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VBS
Craft Ideas for SonShip Sands
www.SonShipSands.cjb.net
- Have Fun in the Son, while learning to be Strong & Courageous!
Bible Lessons Include: Jesus Calms the Storm, Jesus and the Miraculous
Catch of Fish, Jonah and the Whale, Jesus is Baptized, and Baby Moses.
Click on the VBS name to go to crafts and activity ideas for this
theme.
Jonah and the Whale Crafts and Activity Ideas:
  Play
a bean bag toss game - Make bean bags that look like Jonah and
toss them into the mouth a whale. Use the pattern and directions
provided to make Jonah
bean bag dolls.
Make a whale
out of a plastic milk jug. Let the children take turns throwing their
dolls into the whale. Or make a whale for each child and let
them try to catch the Jonah bean bag in the mouth of their whale.
Activities
Play
"Find Jonah" Card Game by turning over Jonah cards
and seeing if Jonah is hiding behind the card. If he isn't, they
act out part of the story defined on the card. Card pattern available
on The Resource Room.
Sing
a song and act it out - Younger children will enjoy singing
a song about Jonah while they act out the story. Prepare a large
appliance box to look like a whale. Have a child enter the box while
the other students sing the song. At the end of the song when it
says Jonah was spit out, the child in the box should come out of
the box pretending to be spit out. Keep singing the song until all
the children have had a chance to act it out. This song is available
on The Resource Room.
Crafts
 Face
Puppets - Older children make face puppets on which different
emotions are depicted. They use the puppets during the lessons by
raising their puppet to indicate when they think Jonah may have
experienced the emotion their puppet depicts.
 Emotions
Booklet
-
Younger children make a booklet with pictures of the different emotions
Jonah may have experienced. They practice making the same faces
during the lesson. A
pattern for this craft is available to Resource
Room members only.
 Envelope
Fish and Jonah Paper Doll - Small children will love playing
with they envelope fish puppet. The put their hand inside and make
his mouth open and close. A
pattern for this craft is available to members only.
 Color
Sheet - Jonah and the Whale Color Sheet and Bible verse
card. A
pattern for this craft is available to Resource
Room members only.
Jonah
and the Whale with Jonah Paper doll - Children can use this
craft to tell the story of Jonah. A pattern for this craft is available to Resource Room members only.
Jesus
Calms the Storm Craft and Activity Ideas
 1.
Make a 3-D picture. Mark off 3" from the bottom of a sheet
of blue construction paper. Fold it up. Cut a wave pattern on
the top of the 3" fold. Cut a sheet of black construction
paper in half and cut a wave pattern on one side. Glue the black
waves to the blue sheet at the fold. Cut a boat shape from brown
construction paper, a Jesus silhouette from white construction
paper, and a disciple silhouette from black construction paper.
Have the children glue Jesus and the disciples inside the boat.
Using a brad, attach the boat to the background and then fold
the 3" waves in the front and glued it only on the sides.
Now, the children can retell the story using a boat that rocks
during the storm. Sent in by Theresa Bostick
Crafts
and activities for Jesus Calms the storm:
1. Make wave streamers - Cut light blue, dark blue, and
white crepe strips into three feet lengths. In class have the
children gather about 5 strips together and staple them together
at one end. Tape the strips to a jumbo sized craft stick. Show
the children how they can move their hands up and down and make
the streamers look like waves. Use the streamers later during
music time.
 2.
Make a Wind and Wave Wind Sock Craft - Wind and
Waves Windsock Craft - This craft goes along with the lesson “Jesus
Calmed the Storm” The windsock says, “Even the wind
and the waves obey him.” Mark 4:41
What you
will need: Card stock, markers or crayons, fish or butterfly
stickers (optional), blue Rick rack, 7/8” blue and purple
ribbon, glue, tape, and staples, laminator or clear contact paper
(optional).
What to
do: Before
class print out the pattern
(A
pattern for this craft is available to Resource Room members only.) or have your children draw their own designs onto card
stock. Cut off the excess paper leaving 1/2” on top and the
bottom of the picture. Cut one end off at the line. Leave extra
on one end to staple under. Cut up pieces of ribbon and Rick rack
into 12” lengths. In class have the children color the picture
and add stickers and Rick rack. When they are done with their
pictures give them ribbon and Rick rack across the length of the
bottom. When they are done with that staple the sides together
to make at tube. Staple yarn or ribbon at the top to hang the
windsock.
