Caleb- VBS

I've been a volunteer for my church's VBS (vacation bible school) this week. It has been awesome! I do recreation for 5th and 6th grade. The kids love it, but they get wound up really fast. Soon kids are hitting each other with noodles, throwing wet sponges at each other, grabbing the hose and soaking me (not fun), and kicking footballs.

Still, I think they're learning about God. Sometimes after we play a game, we ask questions.

Example: Q: How did spinning affect your throw?
Predicted answers: It made me dizzy; It was harder to find my target.
We (the volunteers and I) ask them the question.
Kids: (nervous silence)
So we start giving them the answers: "Did it make you kind of dizzy?"
Kids: It was easy!
Volunteers: "The point of the game was that God would always show you the way."

Today we decided to end recreation in prayer. My first thought when we started praying was that they were silent and they must get really serious when it comes to praying. The moment prayer was over they started screaming and sprinting.

The other thing we did differently today was having them run a lap around the church so they didn't have enough energy to goof off like they did so much yesterday. Some kids were lying on the ground after the run, but five minutes later kids were chasing each other, but it wasn't quite as crazy. After a while we played a game boys against girls that involved holding hands. When we asked them to do the game as a group the girls didn't want to hold hands with a boy and the boys started chasing some of the girls that they wanted to hold hands with. Eventually we got them under control.

One of the cool things about being a volunteer is that there is a "break room." There are snacks and couches and tables in there. The other volunteers and I go in there at the end of VBS and have snacks and talk while sitting at the couches. One of the volunteers, Preston, and I sat there and talked for a while. We have become friends over these few days of VBS.

I think that VBS is a great opportunity for the kids to learn about God.