Planning

The easy VBS

You have in your hands a VBS that is simple, easy to plan, and easy to do. Just pick a date, gather some volunteers, hang some invitation posters around the community, and you are ready to go!
With a larger team of staff, the VBS is more fun for everyone involved, so we have divided up the work into various roles to involve more people.

Here are some ideas for you to divide up the workload of your VBS:
1 VBS director
1 Song leader
1 Preacher for the main lesson
2 Actors for the drama (the captain and the robot)
1 Cadet Class coordinator (the classroom with student books)
1 Engineering (crafts) coordinator
1 Mess Hall (snacks) coordinator
1 Games coordinator
6-10 leaders for each small group, depending on the amount of children in your VBS

Dramas/Sketches

Each day the captain will lead the kids on a ride in the space ship, ‘Galaxy Express’ with the help of his assistant robot.
Your captain is a serious man because he is responsible for the ship, as well as the children’s ability to receive spiritual input during the week. He introduces his assistant robot to the audience: a clumsy and sometimes malfunctioning robot. Sometimes while the robot is talking, he ends up muttering and just spitting out weird sounds instead of words. He always needs oil in his joints to keep moving.
Each day the captain and the robot will introduce the main point of the day, and the response the kids need to do each time they hear it. The captain will also introduce the space application that the kids will hear in their small groups.
The skit ideas are provided for the VBS opening of each day, but you can also close the day with them, or have the characters participate in the games, or go around and visit the classes. The kids will love getting to know the captain and the robot!

Live, in action!

Each day, the students will learn a phrase for that day, and the response with actions. This activity is very important, so that your students will not get bored during the main sermon, but it will make your whole VBS special. Throughout your whole VBS, whenever a leader mentions the phrase of the day, the students should know the response and the action that goes with it. They will learn it during the drama with the captain and the robot, and you can use it the rest of the day.

Games

The games for this program will be played with all the children sitting in a large group, separated into teams. (You can have 2 teams up to 4 teams.) The easiest would be the boys against the girls. For each game, the teams will send a few volunteers to represent their team while the others help by screaming, cheering, and laughing from their chairs. So that the children do not get bored, play several different games each day, for short periods of time, changing volunteer participants.
One idea for choosing the students who will participate up front in the games, is to look for well behaving students during the other activities of your VBS. Hand these students something that shows they get to play. It could be something to hang around their necks, something tied on their wrists, or a card they put into their pocket.
For each game, the more prepared ahead of time you can be, the better the games will be. As you prepare these games, think “gameshow” or “Nickelodeon” TV shows. You could have some bright fabric for the students to put on up front, sound effects or music for the game time, and maybe some fun decorations. (We have provided a game-time song for you to play on the Galaxy Express CD.”) Do in-expensive things that can add some real fun to your VBS. So get ready and have fun!

Schedule

(2½ hour program)
The Bridge All together in large group (50 minutes)

• Songs (20 minutes)
• Drama (10 minutes)
• Main Lesson with memory verse (20 minutes)

Rotating Stations in 3 smaller groups divided by ages (1 hour)

• Cadet Class with student books (20 minutes)
• Engineering with craft project (20 minutes)
• Mess Hall with snacks and space factoid (20 minutes)

The Bridge games in large group again (30 minutes)

Closing song and announcements (10 minutes)

Rotation Stations

In the middle of each day, the children split up into three groups and rotate through the stations: Mess Hall (snack and space application), Engineering (crafts), and Cadet Class (student books and lesson review).

Mess Hall

Here you’ll find instructions on how to prepare the snack. Keep in mind that the students could enjoy creating the snack like a craft before eating it. Don’t miss the opportunity to teach them to clean up after themselves.

Factoid (Space application to discuss during snack)
During snack time, discuss with the students the space application and how it relates to the lesson and to their daily lives. Information about the snack and space application are also found in the Mess Hall leader’s pamphlet.

Engineering

Here you’ll find an idea for a craft, with necessary and optional supplies and instructions. All the crafts in the Galaxy Express VBS program are designed to use about 1 sheet of paper per craft, keep ing them economic as possible. Download the patterns online, and look for the craft information both in this director’s manual and in the Engineering leader’s pamphlet.

Cadet Class

Here you’ll find instructions for a few key words from the Bible story in sign language. Review the story, teaching these words in sign language. Then pass out the student books and assist anyone with the puzzles. This information is also in the Cadet Class leader’s pamphlet.

Example: Family
With thumbs and index fingers touching, make outward circle until hands touch.