Family Faith Companion

Our final day of PandaMania!

You should have seen us at Party Time Sing & Play, singing, and dancing through the aisles with a conga line! Overheard: “I don’t know what you have done with my shy little boy, but he just danced down the aisle to his seat!”

Panda Patty was back. News flash! She has decided not to try to become a panda! She had a gift she wanted to give the Pandas for, you know, the trouble she had caused them this week. Ask your kids what the gift was. (I sure wouldn’t have sampled it myself!)

We tried to figure out what our Bible story would be for today. The Bamboo Bible Clue was mysterious:

God gives a good gift.
Oh, what a surprise.
This good gift could really cry.

A good gift that cries? I wonder what that could be? Our Bible Point for the day has to do with gifts:

God gives good gifts.

We sang some more songs and were introduced to today’s Bible Buddy: Lulu. (The introductions to each Bible Buddy can be viewed on-line. See today’s here.) Lulu is a Golden Monkey. God gave Lulu the amazing gift of being able to swing through the trees! She can almost fly! Lulu can be a reminder that God gives good gifts. (Thank you God!) Before we went to our various stations, we did some more singing and dancing.

What happened next? The preschoolers visited the following stations:

• Bible Adventures – Children were asked about their favorite gifts. They discussed the reason that getting a gift is special: because it means the person giving it to you cares about you!  They heard today’s story: about God giving Hannah a gift, a baby! (1 Samuel 1:1–2:11). Then the kids retold the story using hand gestures.  Mike also got his guitar out and they sang a song about their favorite gifts.  The children loved singing the song.
• Bible Buddies – Kids discussed gifts that God has given them: their parents, their friends, their toys, even coyotes were mentioned!   They received their last Bible Buddy, Lulu the Golden Monkey.  Skyler, the squirrel puppet, was excited because he finally found a panda puppet friend! Finally they drew/wrote their God Sightings: gifts God has given them. Just look at our God Sightings posters!
  
  

• Crafts – The children made a Hannah’s baby doll out of a stuffed sock. They were very cute!
• Games – They played a game with balloons, pretending the balloons were Hannah’s baby; don’t want the baby to fall to the ground! They also played musical chairs with music from PandaMania.

Meanwhile elementary kids visited the following stations:

• Wild Bible Adventure – Crews talked first about a time when someone else got something that they really, really wanted. How did they feel? Sometimes it seems like other people get all the good stuff! That happened in the Bible in the story of Hannah from 1 Samuel 1:1–2:11. Our story was told in a unique way that pulled the kids into the emotions that Hannah must have felt. (Ask your kids about the Starburst candy!)
• Bamboo Blast Games – Games was full of fun today. First off was “Barrel O’ Monkeys” – a form of tag where the kids had to link arms with a partner/monkey and try to avoid “It.” This was a game where all of the children got to hook up with a lot of people – what a wonderful gift it is to pair up with someone new and work together!

  To reinforce the point that the children have all been good gifts to each other this week, they broke up into teams and played a crazy game of volleyball together. What made it crazy? Larger and larger balls kept getting thrown into the game!

  What was one of the best gifts of all for the children this week? Their Crew Leader! And so they ended this week of Bamboo Blast Games by wrapping their crew leader up like a present.

• Crazy Crafts – The children talked about the greatest gift from God. Do you know what it is? Jesus! Jesus died so that our sins could be forgiven. To remind us of that great gift and of God’s love for each of us, they decorated cross necklaces.
• Chadder’s Theatre – Finally we found out what happened to the missing Pandas! Then we reflected on the “God Sightings” posters, how bare it was at the beginning of the week and how Panda-filled it was today! Each Panda represents a “God Sighting,” an instance when we saw or felt God in our lives.

  God gives good gifts! We have been blessed! Sandy taught us about blessings in Bible times. She showed us an example of how someone was blessed by blessing her grandson (her station helper). A blessing included a touch, usually to the head. In fact the Bible tells us in Psalm 139:5,

  You place your hand of blessing on my head.

  So that is what the crews did, they blessed each other. Finally, the kids were surprised with a confetti shower, which symbolized what it is like when God blesses us!

