Comments on: Competing in the "VBS classroom decoration wars."

By: paula

paula — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 18:37:53 +0000

my spiritual gift is glitter. like seriously, i’m the mcguyver of glitter. and i think that i may be a previously un-named member of the vbs decorating cartel. i promise to never force my glittery skills on others, but man, do i love that magical time of year when vbs or other church programs pop up so that i can use my spiritual gift to the fullest.

i get it honest…my mom is an honorary vbsdc member. she and my dad spent days making these amazing life-sized animals one year for the christmas nativity pageant. and she put them in the back of the truck and took off to deliver them to the church. except one of them blew out of the truck and she ran over it. dad couldn’t get the tread marks off of the poor thing. and since you can’t have a nativity pageant without a donkey, we had to put it on the stage tread marks and all. one of my favorite christmas memories for sure!!!

By: Abby

Abby — Fri, 13 May 2011 00:28:42 +0000

Could you PLEASE come announce our church’s VBS decor contest with this? That would make my year!!!!

By: Tabitha

Tabitha — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:36:28 +0000

We're allowed to decorate however we want at our VBS. For the past couple of years, they even let people paint the walls. It started with a fish mural. This year one room is painted to look like the inside of a barn. My parents and I built a shed thing in one of the rooms. Anyway, all that to say, it would appear the cartel hasn't made it to my church yet. Maybe they won't.

By: pdjg

pdjg — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:43:20 +0000

I love it….I probably spend more time on VBS decorations that I do anyother thing (in my life). Along with my faithful side=kick (my mom), we start months ahead of time getting things together. Honestly, we usually take a few weeks off after VBS and then start on next years. I destroy my house and office to accomodate my decorations….Yes, the cartel is alive and well in Souther Baptist Churches, and I, my friends, are a mastermind in it.

By: Clay

Clay — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:55:00 +0000

I am a children’s pastor and I have come to the conclusion that the VBS arms race is for the adults and not the kids. There is no reason to spend thousands of dollars on cardboard, tape, and paint when the kids have an equally good time if you throw in a good game of dodge ball in with your lesson. I know it is supposed to be for outreach, but whenever I ask to invite community kids groups I just get told we do not have enough workers or space. This is not for church kids!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:20:00 +0000

I’M A PROUD MEMBER OF THE VBSDC!!! I don’t go running around telling the other teachers how to decorate though— I’m competitive— I work my crepe paper, stapler, dollar store props and other decorations into my area (the CRAFTS STATION – no seriously!!) and make it look FANTASTIC so everyone else’s areas can’t even compare!!! I’m the VBS Director this year (And still doing the crafts!) so I get to expand my creative craftiness into the sanctuary— IT’S GOING TO BE *AWESOME* THIS YEAR!!!!!!!! mwaah-hahaha–
~Lisa~

By: Timbo

Timbo — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:17:00 +0000

I'm a history teacher, and if you could have showed the historical relevance, I would have passed you with at least a B. I always like creativity in projects.

When I did my student teaching, this one kid that I had in my Junior civics class asked me how long this paper I had assigned was supposed to be. Given that I had already said how long it was supposed to be three times, I told him that it had to be exactly 500 words, every other word bolded, every third word underlined, and that it had to be printed landscape style.

Well, suffice it to say, he did it. I laughed, he laughed, I gave him a quick verbal quiz to make sure he knew the material, and he got an A.

As a side note, he had a sister in 4th grade that was the coolest little girl ever. She used to come to my classroom after school (it was a k-12 small country school) and try to make me think of words that she couldn't spell. It's pretty amazing when a fourth grader can spell out things like "superfluous" and "cybernetic".

By: kc

kc — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:03:00 +0000

Speaking of VBS, have you considered a send-up of all the parents who, instead of actually having to tend their children all summer, just send them to a different VBS every week?

By: robyn collins

robyn collins — Sat, 31 May 2008 07:19:00 +0000

you have definitely been at my church…. this is AWESOME!!!!!! i once used my artistic gifts to design a skyline… this was a very long project… the cartel swept in and destroyed this work… and opted for a much cheesier solution. ugh. that was my last year in vbs design

By: ADBulldawgs

ADBulldawgs — Sat, 31 May 2008 04:00:00 +0000

One VBS year (the year I was VERY pregnant) I had my husband chopping bamboo the day before VBS and then constructing a full size foot bridge for the children to pass over to get into “China.” Not sure there are a lot of foot bridge’s in China, but my Mississippi-Southern Baptist-VBS (& pregnant) self certainly felt it was completely necessary…