Here is another alternative VBS idea for parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, or friends and neighbors to consider for creating a mini backyard VBS program. Use The Creation to share with children who may have already been playing together safely. Outdoors is the safest place to play when we have to be concerned with the Covid-19 virus. One or more canopy tents would be beneficial for shade and/or shelter if it should rain.
A coloring page is available for each creation day in the downloadable PDF file found in the books or e-book. These can be printed on paper or traced onto cloth fabric for making a quilt.
Several years ago I gathered together a lot of ideas that could be used by a church to create its own VBS program using my earlier version of The Creation. This information can still be found at this link: VBS The Creation and another Creation Week Activities
Rather than totally re-write what I wrote previously, I will focus on the simplest ideas that can be used out-of-doors with a small group of children. These are only suggestions. Build the kind of program that fits the amount of space and time you have available with your children. Decide how many days you will meet with the children and double up the days of creation if necessary to fit them all in.
Set up a laptop or a flat TV screen with BlueTooth features to lead singing the hymns below on YouTube. You may also be able to share the pictures from the Kindle e-book version of The Creation on the screen as you read it to the children.
Music
YouTube videos with text
My God is so Big (for the youngest children)
Indescribable (You Are Amazing God)
All Things Bright and Beautiful
He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
Activities by Creation Day
First Day of Creation
Before God created light he hovered over the waters. Play with water balloons or swim if a pool is available. Play in a sprinkler, put it on a large tarp to create a mini-water park and include a wading pool. Consider using water during playtime each day if it is really hot outside.
God created light where it was originally total darkness. It is unlikely you can create a total darkness situation outdoors, but you can play with shadows on a sunny day. A game of shadow tag might work well. The person who is “it” has to step on the shadow of another player who becomes “it.” Another option might be a lazer tag game. Safe Lazer tag kits are available for purchase online or in stores.
Use black or dark construction paper and leaves or other items found in nature to make leaf silhouettes. Lay the leaves and items on the construction paper on a table in bright sunshine and leave it undisturbed for at least an hour. When you remove the items, the imprints will be on the paper.
Look for other ways to play with light using mirrors, prisms, and flashlights.
Snack – Oreo cookies to emphasize light and dark. Every day serve something cold like ice cream or popsicles if it’s hot outdoors.
Second Day of Creation
Emphasize that God separated the waters and created the sky. Activities can illustrate how air has volume by blowing up balloons then play games with them. Who can sit on a balloon longest without it popping? Which team can keep the balloon up in the air longest without it touching the ground?
A pinwheel is easy to make and demonstrates that moving air can make it spin. Here is a link to make a simple pinwheel.
Blow bubbles. Talk about the air that is inside the bubbles.
Serve fruit with whipped cream for a snack. Whip the cream to show how air changes cream from liquid to a frothy topping.
Third Day of Creation
Emphasize that God called dry ground out of the waters, and created plants with fruits and seeds
Plant seeds in cups with soil. Zinnias or sunflowers can be good choices for mid-summer as they grow fast and can be set out in the garden later.
Scavenger hunt for different kinds of plants in the yard if there is a good variety available. Bring back a leaf. Or let children take pictures of their finds on their scavenger hunt.
Serve nuts and fruit on large paper plates. Encourage children to create a picture with the nuts and fruit before they eat it.
Fourth Day of Creation
Emphasize that God created the sun, moon, and stars and used them to measure time and to make the four seasons.
Make a day and night fan. For the foundation of the fan find some already made old-timey church fans, or use heavy card stock paper and a tongue depressor. On one side of the fan glue dark blue or black construction paper and on the other side glue pale blue paper. Use stickers or confetti stars and moon to glue on the dark blue side to create the night sky. Glue a yellow sun to the pale blue side.
Demonstrate the movement of the sun moon and earth in relationship to each other. Let one child be the sun, one the moon, and one the earth. Have the sun stand still while the earth makes large circles around it. To make it even more realistic, the earth should be spinning like a top as it circles the sun but that would be very difficult for a child to do. Then have the moon make circles around the earth, always facing the earth while the earth continues to spin. Other children could be planets circling the sun. Then explain that the stars are like the sun, but because they are so far away they look tiny. The sun is actually one of the smaller stars. And even though we had the sun standing still, it along with the other stars are actually moving through space as well.
Here is an excellent resource (link) of Moon Activities for Kids by a homeschooling mom.
