Son Force Kids VBS--Tips and Thoughts

Lots of people are surfing the net for Son Light's "Son Force Kids" Vacation Bible School.

Since our small town community did VBS May 29-June 1, I thought I'd take one post to give more details on my experience teaching the middler lessons to 3-4th grade boys:

• We decorated a Bible room with the two scenes suggested on p. 5 in the middler book. We bought the canvas drop clothes at Home Depot and used a thick, black magic marker. My nine year old colored in some of the objects. It took four hours to finish. Along with the space ship scene that we displayed in the sanctuary (we painted it in color and it took 2 days to complete), we spent about $90 on decorations.
• For lesson #1--Baby Moses--I did Option B on "Set the Story" (p. 11). My 12 boys really loved seeing their names spelled backwards and saying aloud their "new" name. In fact, we used these backward names all week long; rarely did we call each other by our "regular" name. Add to the fun by asking for the student's favorite agent number. Then when you take attendance later in the week, say an agent number and see if the class can guess which student you have in mind. The backwards name really set the excitement for the week's theme. I can't commend that idea to you enough.
• For lesson #2--Esther--This lesson is a challenge because the biblical story is ten chapters long; we're really dependent upon the curriculum to relay the basic story line. Be familiar with basics of the story; you'll find a brief outline here. When I taught it, I added some additional verses into the lesson in order to heighten the drama of the story. Since the day's theme is "unite," play up the importance of Esther calling on Mordecai and the Jews to fast and pray on her behalf. Be ready to briefly explain what fasting is. The kids really enjoyed partnering together to do the "paper under feet" game in the Set the Story section.
• For lesson #3--Daniel--I did "Tic Tac Toe Training," option "B" for Set the Story, found on p. 44. It has mistake! It says, "Romans 19:20" instead of Proverbs 19:20. One of my sharp student agents pointed this out! Son Light now has a corrected version of this puzzle, available here.
• For lesson #4--Jeremiah--I was thrilled to tell my kids about this little known prophet. This isn't your typical VBS lesson. If you're teaching in a room with a Bible lesson decorations, be sure to point out the king's chair and the fireplace where he tosses in bits of the scroll.
• For lesson #5--Joshua--keep in mind that the key verse (Joshua 1:9) comes chronologically later than the lesson of the 12 spies in Numbers.
  
• Since all the lessons are in the Old Testament, you'll have to make the New Testament connection on your own. Each lesson has a box for you to do that. Same thing with the evangelism message; here is where I wish Son Light included a message of salvation in the lesson plan itself--or at least one of the lessons.
• Have you checked out Son Light's Son Force Kids website? It's neat. You can listen to the music while working on your lessons! There's also a forums for more ideas.
  

In the next post, I'll share what we did for our Sunday closing rally.

Overall, we had a great VBS. I hope you do too!