What was the Grad Group up to today? They finished organizing and assembling school supply kits and then delivered all of the kits and the donated backpacks (20 of them!) to the Bryant Community Center in Ann Arbor. After that it was off to Burns Park to celebrate their week together serving the community.

As we closed out the day at Rowdy Wrapup, we reviewed Bible Points, and Bible Buddies, and sang songs. We talked more about blessings, how they are gifts from God. When people give blessings to another person they are offering a very good gift! (Read more about how you can give this gift to your children here.)

In closing here is a short video of our theme song: Wild About You

VBC: Wild About You.

Our week at PandaMania is going fast!

If you’d like to see past daily postings about our Vacation Bible Camp (VBC) experience at FUMC in Ann Arbor, click here.

Take a look at a slideshow with lots of pictures from VBC here.

Important stuff for parents/guardians:

• Thank you for picking up your child on time!
• We will be singing two songs during worship this Sunday –Wild About Us and Watching Over You. Please join us at 9:30 and wear your VBC T-shirt!
• Keep those school supplies and backpacks coming! We are in need of pens, highlighers, rulers, and protractors, but whatever you can bring will be appreciated.

Once again, we started off together at Party Time Sing & Play with a review of Bible stories and Bible Points and Bible Buddies, from this week. Kids remembered them all! Today’s Bible Buddy is Pogo. (That’s him up on the left.) Pogo is a Snow Leopard. It looks like he’s about to pounce into trouble! It’s a good thing that God loves him no matter what he gets into. Hey, that’s our Bible Point for today!

God Loves You, No Matter What!

Our key Bible verse is from Psalm 139:24.

Lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Did you know that our daily Bible verse is inscribed on the back of our daily Bible Buddy? Take a look at the back of today’s Bible Buddy, Pogo.

Panda Patty put in a quick appearance today, in fact she came in running; the Pandas were chasing her! Panda’s are pretty low-key, I wonder what Panda Patty did to make them mad at her? I hope that the Pandas don’t hate Patty? Do you suppose that God is mad at her for what she did? Hmmm, I wonder if we’ll find out in today’s Bible story? Our Bamboo Bible Clue gives us a hint about about what our story is about for today.

Jesus died for our sin. And he comes to life again.

We spent the rest of our time together singing songs! Another new song: His Great Love! We got to do a couple of “Panda Picks” to choose which songs to sing. We know all the words!

What happened next? Our elementary kids visited the following stations:

• Bamboo Blast Games – In a game called “Blown Away,” leader Sheila “launched” pandas into the crowd of children and instructed them to catch the pandas without moving or jumping. Sometimes they saved the pandas from falling and sometimes they didn’t. The kids were reminded that sometimes in life things don’t go our way, but God loves us no matter what.

  “What a Wild Mess” was a crazy relay race that involved one person on
  each team catching wet spongy balls by pulling up the front of his/her
  garbage bag poncho (forming a “basket”). Kids loved throwing the wet
  balls for their teammate to catch and could hardly wait for their turn
  as the catcher!

• Chadder’s Theatre – The children were asked to draw or write an example of how they know God is with you forever. Some examples were: “He is invisible, God loves me when I’m mean, and God is with me when I play soccer.”
  Then, it was onto the continuation of Chadder’s Mystery of the Missing Pandas. After having dressed up as a panda to try to deceive the inspector, Chatter repents and sets off to find the inspector to tell him the truth. There are efforts to thwart Chadder (with some crazy martial arts moves). Will they succeed? Will Chadder get to the inspector in time to tell him the truth? Tune in tomorrow for the conclusion!

  This session wrapped up by reflecting on God’s everlasting love and everlasting life. The children gathered in a crew group hug, and the crew leader blessed each one of them individually. The children always leave Chadder’s Movie Mania with the highly anticipated Bible Buddy. Today it was Pogo. Demonstrating a grasp of the Bible point of the day, one child was overheard telling the station leader, “Pogo is sometimes naughty, but God still loves him.”