 3.
Make Jesus and
His Disciples in a Boat Craft
What you
will need: Card stock, craft sticks, block of Styrofoam, markers,
and straws.
What to
do:
1. Before
class print out the
boat pattern (A
pattern for this craft is available to Resource Room members only.), cut it out and use it as a template to cut out boats
from card stock.
2. To make the boat, fold on the dotted lines. At each end of
the boat bring the pointed ends together and glue or tape them
together.
3. Cut pieces of Styrofoam to fit inside the boat and glue them
to the bottom of the boats.
4. Cut the craft sticks in half or close to half. Make the sticks
different lengths, some shorter and taller than the others.
5. In class have the children count out 12 sticks plus one for
Jesus. Have them draw faces on each stick and color the bottom
of the sticks for the clothes.
6. Cut out triangle shapes for the boats sail. Tape the sail to
a straw.
Show the children how to press all the craft sticks and the straw
into the Styrofoam.
Comment:
My husband is a pastor of a small church, I teach Jr. church ages
from 5-11. I am so thankful that I found your web site!! Most of
my lessons come from your web site The class really enjoyed making
the boat with the disciples in it. Kathy Aurandt.
For the lesson
Jesus calms the storm. We took a piece of clay and rolled it into
a ball and placed it in a bowl of water and talked about how without
Christ in our lives we sink to the bottom. Then we pushed our thumbs
in the middle and made a boat like shape and explained that with
Christ in our lives we take shape and we float safely. It only takes
about a marble sized piece of clay. Jennie
We acted
out this story using our “box boat”. For the sound effects
we used cookie sheets for the thunder, flashlights for lightening,
spray bottles for rain, and had the children blow and make wind
noises for the wind. We had three or four children doing each effect.
We repeated the story about three times so they could take turns
with the effects. We made the wind socks and had a “wind sock
parade” around the room as the weather did not permit us to
go outside. Elaine
Jesus and the
Miraculous Catch of Fish Crafts and Activity Ideas
"Go
Fish" Bible Lesson on The Resource Room - In this
lesson children learn what it means to be a "fisher of men"
and are given examples of how to "fish for men". A
pattern for this craft is available to Resource Room members only.
 1.
Color and paint a picture of fish talking. Have children color
the fish with crayons and then use watered down blue paint to paint
over top of the fish and the rest of the picture. A
pattern for this craft is available to Resource Room members only. The fish in the pictures say, "Would you like to go to church
with me. Sure, that sounds like fun."
 2.
Work on a "Fishers of Men" bulletin board display.
Draw kids in the shape of fish or use the "fish kids" pattern
available on The Resource Room and
cut them out. Prepare your bulletin by placing blue paper for the
background and drawing a net pattern on top. Or find net material
and staple it onto the board. In class have the children color the
"fish kids" and staple or clip them to the net. Cut out
some extra fish and write the memory verse on the fish or use the
ones in the game below. A
pattern for this craft is available to Resource Room members only.
1. Fish for
Men - In this game children pull on a string to see if they can
catch a fish. If the string has a fish at the end the children answer
a question. Before
class print out the "fish kids" pattern (A
pattern for this craft is available to Resource Room members only.)
Or make your own and cut them out. Make enough so that you have one
for each child. Punch a hole at the top of each "fish kids"
and tie some yarn through the hole. Cut some extra pieces of yarn.
Hang the "fish kids" and the extra pieces of yarn over a
box so that the ends with the "fish kids" are inside the
box so that the children can not see them. Make sure the aren't overlapping
because a child may pull out more than one by mistake. Let the children
take turns pulling on a string to see if they can catch a "fish
kid". If they "catch one" read one of the following
scenarios and have the children tell how they can be a "fisher
of men".
1. Amy - Amy
is new in school and is very shy. She doesn't have any friends and
stands by herself most of the time. How can you be a fisher of men
to Amy? You can ask Amy to join in when you are playing a game.
You can talk to her and introduce her to your friends. You can ask
her to come to church with you and meet more people.
2. Mike - Mike
is your neighbor. His parents work on Sunday and don't take him
to church. What can you do to be a "fisher of men" to
Mike? You can tell Mike about Jesus. You can invite him to church
and offer to pick him up and take him.
