Parables of Jesus VBS

We did Parables of Jesus this year for Vacation Bible School. This will be the main post with the church building photos, craft ideas, and other information that I can share with you.

1. The Great Feast in Luke 14:15-24

The Great Feast was set up in the main foyer. The whole area was covered with the bulletin board paper, then Kelly and Donna used plastic table cloth runners to make the white parts of the decorations.

Donna added tea lights to the candelabras on the walls with rolled (sticky side out) duct tape to look like the candles.

 

The tables were set with real tablecloths, dishes and center pieces that the church building already had.

 

A couple people were asked to dress up like the people brought in from the highway in the parable and they sat where everyone could see them for the first night for this parable. Thanks to all of you for letting me use you in the photo!

This first lesson is the adult lesson taught by Scott Rathkamp and in his scientific way discusses the Parables, the background during the time of Jesus and how they applied. This is a good overview of Parables. My husband said I would have loved it, since I like knowing this sort of Bible information! You can click on the above picture to print it, and you can click here for the Spanish version:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3uNEVAAKowpR0NuMWxtRHF2bGc/edit?usp=sharing
Thanks Scott for sharing the lesson! You can see another interesting article Scott wrote for me here:
http://kidsbibledebjackson.blogspot.com/2013/04/what-does-bible-say-about-10th-plague.html

Click on the picture above to see my class decorations, lesson and more for The Great Feast.

2. The Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32

The Prodigal Son was in another hallway on both sides. All the walls were covered with bulletin board paper, then the drawn, painted, laminated, cutout of the son was added to the wall. My husband put the railing together for the pig pen that was from a previous VBS. Kelly laid out black fabric and attached some to the wall under the son as he is feeding the pigs. Jason brought in cut grass from outside and threw it down on the fabric to finish the look of the pig pen. Then, Kelly found 2 cute big helium piggy balloons and attached them to the fence rail!

At the end of that hallway, Kelly hung the sheet backdrop for Jesus. He was floor to ceiling and with the ceiling lights shining on Him, it made an incredible glowing look!

Click on the picture above to see my class decorations, lesson and more for The Prodigal Son.

 

3. The Lost Sheep & Coin in Luke 15:3-10

Our main hallway is divided into a couple of sections and one section was decorated for the Lost Sheep. One long side had the sheep enclosure, and the other had the shepherd with the lost sheep that was found. This is the Shepherd that has found his lost sheep, and one of the balloon sheep is attached to his hand! The Bible scripture was chalked around the room, over the hills, and over the doorways.

The sheep were made from blown up balloons! They had a small smooth stone inside before we blew them up to help weigh them down. They did seem to work better smaller, rather than full balloon size. Once they were tied off, we rolled clear packing tape sticky side out and stuck one side just above the tied off area. Then, added the face. The faces were done earlier in black and white using paper, cardstock, or construction paper. Then, 3 cotton balls were glued to the top of their cute heads! Some of the extra faces were stapled to the wall above the sheep and that added a nice pop!

The Lost Coin was in the next hall section. It was set up to look like the inside of a house on one side, and the broom, lost coin and lamp was on the other. The Bible scripture was chalked around the room here also, and over the doorways.

 

There was a spotlight on the opposite wall and lit up the lamp. Lots of fun for the kids!

Click on the picture above to see my class decorations, lesson and more for The Lost Sheep & Lost Coin.

4. The Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37

The Good Samaritan was designed on several walls. The long hallway had the priest and the Levite. On the other side was the hurt man. Everything was drawn, painted and laminated, then stapled to the walls. The 'rocks' on the ground were made from bulletin board paper and filled with crumpled paper and stapled together.

The inn was around the corner on another wall. Baskets were added in front to add a pop, and some jeweled coins were placed in one of the baskets.

Click on the picture above to see my class decorations, lesson and more for The Good Samaritan.