• Crazy Crafts – Kids created panda-themed photo frames and received a photo of their own crew to display in it! As the kids looked at all their crew photos, leader Nancy S. reminded them that we are all very different and God loves us no matter what!
• Wild Bible Adventures – Everyday this station is creative and meaningful, but today station leaders Rob and Heather brought much excitment and emotion to the story of Jesus’ followers and Peter’s betrayal. The day got off to a bang with Jesus’ followers (aka all the children at PandaMania) needing to escape from the Roman guards who were pursuing them! After scurrying around the whole first floor, they found shelter in a “Secret Hideout.” Just as they got settled, Peter stormed into the hideout. Once he realized he was with other followers of Jesus, he shared the pain he was feeling over betraying Jesus not once, not twice, but three times! Can you imagine turning your back on a friend or having a friend betray you? Remembering the Bible Point that God loves you, no matter what, the followers tried to reassure Peter and comfort him. Then, they were asked to reflect individually on how it feels to betray someone or turn your back on them. After a moment, crew leaders gently reminded each child that God loves them too, no matter what!

The Grad Group (graduated 5th and 6th graders) have been working on mission projects – today they worked on projects right in the building! First they finished making school supply kits. (Tomorrow they will deliver them to the Bryant Community Center in Ann Arbor.) Then they re-packaged bulk food items into single serve bags for FUMC’s LOVE Thy Neighbor Lunch Program. This food will be given to our hungry and homeless neighbors Saturday during the LOVE program’s lunch distribution at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.

The preschoolers visited the following stations:

• Bible Adventures – Forgiveness was today’s topic. The question was asked, “Have you ever done anything that you felt bad about?” “Have you ever told a lie?”  A sad face was put on the children’s hands with a marker, to show how we all have sinned.  But then they talked about how God forgives our sins, so their sad faces were wiped off and replaced with a happy face to show how we are forgiven.
• Bible Buddies – A discussion about saying “I’m sorry.” started off our time together. Being put in “Time Out” was brought up and the leader discussed how even when our Mommies and Daddies put us in Time Out they still love us, right?  This is how God is too, even when we do something wrong, God always loves us.  Another preschooler was discussing saying “I’m sorry” and he said, “Sometimes I give kisses and that’s how I say I’m sorry!” The children received their third Bible Buddy, Pongo, the Snow Leopard.  Then they drew their God Sightings, pictures of things that remind them of God.
• Crafts – The children made a cute magnetic picture frame and received a photo of their VBC crew. 
• Games – They first played a game about the Resurrection. One child was covered with a white sheet, this was Jesus, the rest of the group counted to 3 to represent the 3 days that Jesus was in the tomb, then the leader pulled the sheet off the child when they got to 3 and they said, “He is risen!”  Another game they played was about forgiveness.  They sprayed shaving cream on beach balls, the shaving cream represented sin, then they took turns washing away the sin with spray bottles and they discussed how Jesus washes away our sins.

Of course mid-way through our morning we had to stop at Treetop Treats for a snack! We feasted on frosted and decorated pretzel sticks formed into the shape of a cross. Ask your kids about what they talk about with their crew, during snack. (Hint: it involves using an iOpener.)

And finally, at Rowdy Wrap-Up, we gathered to recap our day. We enjoyed watching the “SpotLight” slide show, which includes photos of kids helping to re-tell our Bible story. Along with the singing of a couple of songs, we also heard about how today’s Key Bible Verse applies to our lives: When we are friends of Jesus, he will lead us along the path of everlasting life.

Welcome back to PandaMania!

If you’d like to see past daily postings about our Vacation Bible Camp (VBC) experience at FUMC in Ann Arbor, click here.

Take a look at a slideshow with lots of pictures from VBC here.

Important stuff for parents/guardians:

• Grad group: Thursday’s project will involve food prep – please bring along a hat (a baseball cap works).
• We will be singing two songs during worship this Sunday, so please join us at 9:30 and wear your VBC T-shirt!
• Keep those school supplies and backpacks coming! Why? We are trying to deliver backpacks full of school supplies to families in Ann Arbor who are in economic crisis. Look here for more info about where these supplies will be going.
• Be on the look-out for “God Sightings.” (Perhaps wear your God Sightings braclet?) When kids were asked today, what was a God Sighting, one child volunteered: “A God Sighting is when you see God in something.” Exactly! (The beauty of “God Sightings” is, once you start noticing, you see God a lot more!)

