bulletin Board Set to decorate the walls around the nets. Toy sea animals add a fun touch, too. If you have outdoor areas, bring in clean sand or sandboxes with shovels, pails, and more shells. Paint a large box with smaller boxes stacked on top to look like a large sand castle. Have plastic pails, shovels, sea stars, and sea shells around it. You can also place several foam subskates, boogie boards, plastic rafts, beach balls, inflatable dolphins, colorful flip-flops, and inner tubes  around your VBS area.

Mount a Beach Mural or Surf Mural on a wall in each of your VBS rooms. These large 90" x 54" beach scenes come with three panels. Use some of the patterns from the Beach Decor & More CD to create additional backgrounds. Hang some small surfboards or boogie boards (or the Big Question Surfboards), goggles, visors, snorkels, and swim fins on your other walls or around the murals.

Ask church members for old beach chairs, beach balls, blankets, and umbrellas you can use to decorate your rooms. Drape beach towels over some of the chairs or spread beach towels or blankets out on the floor for kids to sit on. Staple ocean wave borders, blue fabric, blue streamers, or waves of blue borders to your walls for an ocean effect. Let children who arrive early add wall clings to the murals and walls.

Fish squirts are fun decorations that can be placed in a tub of water for a wet play area. This also makes a great place for cooling off the children on a hot day. Give your student leaders and adult helpers spray bottles of water to squirt children who get warm during your game time and need a way to cool off.

If you have a sandbox, have buckets and shovels nearby. Place an old inner tube in it for the kids to sit on while they dig. Sand tables also make fun play areas. Shells, sea stars, and colorful stones can be buried in the sand for children to dig up and rebury for the next person to find.

Create a photo area with a surfboard or boogie board, seashells, beach balls, and anything else reminiscent of the beach you can find. Post a Beach Mural in the background. Take a picture of each child standing beside a boogie board or holding a bucket and shovel (and wearing goggles on top of his head) and send it to him the week after VBS. Include an invitation to your next children’s ministry event (Bible club, fall festival, or Sunday school kick-off) and a note reminding the children (and their parents) about the fun time they had at VBS.

Now you’re ready to catch a wave for an exciting SonSurf VBS beach adventure!

Decorating for Harvest

Use harvest season decorations to give your church a new, inviting look for fall. Choose creative church members to select ideas from the following suggestions. They also may have some creative ideas of their own, using items available in your community. The helpers can do the decorations themselves or form a decorating committee. Have your Sunday school classes, Bible clubs, mom's groups and others meeting at your church make harvest decorations to spruce up your church.

Cut leaf shapes in various colors and sizes to use as wall decorations and name tags for your harvest events. Make pumpkin garlands from orange construction paper. Use the garlands along with orange, green, and brown crepe paper around doorways, windows, hung from the ceiling, and as runners across table tops.

Ask families to bring in harvest items from home to decorate hallways, windowsills, shelves, and table tops: pumpkins, gourds, miniature bales of hay, colorful leaves, nuts, apples, squash, dried corn husks, scarecrows, baskets, bushel barrels, cornucopias, colorful rocks, pussy willows, fall flowers, etc. Make a large banner for one or more walls that reads, "The Harvest Is the Lord's." Post a similar banner at the children's eye level for your young students to decorate with crayons or markers.

Have children draw pictures of people for whom they are thankful. Hang the pictures on the walls after they are signed by their artists.

Draw harvest fruits and vegetables onto construction paper. Cut them out and hang them from drinking straws or dowel rods to make mobiles. Hang extra shapes from ceilings, windows, and in doorways.

Collect canned food to give to a local homeless shelter or food pantry. Let your students decorate large collection boxes to place around your church campus. Have bundles of dried corn stalks standing nearby. Arrange pumpkins, squash, and dried gourds around the base. Use these as collection spots for your food drive.

For more harvest decorating and outreach ideas, take a look at A Church Family Harvest Celebration program book with CD-ROM from Christian Ed Warehouse.

If your church holds a harvest festival or other fall event, invite your community to join your congregation. Then invite the visitors to return for worship, Sunday school, and Bible clubs!