3. John - John
is your neighbor. He is a big boy and picks on the little kids in
your neighborhood, calling them names and hitting them. What can
you do to be a "fisher of men" to John and the kids in
your neighborhood? Talk to John about Jesus. Tell him that he doesn't
want us to treat others that way. Everyone is special no matter
how big they are or small or what they look like.
4. Rachel -
Rachel loves to sing and is very good at it. You asked her to come
to Sunday School with you several times but she said she didn't
like school and she didn't want to get up that early. How can you
be a "fisher of men" (talk to her about Jesus) to Rachel?
Invite her to join your kid's choir at church which meets on a Tuesday
night or introduce her to some good Christian music.
Activity
1. Play
"Go Fish" Bible verse review game - Before class print
out the net pattern (A
pattern for this craft is available to Resource Room members only.) Or make your own and the fish patterns onto
computer paper. Write the memory verse on the fish patterns, one
word per fish. Tape the fish onto the back of the net patterns.
Leave some papers blank. Spread out the papers on the floor with
the net side up. Before the game, go over the memory verse. Write
it on the board if you have children that can't read.
Before starting
remind the children that the fishermen in our story didn't have
much luck fishing until Jesus told them where to find the fish.
Let's see if you can catch some fish today. Have the children stand
in a circle around the papers (nets) on the floor. Have them take
turns picking up the nets and seeing if they caught any fish. If
they turn over a paper with a fish taped to the back, ask them if
they know what the word is on the fish and to find the matching
word on the board. Give them a piece of tape to hang up the paper
underneath the matching word. Or you can hang a string or net up
in the room and have the children clip the fish to the net with
clothes pins in the correct order.
1.
Make "Fisher of Men" pictures.
What you
will need: Card stock, paper, crayons, sticks, yarn, tape, and
small bobbers (optional)
What to
do:
1. Before class
print out the fish kids pattern (A
pattern for this craft is available to Resource Room members only.) Or draw your own and cut them out
and print out the "Follow Me" background pattern.
2. In class have the children color the "fish kids", punch
a hole at the top, tie a length of yarn to the hole and place a
bobber onto the yarn. Give them a stick and help them tie the yarn
to the string. Tape the fishing pole stick to the background paper
with the Bible verse.
Caution: Do not use pointy sticks with young children. Make sure
that they tape their fishing poles onto the paper. If you don't
want to use sticks because you are afraid someone might get hurt.
Draw a fishing pole on the paper and then tape the string to the
end of the fishing pole drawing. Make sure you let the children
know that the bobbers are not toys. You could also draw a paper
bobber instead of using a real one. They should not play with them.
They are only for looking at and reminding them of the lesson. Also
let their parents know.
Comments
from Resource Room subscribers:
(I am doing
the Fishers of Men lesson and I love the paper with the bobber!
But I am not able to use the bobbers so I dipped small Styrofoam
balls 1/2 way into red paint and then dipped some toothpicks or
you can use skewers into white paint. I cut these so they could
be placed in the top of my make believe bobber and then glued it
onto your memory verse sheet with the boy or girl. I let the kids
dip the bobbers into the paint but if you don't want to do that
you can do this ahead of time This was very inexpensive. Thanks,
Nancy )
This week we
are doing the miraculous catch of fish so I am using your Fish Kids
poster craft idea and also using the fish kids to write questions
on, putting magnetic tape on the back and letting the children fish"
for questions to review the story. Sherry Winter, Carmel, Indiana
I did the fishers
of men lesson with my Sunbeams and it went really well. I use the
wall tacky a lot to stick lesson parts on the wall. I put the words
across the wall for them to match on. When we did the "Go Fish"
Game each time a child matched a word on the wall we all said the
verse together, very repetitious and they loved it. Not only did
they learn their memory verse but a week later they still knew it!
With the activity we made up more scenarios so each child would
have a chance to answer one. I did make the mistake of using crochet
twine so they kept tangling on the edge of the box. I think Macramé
or twine would be better. You could also make the fish and boys
and girls out of foam sheets and decorate for a more permanent game
or send one home with each child to remind them to be fisher of
men. When we were done, I divided the fish evenly among the children,
the class had only 5 that night and tied the strings together like
a string of fish caught and wrote heir memory verse on one for them
to take home. I also ran the fish off on the copier on bright wall
paper with all kinds of designs. Made them pretty, fun and cheap
to make! I did find two really neat snacks to make to go with the
lesson: They were on http://childfun.com/themes/fish.shtml#food
which has a lot of neat 'fish' ideas someone might want to use.