So, what happened today? Our morning started at Party Time Sing & Play. Panda Patty made her daily appearance. She had binoculars and was watching all of the pandas at PandaMania. Unfortunately, Panda Patty wasn’t watching where she was going, and she seemed awfully clumsy! Everyone concluded that Panda Patty needed someone to watch over her.

On the subject of being watched over, we were introduced to today’s Bible point:

God Watches Over You!

Our key Bible verse is from Psalm 139:12

Even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

We were introduced to Boomer, today’s Bible Buddy. Boomer is black and white. The colors of Boomer’s fur reminds us of darkness and light – and whether it’s dark or it’s light out – God watches over you!

God watched over Jonah. He’s who our Bible story is about. (Jonah has his own book in the Bible; read about it in Jonah 1-3). Jonah needed watching over. He tried to run away from God! All because he didn’t want to do what God had asked him to do. I’m sure that kids have felt the same way. I wonder how the story will turn out?

Amidst all of this activity we also learned a new song: Watching Over You, and sang some songs that we are quickly coming to learn. We had a great time singing and dancing!

What happened next? First up, the Grad Group report. They traveled to Alpha House, where today’s project was to do a much-needed clean-up of a storage room. They restocked shelves, organized toys, and pulled out items that were no longer useful and packaged them for donation. They also took the donations to Share House. All reports were that the group worked very well together and worked very hard!

The preschoolers went off to their special rooms and did the following:

• Bible Adventures – First, they looked for Jonah. He was a bit difficult to find! But it wasn’t hard for God to watch out for Jonah. God even gave Jonah a second chance! The kids acted out the story, which included getting a little bit wet, climbing into a pretend whale, and noticing the stinky fish smell. They got the full effect!
• Bible Buddies – They discussed times when they were scared but were reminded that even in those scary times, God is watching over them. They used hand motions when reciting the key verse. Finally they wrote/drew their God Sightings… people who take care of them.
  
• Crafts – They made a “Jonah in the fish” craft, out of paper plates and a plastic spoon (with a face) to represent Jonah.
• Games – They played a “Jonah and the fish” game.  The kids sat in a circle and they were the fish.  One child was Jonah in the middle of the circle and he/she had to try to get out of the circle (fish).

Meanwhile elementary kids visited the following stations:

• Bamboo Blast Games – Kids played several games to remind them that God watches over you. They started out by playing Panda Tag. The person carrying a panda could untag or save the other players. The panda also meant you were safe from being tagged yourself, just like you are always safe in God’s presence.

  Then there was a very tricky game that required lots of watching out and being very careful… the game “Water Fall.” Crews learned to be careful with each other, just as God is careful with us and never lets us down. It wasn’t easy! One brave crew member had to lay on the ground holding a paper cup on his or her forehead. Then, each of their crew members had to pour water into the cup!! Or at least try!

  The last game was “Panda Popcorn” where all the crews had to bounce a bunch of pandas in a parachute without letting them fall off. The message here? God is powerful enough to watch over all of us!! Thank you God!

• Chadder’s Theatre – In today’s segment of The Mystery of the Missing Pandas, we learned that Chadder thought that Pops watches out for him. But Pops can’t be everywhere at once, and that’s kind of causing a problem right now for Chadder. That’s why we’re so glad that God watches over us! In their “knee to knee” time in darkness and with flashlights, the kids talked about times when they might have wanted to hide from God. Also, for the God Sightings posters, kids were asked to write an instance of when they felt like God was watching over them.
• Crazy Crafts – Whenever kids have had a bit of left over time in the Crafts station this week, they have working on a mural called “God’s Creation.” Today they started off reflecting on all of the creations they had drawn so far. Then, it was onto the craft of the day – a “Magnificent Magna-Scope” – a perfect reminder that God watches over you.
  The children were asked to decorate their scopes with places or ways where God watches over them or over someone else.
  
• Wild Bible Adventures – Today, in total darkness, kids watched (and participated in) the story of Jonah and his attempt to escape from God. This station was completely hands-on and stimulated the senses. Some examples include: feeling the water from the stormy seas, climbing into the belly of a giant fish that really smelled like fish, and then burping themselves out.

After that experience, whose ready for snack? Today we enjoyed “Fish Food.” Don’t those grapes look just like bubbles? The next time you serve your kids grapes, remind them of the story of Jonah.

