Sample of the Rock On VBS curriculum

Story
Verse
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Praise Him
Together!
Praise Him
with your
Hearts!
Praise Him
with your
Time!
Praise Him
with your
Talents!
Praise Him
with your
Voices!
Acts 2
Genesis 4
Luke 10
2 Chronicles 2
Luke 2
Pentecost and the
Fellowship of
Believers
Cain and Abel
Jesus with Mary
and Martha
Solomon builds the
Temple
The Angels and the
Shepherds
“Glorify the Lord with “‘People look at the
me; let us exalt his outward appearance,
name together.”
but the Lord looks at
-Psalm 34:3
the heart.’”
-1 Samuel 16:7B
“But seek first his
“Each of you should “Jesus said to them,
kingdom and his
use whatever gift you ‘Go into all the world
righteousness, and
have received to
and preach the
all these things will
serve others, as
gospel to all
be given to you as
faithful stewards of
creation.’”
well.”
God’s grace in its
-Mark 16:15
-Matthew 6:23
various forms.”
-1 Peter 4:10
Crafts: Day 1
Daily Theme:
Bible Story:
Theme Verse:
Praise Him Together!
Pentecost and the Fellowship of Believers
“Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.”
-Psalm 34:3
HarmoniKazoo
Quick overview:
We will make simple Popsicle-stick instruments, so the children may make music to praise God
together.
Supplies needed (for 10 campers):



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20 Wide Popsicle sticks (colorful?)
20 rubber bands (You could use small
rubber bands that have become
popular because of bracelet looms.)
20 toothpicks cut the length of the
popsicle sticks
10 pieces of paper cut to the width of
popsicle sticks
Preparation:
Decide whether you want all of the pieces
to be out at the station, or distribute the
pieces step-by-step.
Then set out two Popsicle sticks, two
rubber bands, two tiny toothpicks, and one
piece of paper at each station.
Lesson before the craft:
Today, we learned about Pentecost and the
fellowship of believers. The Holy Spirit
came to the Gentiles and gave them the ability to speak in different languages, so they could go and
spread the Gospel to people everywhere. Has anyone thought about speaking a different language
before? (Spanish, Chinese, French, Russian) This special gift brought many believers together.
In opening, Kody wanted to join a band. He saw how much it was like a family. We are all like a
family of fellow Christians.
Today we’re going to make our own instruments.
We can use these HarmoniKazoos to praise God
together for the wonderful blessings in our life.
Directions for craft:
1. Let the campers pick out what color Popsicle
stick they want.
2. They could decorate them with markers or
stickers.
3. After decorating, have the campers place the
paper in between the two Popsicle sticks.
4. Once in between, wrap a rubber band around
one end until it is snug
5. Slide a toothpick to the inside of the rubber
band.
6. Sandwich the last toothpick at the other end of
the Popsicle sticks, and wrap with a rubber band.
*NOTE: It works better to place the toothpicks
one on top of the paper and one underneath the
paper*
7. Give the harmonikazoo a hum!
Lesson after the craft:
As you are finishing your harmonikazoos, remember that we can praise God with our music. We
made a large band together, campers, just like the Christians in the early church. They went around
to many countries and praised God for the wonderful gift of Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins.
We cannot only praise God with our music, but also with the Gospel message of Jesus.
Variations:
You can experiment with different types of paper inside of the harmonikazoo. Try something thicker
like cardstock, or thin like tissue paper. A large width rubber band in between sounds great.
Snack: Day 2
Daily Theme:
Bible Story:
Theme Verse:
Praise Him with your Hearts!
Cain and Abel
“‘People look at the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart.’”
-1 Samuel 16:7B
Beautiful on the Inside
Quick overview:
Campers will do their best to mold sheep out of marshmallow cheerio bars, and be reminded that
God looks at the attitude in their heart.
Supplies:
-Large mixing bowl
-Spoon for mixing
-Microwave
Ingredients for 10 campers:
-5 cups Cheerios
-3 tablespoons butter
-6 cups mini marshmallows
-20 pretzel sticks
Preparation:
-Put butter and marshmallows in a large bowl.
-Heat butter and marshmallows in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-Immediately stir in Cheerios until evenly coated.
-Allow to cool.
(If you don't want to mix ingredients for all of the treats at once, you can mix the ingredients with
one group to be used with the next group. They shouldn’t need more than 20-30 minutes to cool
down.)
Lesson before the snack:
When Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to God, Cain had a bad attitude. There was sin in his heart,
and he did not give his offering as a thank you to God.
Review the day’s Bible verse.
Ask the campers what God sees when he looks inside of us. He sees not just our actions but also our
thoughts and feelings and attitudes. This is a problem because we have sin in those areas. But it is
also good that God can see them because he is the only one who can clean up that kind of invisible
sin.
