PRESS PLAY

This Spring, we’re going to dive into a study separate from what we’ve been doing on the weekend. We’re adapting a VBS curriculum for our midweek program. Typically, VBS curriculum comes with five lessons. We’re going to take each daily lesson and turn it into two weeks of content. Here’s what it’s going to look like:

• We’ll start with 10-15 minutes of arrival activities (like we usually do)
• We’ll all gather in the Elementary Theater for a 25-minute large group rally. The first week, we’ll use the provided video content to teach. In the second week, we’ll teach the Large Group content live – two weeks of teaching the same Bible Story from two different perspectives.
• After the Large Group Rally, we’ll eat dinner and have some free play outside (weather permitting)
• Next, we’ll move into two separate rotations for the evening. One of those rotations will always be Small Group. It’s a 20-minute activity/conversation about the Bible Story and Bottom Line. The second rotation will either be a craft or a game – we’ll switch between those two activities each week.
• We’ll all return to our arrival/small group locations for dismissal.

This 10-week program will take us into early May when we’ll conclude a few weeks before summer!

SMALL GROUPS

PRESS PLAY is going to be small group driven. Preteens are in their regular small group rooms. However, the Elementary Theater will have K-3rd grade groups on carpet circles. Our groups are pretty well-staffed, although we’re working to add a few extra hands to a group or two. Having all of K-3rd in one room comes with an advantage – there’s a lot more help all in one space to help manage issues as they arrive. However, it is necessary to gather kids around your circle and lead them through the scripted activities. Kids who decide to get up and do their own thing will distract multiple groups – but Megan and I will be able to help manage, redirect, and help with kids who need more attention.

Your curriculum will have an Early Arrival Activity and a small group activity. You’ll use the Early Arrival Activity before the large group rally as kids arrive. The other small group activities will be used during your Small Group rotation. Remember, you have about 20 minutes during Small Group, so stretch or condense the content to fill the time.

ACTIVITIES

One rotation is always dedicated to your Small Group. The other rotation will switch between games and crafts. When we host VBS, we usually have 2-3 recreation leaders to guide the game experience and 4-6 craft leaders to run the daily game. We’ll generally provide someone to lead the game experience, but we’ve chosen really simple craft activities that can be self-guided. We’ll go over both the games and crafts at our pre-service huddle just to make sure e everyone is ready to go!

THANK YOU

As always, thank you for your faithfulness. Megan and I appreciate the way you serve kids every week! We’ll made adjustments as necessary. Please let us know if you see areas in need of improvement and we’ll fix what we can!