Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Updated Craft and Decorating Supplies

Recycled
*old pair of hiking boots
*scrap lumber (1"x '2'approx)
*aluminum pie tins or take-out containers
*paper towel & tp tubes
*1-1 1/2" PVC tubes, 2-3' long

Natural
*firewood logs
*lg. pinecones
*sm. pinecones
*palm-sized rocks
*quarter-sized rocks
*natural materials, such as pods, sprigs, nuts
*fairly straight twigs (3-4")

New
*12 oz. bottles of water (one for each camper)
*contact paper
*monofilament
*1/2" googly eyes
*1" grosgrain ribbon in 1 yd. lengths
*26-28 gauge wire
*raffia
*2-3 bags of play sand

To Borrow during VBS week
*5 laundry baskets
*artificial Christmas trees (no bigger than 9')
*tents
*lanterns
*fire pit (for looks only!)
*hiking boots (esp. size 8 mens or 9 womens)
*fishing vests, hats and short poles
*needle-nosed pliers
*wire snips
*small canoe
*red/black plaid blankets
*red/white plaid tablecoths
*mounted antlers
*taxidermied fish
*stuffed woodland animals (bears, racoons, skunks, owls, moose, squirrels)

Volunteer Event...This Saturday!

Come and take a peek at SonRock Kids' Camp! This Saturday from 9-10:30 am, we will walk through our VBS to get a sense of the program and drum up some excitement! Volunteers from Emmaus Road and Park Free will join together to get to know one another, have a snack, preview materials and get our questions out there...

Please come!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

What a Blessing

Melody and Kurt Goodenough have offered to serve a light dinner (Soup 'r Supper) for our VBS volunteers and their families prior to the start of the program each evening.  Thank you for this fabulous ministry and the gift of your precious time.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Thursday, April 23, 2009

NEW DATES!

VBS will now be held on August 10-14 (Monday through Friday.)
Seriously.
It will.
For sure, now.

I am PROTECTED BY JESUS


Wednesday, April 8, 2009

I am ACCEPTED BY JESUS


Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa

How did I let the VBS dates simmer for months and then ran them by numerous stakeholders and discover only just this week that we are overlapping NATIONAL NIGHT OUT????

Did I mention that Mark is our block captain and that NNO is a huge deal for our family and our neighborhood?

So, we are revisiting our dates and I am very sorry for the inconvenience!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Job Descriptions

As you are considering your involvement in VBS, these job descriptions may come in handy. The rationale behind the VBS format this year is to take advantage of our people resources to be with the campers as much as possible during the week and get a chance to really know them.


Teaching Lead: Each grade level will have a homebase. There will be a lead and as many helpers as the number of students require. This team will be responsible for: reinforcement of Bible lesson with activities, seatwork, games and/or memory work. There is a fabulous guide for each level that will have more than enough for the teacher to choose from.

Campers will also do their craft and eat their snack at their homebase. (The craft will be prepared and delivered in advance and children will be invited to bring their own snacks from home.) The teaching team will accompany their group to the opening assembly, the nature center, and the closing assembly, as well.

Song Leader: Campers will receive a CD of the SonRock Kids' Camp songs. We have a split track CD available to use in the assemblies, but we are open to using a live band if God raises up those talents!

Audio/Visual: The team will prepare equipment and run sound for the opening and closing assemblies. There will also be some Power Point projection needed. There will also be a need for copying CDs for the campers and, possibly, some pre-recording of Bible dramas.

Drama Coordinator: Each day's Bible story will be dramatized at the end of the opening assembly. The drama coordinator will work with volunteers to assign parts, oversee whatever rehearsal may be necessary, and find costumes and props.

Actors/Storytellers: Individuals will work with the drama coordinator to act out the daily Bible stories. A live or recorded narration may be chosen.

Dr. Forest R. Cool/ Dr. Therese R. Cool: This character is our camp "naturalist". Envision a live caricature of a scientist, dressed in safari gear... The staff member will prepare a science and nature activity for the campers for each day (perhaps alternating with traditional recreational activities or games.) The program details these lessons and we can adapt them to our various age groups. This will be the one exception to the homebased activities and campers will come to the nature center with their teaching team at an assigned time.

Art Prep Coordinator: This individual will be in charge of preparing craft projects to varying degrees for use in the home bases. Some shopping expertise and recycling creativity may be required! The coordinator will assign prep activities (and maybe an evening event) as required. This person will need to be on hand during the week to distribute projects to classrooms, "train" teachers, and, perhaps be on hand to help with larger groups or more complicated projects.

Nursery Coordinator: We will provide a nursery for infants and toddlers of our volunteers. Our coordinator will schedule volunteers and oversee the nursery operations.

Safety Coordinator: This individual would ideally have some nursing or other medical background and would be present during the camp to respond to first-aid needs. He or she will be the keeper of the emergency cards and band-aids! Also, this person can schedule our building security/safety patrol during the week.

