VBS Recreation–Ideas and Fun!

I’ve just finished a week of VBS Recreation and thought I’d pass along my observations.

Whether you’re in charge of Vacation Bible School (VBS) or have a group of elementary-aged school kids who need activities, here’s what worked for me.

It helps to have a theme

I don’t know how many years I’ve done VBS Recreation, but I know having a theme and the recreation book that comes with the program helps.

This year we worked with an international theme, The Incredible Race, and the recreation booklet had numerous suggestions for the five days.

I used a few of them, for a variety of reasons.

One idea I liked in particular, however, included warming up with jumping jacks–and counting them in a different language each morning.

Monday was easy–most of the kids already knew how to count in Spanish, which is the main language of South and Central America

On Tuesday, we performed Jumping Jacks Japanese. I already knew how to count to five, so I was halfway there!

Wednesday required Swahili. I already speak Italian so that was Thursday’s language.

Which brought us to Friday VBS Recreation: North America.

“What’s the original language people spoke?

All the children shouted English! Followed by Spanish after I shook my head.

“Here’s how to count to ten in a Native American language: Algonquin!”

I couldn’t pronounce Apache or Navajo!

To drive home the language, I would count to three in whatever the day’s tongue and then blow my whistle for relays.

You should have seen them trying to play “steal the bacon,” in Japanese . . .

Make sure they know VBS Recreation rules

I kept the rules to four:

1. Do not get hurt
2. Do not die
3. If you think someone will get hurt or die, tell an adult
4. Have fun.

Two of those rules are silly (who expects to die at VBS?), but the kids laughed every time they recited them back to me.

They were careful.

One even approached me in sorrow. “I broke the first rule and got hurt.”

I commiserated, asked him how he felt then, and sent him back out to play.

It worked.

It also totally shocked the next class when I told them someone broke the first rule!

On the day we played with water balls, I explained “if you do not want to get wet, stay on the sidewalk. If you don’t care, run on the grass.”

No one complained and no one got wet who wanted to stay dry.

VBS Recreation is for action

The point is to keep the kids moving for 20 minutes.

We always started with the aforementioned jumping jacks and then fell into teams.

We then ran relays.

Some of the younger grades had trouble organizing themselves into teams in a timely manner. We helped them.

Checking out sites on Pinterest and simple searches, brought up plenty of easy relays and activities.

Simple, silly, easy, relays any kid in sandals could probably do (though we asked them to remove shoes that might cause them to get hurt).

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Toss the beach ball through a hula hoop, pick it up, run to the line, come back, toss the ball through again, run around, hand it off to the next in line.
2. Run down, climb through hula hoop, run back the same way.
3. Toss pool noodle through hula hoop, etc.
4. Run down to the line front, turn around and run back backward.
5. Run down to bucket, pick up water ball, return. Hand water ball to the first person line, who hands it over their head, and over and over, to the end of the line.

We then had some sort of all-hands play like SPUD, Elbow Tag, or the ever-popular Steal the Bacon.

The younger kids tried bouncing a ball in a sheet–how many times can you keep it up in the air?

What about water balloons?

I hate water balloons.

They’re hard to fill, only last through one toss, and can hurt kids.

That doesn’t include having to pick up all the tiny pieces of rubber afterward.

Instead, I always buy water “splash balls.”

They’re basically, ball-shaped sponges with a nylon cover.

I buy them at the local Dollar Store.

This year, I could buy two baseball-sized water balls, or four smaller balls, for a dollar.

Nobody cared because they worked just fine.

The secret: being a little organized

You don’t have to be super organized for VBS Recreation, but it helps to have some sort of plan.

I started each day by running through the planned relays and group activities with my “trusted” assistants. (This year, my adult son with an occasional teenage helper as needed).

This was particularly important on Friday, which is water day for our VBS program.

I brought towels and other, non-water-related games, for those who needed them.

This gave them options–they could build with cups, play hopscotch, hula hoop or cheer–while everyone else happily got wet.

First, though, we started with water-related relays.

Then we played a water splash ball variation of the “egg toss” game.

Along with Jumping Jacks Algonquin, that took up 15 of the 20 minutes.

The last five minutes–throw the water splash balls at each other with abandon!

(Except, the cardinal, very important, do not dare break this rule: don’t throw them at someone’s head).

They only needed five minutes to get sufficiently wet.

Perfect.

How about you? Any great VBS Recreation ideas?

Tweetables

How to run a VBS Recreation program. Click to Tweet

Don’t get hurt, do not die, have fun, and other VBS rec rules. Click to Tweet

Secrets to successful VBS rec programs. Click to Tweet