I used the first snack - fish crackers on a blue napkin and Jello
aquariums.
We did the
Fishers of Men lesson last night, and it was well received by the
kids (preschool through 5th grade). I added a snack that was a hit
... I made berry blue Jell-O in a trifle bowl, let it partially
set, and then added gummy fish, gummy octopuses (octopi?) and gummy
worms and served goldfish crackers on the side. They enjoyed the
link to the theme. If I'd taken more time, I might have done it
as jigglers with fish cutouts. Thanks!! Cheryl Gross
I really love
your site. We use it almost every Wednesday night for our preschool
children. The last lesson we did was "Go Fish". My children
had a wonderful time especially making the fisher man . They really
enjoyed listening to the story about the fishermen and then really
enjoyed making fishers of men on there papers. The real bobbers
done it for them. They were hooked. Thank you so much. Christina
I did this
lesson with my preschool class. Instead of using sticks and bobbers
, I just drew the fishing pole on the pre- printed follow me background
paper and took a yarn needle, threaded it with a 6 inch piece of
yarn and poked it through the paper at the top of the fishing pole
and tied a knot in it on the back of the paper so it wouldn't go
all the way through, then I let the children color their boy or
girl and tied it on the end of the line. It was a lot more economical
and easier and you didn't have to worry about the children getting
hurt on anything. They loved it.
I used the
Go Fish game, but changed it into a craft for our little ones. I
enlarged the net so it covered a piece of blue stock paper, then
made orange fish with the words of the memory verse on them. I had
each child glue the fish onto the net (making sure I emphasized
that the fishermen caught lots of fish!) then gave them some stickers
of shiny fish to also put on their papers. It turned out really
cute and the kids love anything with animals on it. They are so
excited to show their parents something they make themselves. As
a treat, I took little Ziploc snack bags and drew lines on them
to resemble a "net" on either side then filled them with
Goldfish, so the kids could take home their own net full of fish!
The kids loved it and it was easy and cheap for me to make! Thanks
for all your hard work, Rachel O'Dell
Baby
Moses Craft and Activity Ideas
 1.
Make Moses in a basket craft. Draw a picture of a basket
and Baby Moses that will fit into the basket. Cut out the baby and
two baskets from poster board. Punch holes all around the sides
of the basket. Have the children lace string through they holes
so that they lace two baskets together. Cut out around Moses'
hands and chin (but leave his shoulders connected) so that they
fit over the basket and look like he is holding on.
2.
Play with baby dolls, blankets, and baskets. Talk about
baby Moses floating in the water in the river.
3.
Make crowns. Decorate crowns and talk about the princess
who found baby Moses.
4.
Pretend to be the princess. Have the children wear
the crowns they made and look for baby Moses which is hidden somewhere
in the room.
5.
Play a sink or float game - To emphasize Moses floating in
the water, play a "sink or float" game. Give each
child a small object and have them guess if it will sink or float.
Then have the children take turns dropping their objects into a
see through bowl to see if they were correct in their guess.
6.
Make a Moses in the Bulrushes 3D craft - This great idea
comes from Margaret Carey off our bulletin board: We did
this craft with our 3 and 4 year olds. Get a plastic plate and cover
it with cotton wool. Have the children dampen it and sprinkle
wheat seeds over it. The children were all given a tiny doll, 1-2
cms, (You can find them in the cake decorating section) and
cloth to wrap it in. This was placed in a tiny jam tart tin (or
foil) and put in the middle of the plate. The children took them
home and sprayed the cotton wool with water and watched the Bulrushes
grow around Moses to hide him. They loved it and it has left a lasting
impression of the lesson. Thanks for sharing your ideas, Margaret.
Baby
Moses in a Jell-O Cup - I made some blue Jell-O and put it in
individual clear plastic cups. (This represents the river.) Next,
I let the children squirt a mound of canned whipping cream on top.
They pushed it down in the center with the bowl of a spoon. (This
made the basket.) Next, they put a green grape in the indentation
(This was the body of the baby.) A banana slice made up the face
of the baby. Finally, we added thin pretzel sticks around 1/2 of
the edge of the Jell-O (These were the bulrushes.) The kids
really loved it and talked about it for months. All the moms had
to go out and get blue Jell-O and all the fixings so they could
do it again at home.
More VBS crafts
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