Registrar: There is a great deal of paperwork to be sent out and received before camp begins and on the first night. This individual will receive registrations and help develop balanced class lists. Another charge will be name tags and nightly attendance records(for tracking and safety purposes.)

Publicity: Some print materials are needed for registration and promotion of the VBS program. Additionally, we may choose to place ads in local press and businesses, as well as online at our church websites.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Bus Ministry

Mark and I have been very convicted about church events for church people...

We don't want to do VBS exclusively for "the club." Typically, we want the community to come out so we can share Christ and love on them. Let's pray about being even more radical than that. Let's pray about going to them.

This was a discussion we had during the planning stages of "Trading Places" in 2007 and we want to revisit it with fervor this year. We had talked about doing a registration event at a nearby apartment complex and then offering a shuttle from that complex each evening of VBS. It only takes a moment to come up with a million objections or barriers to this plan...cost (buses are expensive), liability, crowd control, etc.

Dave Ridder preached yesterday about the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan went out of his way to show mercy to someone in need. He was the neighbor who obeyed the Law to "Love your neighbor as yourself." We are not good neighbors if we only show kindness, mercy and love to the one who is next door. We are neighbors in the spirit of Christ if we GO OUT OF OUR WAY to show kindness, mercy and love. Let this challenge be at the forefront of our prayers in these weeks where we are dedicating our resources and developing the character of our program.

Let me rephrase that...
Let challenge be at the forefront of our prayers
EVERY DAY
as we dedicate our resources and
developing our character.

Cricut Cartridge-Animal Kingdom

Does anyone own this cartridge? If so, it would be ideal to use for making nametags for our theme since it has the various forest animals. Let me know.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Craft and Decorating Needs

Recycled

*old pair of hiking boots
*scrap lumber (1"x '2'approx)
*aluminum pie tins
*paper towel & tp tubes
*1-1 1/2" PVC tubes, 2-3' long

Natural

*firewood logs
*lg. pinecones
*sm. pinecones
*palm-sized rocks
*quarter-sized rocks
*natural materials, such as
pods, sprigs, nuts
*fairly straight twigs (3-4")

New

*12 oz. bottles of water
*contact paper
*monofilament
*1/2" googly eyes
*1" grosgrain ribbon in 1 yd. lengths
*26-28 gauge wire
*natural wood beads
*raffia

To Borrow during VBS week

*5 laundry baskets
*artificial Christmas trees (no bigger than 9')
*tents
*clothesline
*lanterns
*fire pit
*hiking boots
*fishing vests, hats and short poles
*needle-nosed pliers
*wire snips
*small canoe
*red/black plaid blankets

Craft Schedule

Craft Schedule by Day and Age

Click to enlarge for readability.

Modified Classroom Plan 2 HRS

After reviewing the director's resources and lining up the suggestions with recent years' experiences, here is our preliminary plan for a two-hour, evening VBS. We will determine start time together a little later. Each boxed-in heading represents an activity. Students will move between the activities with the possible exception of the "THEME" activity going into the Pre-K Center/Class. "Class" designates a flexible time-slot for Bible work, crafts, and snacks.

Click on the document to enlarge for readability.

Staff Needs

Please click on the document below for a preliminary staffing needs list.




ADD: PROPMASTER 2/13
ADD: PREVIEW EVENT LEAD 2/15
ADD: BUS MINISTRY LEAD 2/15

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Crafts...Already!

Of course, I've already read the crafts book from cover to cover! I went to look at Oriental Trading Company for something specific, but found they have a VBS camp theme...with a number of project very similar to those described in our program. Here were my favorites.

Racoon Frame
http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?demandPrefix=12&sku=48/5827&prodCatId=383465&mode=Browsing&erec=27&No=0&sp=true&Ntk=all&Ntx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&N=383465&requestURI=processProductsCatalog&sd=Camp+Raccoon+Photo+Frame+Magnet+Craft+Kit

Racoon Magnets
http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?demandPrefix=12&sku=48/3702&prodCatId=383465&mode=Browsing&erec=39&No=0&sp=true&Ntk=all&Ntx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&N=383465&requestURI=processProductsCatalog&sd=Raccoon+Camp+Magnet+Craft+Kit

Compass Necklace
http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?demandPrefix=12&sku=48/3106&prodCatId=383465&mode=Browsing&erec=49&No=0&sp=true&Ntk=all&Ntx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&N=383465&requestURI=processProductsCatalog&sd=Compass+Necklace+Craft+Kit

Kingdom Collaboration--ERC and SLPEFC

It is an awesome blessing to set out on this endeavor together, but that is TOO MANY INITIALS! In order to help us communicate, I've set up this blog. It would help me immensely if each "stakeholder" would subscribe to the blog, so that everyone is recieving the same information at the same time. The format is more flexible for me and you can still get your notifications via e-mail. (You can also delete those in your in-box and the blog will keep track of the conversations for you!)