God's Backyard Bible Camp

Last week our church teamed up with another church in town to put on a Vacation Bible School called God's Backyard Bible Camp. (Okay, actually, the other church really did most of the work, and we just dropped our kids off, but still, it counts! I stayed and helped run crafts, so it totally counts!)

 

The program ran for four days - Monday through Thursday - from 5:15 to 7:30.  We kicked each night off with dinner, of course!  On the first night they did cute little picnic lunches wrapped up in bandanas, and then there was camping classics like beans and weenies, mac 'n cheese, and spaghetti!

After dinner, the kids gathered together around the "camp fire" for music, videos, and the large group lesson.  It was quite a task to keep almost 40 kids from ages four to twelve focused, but somehow they managed to do a pretty darn good job!

After the large group lesson, the kids were divided into two groups:  the "preschool" group and the older kids.  Logan fell into the preschool group, and his "camp counselor" was Amy (who is actually another mother from our day care!).  Everyday they went from large group, to crafts, to Bible study, to the playground, and then back inside for a fun dessert.

Three of the four nights I volunteered to help with crafts (the other night I worked in the nursery), so I got to help Logan and his friends create different projects like "camp fire handprints", owls, lanterns, and "stained glass" crosses. 

I'm not sure how Bible study time went because I never got a chance to sneak in there and see what was going on, but I do know that Logan loved the room that they hung out in...especially getting to be the one weilding the flashlight!  On our last day I did make Logan go sit in his room and let me take his picture!

Logan's favorite part every day was doing the outside activities.  His favorite activity was glow in the dark bowling and ring toss - he couldn't stop talking about that one!  On the last day, I sneeked out of crafts with the older kids and popped my head outside to see what was going on.  They had already finished their activity, but they were still having a blast playing with the bubble machine!

Last on the agenda every night was "sugaring them up"!  (Officially known as "snack time".)  This included s'mores one night, chocolate pudding the second, dirt cake with gummy worms the third, and lastly...ice cream sundaes! 

And one last thing that I should note about VBS this year...they had a nursery program!  This was awesome for parents like me who had children too little for Bible school yet, but still really wanted to help out.  My friend Shelly from church took care of the little ones with the help of her two awesome kids!  Gavin got to make some new friends, hang out with an old pal from day care, and check out some new toys.  Oh, and he got to have dinner and dessert, too...I'm pretty sure "food time" was his favorite time!

Gods' Backyard Bible Camp was a blast, but as fun as it was...I'm glad it is over and only comes around once a year!  Phew - it was a busy and exhausting experience!  That being said, I loved getting to do VBS with Logan and Gavin this year! It was such a fun learning experience for all of us!  I'm sure next year will be even better!