When God cleans up our hearts, he pays the price for our sins, and he uses his Holy Spirit to guide us
to live a life of thanks and praise to God. Our snack today is based on the thank offering that Abel
brought to God. We are going to make sheep.
Before we start making our snack, let’s pray that God help us have good attitudes today.
Dear God,
Please help me to have a kind heart and a good attitude today so that I spread your love to
everyone. Amen.
Directions:
1. Divide Cheerio-marshmallow mixture into 10 equal parts. (Hands work better than spoons for
doing this in my opinion.)
2. Hand out two pretzel sticks to each camper and have them break them in half for the sheep’s
legs.
3. Tell campers to mold their cheerios into the shape of a sheep (body, head, tail).
4. Instruct campers to insert pretzels for the sheep’s legs.
5. Enjoy!
Lesson after the snack:
Review the verse of the day again.
What does it mean to have a bad attitude? What does it look like? What does it look like when you
have a good attitude? How can you show your good attitude to other people today? In snack?
If there is still time left, have children brainstorm how they can show thanks to God by having a good
attitude at home and school.
Adventure: Day 3
Daily Theme:
Bible Story:
Theme Verse:
Praise Him with your Time!
Jesus with Mary and Martha
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness
and all these things will be given to you as well.”
-Matthew 6:23
Raccoon Circles
Quick overview:
Pass the Raccoon Circle around the circle without letting go of your neighbor’s hand.
Supplies:
-at least one 15 foot section of one inch tubular webbing
Preparation:
Tie the webbing into a loop using a water knot.
You may want to prepare a second one for your level two
challenge.
Introductory story:
In today’s adventure the world clock has gotten sick (have
everyone exclaim OH NO! to show their concern) and it is
your job to fill in for it. The world clock is responsible for
everyone’s sense of timing.
Can you think of some problems that might happen if people don’t wake up on time?! People don’t
get a good breakfast. There might not be anyone to fix things that are broken. Our teachers won’t be
there to teach us… (OH NO!) You need to simulate the flux gear in the world clock. It is very
important to be quick about it!
Activity directions:
Have the group stand in a circle holding hands. Place the raccoon circle between two people in the
circle and reconnect their hands. Have the group pass the raccoon circle around without letting go of
hands. (They will be fitting their body through the circle and passing the loop to the next person.)
After they get the hang of it, time them and have them set a goal for how quickly they can simulate
the flux gear.
Level two: Make the raccoon circle have two loops or tie another raccoon circle to the first. Now
have the group make two circles holding hands and standing next to each other. In the same way as
level one give one loop of the raccoon circle to one group and the other loop to the other group. Now
have both groups try to go through the raccoon circle at the same time without letting go of each
other’s hands.
Reflection:
Was this super easy?
What was difficult for you?
What things helped you go faster?
How did you help each other?
Was being ready important?
How did you have an impact on the people around you?
Were you able to make anyone do anything?
Lesson after the activity:
In this activity were you more focused on getting everyone
through the loop as fast as possible or were you more
concerned about how you were treating others?
Often times we can be like Martha and forget about what is
important. What is more important than winning and being the fastest?
Can you think of a time when you got too focused on a game or activity and forgot about what is
most important?
Recreation: Day 4
Daily Theme:
Bible Story:
Theme Verse:
Praise Him with your Talents!
Solomon Builds the Temple
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have
received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s
grace in its various forms.” -1 Peter 4:10
Bodyguard
Quick overview:
As the bodyguard, campers will need to shield the rockstar from the photo-obsessed paparazzi.
Supplies needed:
-1 soft/rubber playground ball
Preparation:
None
Lesson before the activity:
Welcome back, rockers! By this point in the week, it’s likely that your music career has really taken
off, and you’re probably wondering how you can fend off those pesky reporters, photographers, and
your mobs of adoring fans. Fame isn’t always easy, you know. Lucky for you, there are some secret
agents who are willing to volunteer as your bodyguard. Hopefully they’re as protective as they claim
to be!
Activity directions:
To begin, I will choose one rockstar and one bodyguard. The rest of us, the paparazzi, will form a
circle around them, giving them enough space to move around. The bodyguard’s goal is to protect
the rockstar from being hit by all the camera flashes and gifts from the crowd (the playground ball).
When the rockstar gets hit, they become a bodyguard, and a new rockstar will be chosen from the
crowd.
Lesson after the activity:
If you were a bodyguard, what were some different ways you tried to protect your rockstar? How did
it feel to protect someone else?
When you were a rockstar, how did it feel to need someone else to protect you? If you could choose
your own bodyguard, why would you choose that person?
God’s Word tells us that each of us has gifts that we can use to serve others and to build up his
kingdom (1 Peter 4:10). When Solomon built the temple, he hired thousands of people with dozens
of different skills, and each one of them was important in making the temple a beautiful place where
people could worship God (2 Chronicles 2).