Refreshments: Moon pie? LOL! Cookies could be made in various shapes to include moon and stars. Chocolate pudding with miniature marshmallows could represent the night sky with stars in it.
Fifth Day of Creation
Emphasize the creation of birds, fish and other creatures that live in water.
Game: Water or sky. Divide the children into two teams, one is the birds and flying creatures, the other group is fish and water creatures. Each team has a home base, a spot to run to for safety. The water creatures will call their base the sea. The flying creatures can use a tree for their base. Everyone mingles around in a central location between the two bases. Then the leader calls out the name of a bird or creature from one of the two groups. If the leader says “Robin,” or names any other bird, then the birds and flying creatures team tries to tag everyone in the other group before they get to safety in the sea. If the leader says “whale” or any other creature of the sea, then the fish and water creatures try to tag the birds and flying creatures before they get to safety in the tree.
Make bird feeders with pine cones, peanut butter, and bird seeds. Press the peanut butter into the spaces of a dry pine cone and roll it in birdseed. Tie a string around the middle of the pine cone ahead of time for hanging the bird feeders from a tree branch. A slice of dry bread could also be used in place of the pine cone. Spread it with peanut butter and press bird seed on it. Do an online search for other fun bird feeders you can make.
Creative Little Fish Crafts for Kids A great web find (link) with kids making fish crafts.
Underwater Film of Various Sea Life in the Pacific Cool video (link) less than two minutes long with a lot of variety in it if you are able to show it on a screen.
Serve blue gelatin with gummy fish in it.
Sixth Day of Creation
Emphasize creation of land animals and people.
Animal Freeze Tag: variation of the old freeze tag game. Every child is given the name of an animal. The leader calls out the name of one of the animals. That person is “it” and tries to tag as many of the children as he/she can. When children are tagged, they must freeze in that spot. Set boundaries before the game starts to keep them together and give “it” a better chance to tag everyone. Set a time limit and mark down the number of children tagged. After everyone has a chance to be “it,” declare the winner as the one who tagged the most children.
Look for the kinds of animals and creatures that can be found in your yard. Don’t forget about insects and worms. If children bring cell phones, have them take pictures of creatures they find in the yard.
If it is a hot dry day and you have a suitable side of a building for a backdrop, have the children stand sill against the building in any pose. Then quickly spray them all with a water hose. Have children step back and look at the building to see their dry silhouettes on the wet background. Be ready to snap a picture before the water dries.
Think of ways we are different and ways we are alike. The Butterfly Song is a good wrap up on all animals and especially people. Children need to know they are created special and unique in God’s eyes. They should never feel ashamed of how they were made.
Made in God’s image. Ask children to think of ways we are made in God’s image. Possibilities: creative, intelligent, care about others, loving, strong . . . We aren’t equal to God by any stretch of the imagination, but God has given us many of his characteristics. He expects us to develop them as we strive to be more like Jesus every day.
Serve animal crackers and gingerbread boy and girl cookies. Children could decorate the gingerbread cookies to represent themselves.
Seventh Day of Creation
Emphasize that God rested and set for us an example that we should rest as well.
Take a rest break. This is probably not the most popular “activity” as it is a non-activity. Set a timer for an appropriate length of time based on the age of your children. Ask them to not talk, but stay still, lying down if reasonable given your situation, and have them look around at the nature around them and think about God and his creation, remembering that he too took time out to rest. Restful Christian music may be played during this time. At the end of the predetermined time, discuss the importance of rest in our own lives. What are some ways we can make our seventh days (Sundays or Sabboths) more restful than other days? Don’t skip this activity as the seventh day is an important part of the creation week.
Craft idea. Using the downloadable coloring pages from The Creation, by Janice D. Green, trace and color one of the pictures on a pillowcase (100% cotton and use Crayola crayons) and press between paper towels with a hot iron to set the color. See more complete instructions on the Bible Quilts website.
Serve SomeMores made in the microwave. Place graham cracker square with chocolate square and a marshmallow layered on top. Watch closely in microwave. As soon as marshmallows puff up, stop cooking it and add a second graham cracker square on top. Serve warm. Tell children the marshmallows are to remind them of their pillow and their need for rest.
I hope you will share any additional ideas you think of that would be appropriate for a creation week VBS and share them in the comments below. I would also love to see pictures of your backyard VBS. (Get approval from the children’s parents before sharing pictures)
Win a free copy of The Creation, Color your own pictures. I will select a winner from those sharing ideas and/or pictures from a random drawing on August 19.
All three formats of The Creation are available here.
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