VBS Building Crafts

Building crafts should be tailored to suit the needs and interests of different age groups.

Vacation Bible School (VBS) is a special short-term program of religious education aimed at enlightening and entertaining children. VBS can be held throughout the year and usually coincides with school vacations so as not to disrupt secular education. A large part of VBS is maintaining an active, positive atmosphere, and that means crafts. Building crafts where children are actively assembling projects supports critical thinking and problem-solving skills that can be transferred to other areas of VBS.

Model Churches

Build model churches while discussing the nature of a house of worship.

Use clay, cardboard and paper to build model representations of your church and religious community. Instruct students to design their projects based on their individual visions of what church or Bible school should be. Make your own model that shows how you would improve your local church. Older students may include written explanations or verbal presentations of their final structures that explain their designs.

Framing Family

Unused pizza boxes make a good base for a shadow box.

Shadow boxes and dioramas help show what you learned from a text or lesson, but they also allow you to express your feelings about a certain place. Have children build a large shadow box that shows what life is like in their homes. Use shoe boxes or pizza boxes as a base, then add paper and cardboard to turn the empty space into a multi-level house. Set up this activity with a discussion of family and community.

Critter Cabins

Put a little seed in your birdhouse to attract new residents.

Just because all God's creatures have a place in the choir doesn't mean they have a suitable habitat. Build birdhouses, bug hideaways and other animal-friendly living spaces while you discuss the sanctity of life. You can build birdhouses out of scrap wood or purchase easy-assemble birdhouse kits for younger children. Older children and teenagers will enjoy having the freedom to design their own houses, so keep plenty of scrap wood on hand.

Blocky Bookends

Consider giving students a new Bible or religious text to add to their book collections.

Recycle old building blocks by turning them into shapely bookends. Nail or glue blocks together into a three-dimensional "L" shape. Use a single wooden plank to create a sturdier base. Leave the bookend unpainted or sand and refinish for a modern update. Other objects that may be given new life as bookends include books, plastic DVD cases, cardboard boxes and old license plates.

References

• Bible School Resources: Building Up God's House
• Fun In the Making: Easy To Make License Plate Bookend
• Making Friends: Yucky Totem Pole
• Crayola: Imagine A Magnificent Building Craft