What are some special gifts that God has given you? How can you use them to be a blessing to
others?
Variations:
Limit the rounds to 30 seconds. Bodyguards who allow the rockstar to be hit in less than 30 seconds
are “fired” and the same rockstar remains. Bodyguards who protect their rockstar for their 30
seconds of fame become the new rockstar.
Or, to encourage teamwork between the paparazzi, you can have the assistor (the person who
passed the ball to the one who hit the rockstar) come to the middle and be the rockstar or
bodyguard. This also gets the campers into the middle faster.
Story: Day 5
Daily Theme:
Bible Story:
Theme Verse:
Praise Him with your Voices!
The Angels and the Shepherds
“Jesus said to them, ‘Go into all the world
and preach the gospel to all creation.’”
-Mark 16:15
Sweet News!
Quick overview:
The campers will hear about the Christmas story. They will see how the angels and shepherds spread
the good news, and how fast something else can spread.
Supplies:
-Shepherd costume (May include a long robe, a belt, a staff, a sheep…)
-Washable paint
-Wet wipes or some way for the kids to wash their hands
-2.5 x 7 inch rectangles of construction paper
-Lifesavers
-Coloring utensils
Introductory activity:
What are some things that spread from people to people? (Germs, rumors, news, fires, attitudes)
How fast can these things spread? We are going to see how fast things can spread. We are going to
go around shaking hands or giving high fives to each other. I am going to put a bunch of paint on my
hands (It needs to be a lot of paint.) We are going to see how far and fast the paint travels.
(If there are more than 12 campers, you can have extra counselors start with the paint on their
hands. It should spread very quickly.)
After almost everyone has some paint on their hands, get the kids’ attention. Hold up your hands if
you got paint on them. Do you see how fast things can spread? (Then you can have them wipe off
their hands with the wet wipes or wash in a bathroom. While the campers are cleaning up, change
into a simple shepherd outfit. If it is easier, you can wear the costume the whole time, but it is not
necessary.)
Story:
You guys did a great job spreading paint to other people. I remember when something spread just as
fast as that paint. It was back when I was a shepherd near Bethlehem. It was an ordinary night, the
other shepherds and I were watching over our sheep to make sure nothing bad happened. I was
dosing off a little, because it was late at night, when suddenly there was a bright light in the sky. It
was the brightest light I had ever seen. It was like heaven opened up! I was so scared! Everyone
else was either terrified like me or confused on what was happening!
We heard a voice that told us not to be afraid. The voice was an angel! It said, “I have good news, in
fact it is the best new I could possible tell you! Today there was a baby born in Bethlehem. That
baby is the promised Savior, who will save the whole world from their sins. Go to Bethlehem and find
the child in a manger in a stable and wrapped in cloth.” Suddenly more and more angels appeared
until the whole sky was full of these brilliantly shining angels. The angels praised God with their
voices and said, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor
rests.”
The angels returned back to heaven. I looked at the other shepherds. We knew what we had to do.
We ran to Bethlehem as fast as we could. We found the Savior as a little baby boy who was sleeping
in a cattle trough in a small stable near an inn. His parents looked exhausted but were happy that
they had welcomed this child into the world.
There was no way that we could keep this good news to ourselves, so we told everyone we met that
the Savior had been born! That news spread fast, just like the paint spread fast.
Discussion:
What are some ways that the voice was used to praise God in the story I just told you? (Song of the
angels, announcement of the angels, the shepherd telling others.)
We can praise God with our voices by singing and spreading the good news of Jesus to everyone we
know!
When can we sing to praise Jesus? How can we share the good news of Jesus with others?
(Brainstorm some real situations that these kids could accomplish.)
Activity:
We are going to make some easy little things that we can give people to share the good news of
Jesus. These are some mints that you can use as a testa”mint” to tell others about Jesus. (This
picture should help you see what the end result is.)
Step 1) Hand out the 2.5 x 7 rectangles of paper.
Step 2) On the bottom of the rectangle, fold up an
inch at the bottom.
Step 3) Take the top and fold it down to the
bottom, so it is in half like a match jacket.
Step 4) Let the kids decorate it. Some examples
include “Be a Testa”mint”” “Let me show you a real
lifesaver...Jesus” “Here’s some encourage-mint”.
They can put Bible passages on it or draw a
picture. While they are coloring, you can review the
passage of the day with the group.
Step 5) Staple the life saver to the inside flap that
you folded in step two.
Step 6) Share with others who may not know about
Jesus.
Encourage the campers to bring them home and
give them to someone who doesn’t know Jesus. If
possible and if time allows, let them make more
than one. If they do make more than one, have
them put them in a ziplock bag with their name on it and make sure that they pick them up at the
end of the day.