VBS Bulletin Board Ideas

A simple and attractive way to decorate your VBS rooms is with bulletin boards. Place the bulletin board(s) near the door so they will catch the children's interest as they enter. The hallways outside your rooms are also great places for bulletin boards and can be handy spots to post announcements and upcoming Bible club and all-church events. Some simple bulletin board ideas:

• Cover the bulletin board with a large sheet of butcher paper, gift wrap, or cloth for a colorful background. Add a star trim border around the edges of the board for Hero Headquarters, waves of blue for High Seas Expedition, a rainforest border for SonQuest Rainforest, and.
• Make a colorful border by cutting construction paper strips. You can be as creative as you want by cutting the border strips in fancy or decorative shapes. Add Bible stickers or glue star cutouts around the border to make it pop.
• A three-dimensional effect is attractive to children. Make flowers out of egg carton cups. Put a layer of thick cardboard behind some of your bulletin board figures to make them stand out.
• Attach materials to the bulletin boards using staples, as they are much more difficult for younger children to remove and swallow. Be sure that no loose staples are left on the floor after you've completed the board.
• Make interactive bulletin boards: Mount a mirror on the board, covered with a piece of cloth. Place a picture of Jesus beside the mirror. Guide the children to the board. Ask, Who is important to Jesus? Look and see.
• Make a bulletin board titled, “We are special to Jesus.” Mount a picture of Jesus and let each child draw a self-portrait to post next to the Jesus picture. Guide the children to the board and help them identify their classmates by name. 

Decorating Ideas for SonRock Kids Camp

Create an outdoor camp feeling by setting up tents, rocks, and rivers. Ask church members to search their attics for artificial Christmas trees. Also ask them to loan large potted plants. Borrow camping equipment to use for your decorations. Hang some of the equipment (such as ropes and canteens) from your walls, and use the rest to create camp sites around your VBS areas. Set up a hammock or two and fill them with stuffed toy animals.

Use blue sheets to make a river. Line the sheets with rocks and/or logs. Put a couple of inner tubes in the river or nearby. A few large plants or trees (or ferns) with some small toy animals and Insect Finger Puppets peeking out from them will add to the camp feeling. A toy snake could peer out from behind a large rock. Tape the Wall Cut-Outs to a wall near your river.

For a wet play area, fill a large tub with water and let some fish squirts float in it. Have small nets with handles or strainers nearby so the children can catch the fish. Paint backdrops of trees and bushes onto large boxes and place them around your VBS site. Use log benches for some of your seating areas. 

Hang the SonRock Coloring Mural at the children's eye level in one of your hallways. Encourage the kids to color it during their free time. Let the children add Animal Characters Stickers to the mural each day of your VBS program.

Need more decorating ideas? Take a look at the Super Decorating and Resource Pack for a Clip Art and Publicity CD, Daily Truth Pennants, posters, and balloons. Also try out the fun decorating options on the Camp Décor and More CD-ROM.

Now you're ready to lead your kids on the camping experience of a lifetime as they learn to follow Jesus!

Egypt: Joseph's Journey VBS Decorating Ideas

Ask for the loan of large potted plants from your church members. Paint packing boxes to look like pyramid stones. Hang some sheets to use as dividers in your marketplace. Scatter a few throw pillows and rugs on the floor of some of the marketplace booths. Collect baskets for the Basket Weaver’s Shop. Hang some from the walls or display them on shelves. Low tables make great work areas for some of your shops (or lay an old door on top of a few two-by-fours). Toy desert animals add a fun touch, too. If you have outdoor areas, bring in clean sand or sandboxes with stones and rocks and potted trees and ferns.

To make your own fans, cut large cardboard circles in half. Tape on a long dowel rod handle. Glue feathers and feather boas to the semi-circle of cardboard in a rainbow pattern, alternating colors. Paint hieroglyphs on some boxes painted to look like stones. Don’t use anything with splinters or any sharp or rusty objects, however. Staple or tape the Giant Decorating Posters to your walls to give your hallways and rooms the feel of ancient Egypt.

Use the silver coins as rewards for kind, helpful behavior during each day of your VBS. Explain to the children that those who are caught being helpful each day will receive an extra coin that day. Then encourage family leaders and shopkeepers to reward thoughtful behavior with a coin (one extra coin for each child each day). Coins can be used in the marketplace—children give each shopkeeper a coin as they enter the shop. Have shopkeepers recycle the coins back to family leaders at the end of each day so they have plenty for the next day.

Draw a large pyramid or triangle shape on poster paper so the bottom is about 77 inches wide. Children can add their God Sighting Stones to the pyramid each day during your VBS program. Have them start at the bottom of the pyramid, forming one row of stones at a time. Younger children can draw their God sightings on the stones or have an older child or adult helper write the sightings for them.

Create a photo area with some large potted plants. Old sheets make wonderful backdrops and room dividers. Post some of the Giant Decorating Posters in the background or hang a large sheet on the wall with pillars on each side to resemble a palace. Place a colorful fan, a spear, and a shield nearby. Take a picture of each child wearing his family belt along with his Egyptian wristband, collar, necklace, and/or headband. Send the picture to him or her the week after VBS. (A Egyptian wristband craft will be posted on this blog next week.) Include an invitation to your next children’s ministry event (Bible club, fall festival, or Sunday school kick-off) and a note reminding the child (and his parents) about the fun time they had at VBS.

Need more decorating ideas? Take a look at the Egypt Clip Art and Resources CD for signs, pictures, publicity pieces, and costume patterns. Also watch the exciting decorating options on the Decorating Places DVD.

Use the new Joseph in Egypt Preschool VBS from Christian Ed Warehouse this summer to supplement your elementary VBS program from Group, Egypt: Joseph's Journey. Written especially for 2- to 5-year-olds, this five-day preschool VBS program includes Bible stories, snacks, crafts, and games with reproducible student sheets and colorful visuals on CD-ROM. You can view samples and take a look at the contents and course overview for the Joseph in Egypt Preschool VBS. Order the spiral-bound book with CD or, if you need it tomorrow, order the download version.

Now you’re ready to travel back to ancient Egypt for the VBS journey of a lifetime!

High Seas Decorating Ideas

Hang netting from the walls (soccer nets can be used as fishing nets) and place sea stars and shells in the netting and on the floor beneath it. Toy sea animals add a fun touch, too. If you have outdoor areas, bring in clean sand or sandboxes with shovels, pails, and more shells. Paint a large box to look like an open treasure chest (or use a large trunk) and fill it with gold paper or newspaper spray-painted gold. Then place gold and silver coins, colorful beaded necklaces, and other fun “treasures” on top so they spill out. Seat a toy parrot on top of the chest. You can also place several smaller treasure chests around your VBS area.

Hang some life preservers on your walls. Ask church members for old trunks, compasses, large bells, small sailor’s hats, camping equipment, old ship’s wheels, barrels, and anything else nautical you can use to decorate your rooms. Don’t use anything with splinters or any sharp or rusty objects, however. Staple ocean wave borders or blue fabric to your walls for an ocean effect. An old mop and a bucket also make wonderful props.

Fish squirts are fun decorations that can be placed in a tub of water for a wet play area. This also makes a great place for cooling off the children on a hot day. Give your student leaders and adult helpers spray bottles of water to squirt children who get warm during your game time and need a way to cool off.

Create a photo area with a large barrel, rope, old maps, a sail, an anchor, and anything nautical you can find. Old sheets make wonderful sails. Hang a High Seas Banner in the background. Take a picture of each child holding a spyglass and send it to him or her the week after VBS. (A spyglass telescope craft will be posted on this blog next week.) Include an invitation to your next children’s ministry event (Bible club, fall festival, or Sunday school kick-off) and a note reminding the child (and his parents) about the fun time they had at VBS.

Now you’re ready to set sail for an exciting VBS ocean adventure!

SonQuest Rainforest Decorating Ideas

Dye old bed sheets shades of green. Ask your church members…they may have old sheets with rips or stains they no longer use. Staple or pin the washed and dyed sheets to the ceiling for a rainforest canopy effect. Tape some of the sheets to your walls (about waist high) to resemble tall grass.


Twist green and black or brown streamers to look like vines. Drape them around the room. Tuck plush rainforest animals among the vines. Scatter a few green or brown shag area rugs around the room. Use Rainforest Mural Posters to decorate your hallways and classroom walls.


Mosquito netting can hang from a wall or corner of the room with a few plush animals tucked in it. Bring in a hammock or two for children (or volunteers) to relax in during their free time.


Hang the Rainforest Coloring Mural at the children's eye level in one of your hallways. Encourage the kids to color it during their free time. Let the children add Rainforest Wall Clings to your windows and walls and rearrange them each day of your VBS program.


Need more decorating ideas? Take a look at Rainforest bulletin board sets and other classroom decorations. Also read through the three levels of decorating options on the Rainforest Decor and More CD.


Read creative VBS ideas for High Seas Expedition; Hero Headquarters; SonRock Kids Camp; Egypt: Joseph's Journey; Kingdom of the Son; and Wildwood Forest.