Back at Rowdy Wrapup there was the customary singing. Do you find your kids are humming these tunes at home?

Our Rowdy Wrapup Leader Kelly, built yet another strange device. (She’s done this every day!) Today’s creation was a “24/7 Watch-o-Meter.”

It seemed to work pretty well. She could watch us all right. But whose is that hiding behind her? I think her Watch-o-Meter doesn’t work that well. I’d have to say, only God watches over everything!

Once again we started off in Party Time Sing & Play, mixing up the singing of songs with other fun activities such as a visit from Panda Patty. (She is still on a quest to become a panda! Today she was trying to make noise like a panda, only she didn’t know how a panda sounded! I wonder if she ever listened long enough to hear!)

There were “old” songs sung (from yesterday!) and new songs, like Sing, Sing, Sing and God is Listening. In fact, listening was a theme for the day! Our Bible point was:

God Listens To You!

We were able to find, thanks to help from the kids, our daily clue about today’s Bible story:

Elijah prayed to the one true God and God listened to him!

An example from the Bible of a time when God listened! I wonder what happened? (At this point, if your kids are near by, read to them the above clue and ask them to tell you what happened.)

It turns out that our Bible story was about Elijah and his run-in with some people who believed in a false god named Baal (pronounced: BAY-uhl). You can read this story in 1 Kings 18:16-39. However, parents, you may not want to read this story to your children as it reads in the Bible. It contains blood and guts, and even some bathroom humor! (Yes. In the Bible!) This is not the way it was told today at VBC! For more info, see individual notes below under “Bible Adventure” for preschool and for elementary. (Our Bible story is told every day in a smaller group setting; it is introduced, with a clue or two, in our opening time.)

Next, it was off to different stations! The preschoolers went to…

• Bible Adventures – They acted out our story, which for this group, was presented as an altar build of stones with sticks laid on top. (No mention of sacrifices!) Then each group (Elijah vs. the Baal-followers) called out for their God to send fire to burn the wood. Whichever God listened to their pleas, that was the God to follow!

  The Baal-followers got very loud, but no fire happened for them. Elijah said a simple prayer, and a fire burned so hot it melted the stones! I wonder why, before he talked to God, Elijah made it really hard for the fire to burn by soaking the sticks with water! (Provided by the kids with squirt bottles.) Elijah really wanted the people to know that God listens to our prayers.

  The kids also discussed how God understands every language in the world. They also pondered questions such as: Do you have to be in church for God to hear you? How can God hear us when we pray quietly? How can God hear us when we are all praying at the same time? God is truly amazing! (For another resource on prayer for your family, visit this post.)

• Bible Buddies – Our puppet friend, Skyler the squirrel, taught the children that sometimes we have trouble listening to each other, but nothing will stop God from listening to us. Kids posted “God Sightings” on our God Sighting wall,

  and they also got to meet the Bible buddy, Amanda the Red Panda. Her cute little ears are perfect for listening!

• Crafts – They made panda face shakers. I loved seeing them enjoy the noise these made, as I’m sure that you do as well, right? 🙂



• Games – Kids played “London Bridge” but sang “God will listen when I call, when I call, when I call…”.  Also played was a variation of Duck, Duck Goose, which used a pretend fire on a stick and gently tapping while saying, “Elijah, Elijah…” and then “Fire” (instead of “Duck, Duck, Goose”). There was time for free-play as well.

Meanwhile elementary kids visited the following stations:

• Bamboo Blast Games – Kids played a game where the smallest member of a crew was selected as the “primary panda.” The rest of the crew put on blindfolds, locked arms, and carried the primary panda and moved according to his or her directions (as he/she was the only member of the crew who could see!). They had to listen carefully. The primary panda also had a water bottle that he used to squirt other panda teams!

  In the Bamboo Balance game, kids formed a circle and balanced a pool noodle upright in front of them and when the game leaders said “GO!” they quickly moved to the left or right and caught the next noodle before it toppled to the ground. Lots of smiles and giggles here.

• Chadder’s Theatre – This is the station to record God Sightings. Our wall is quickly being covered! Then, it was on to the video to see if Chadder Chipmunk found any missing pandas! Silliness, confusion, lost glasses, and a deliberately cut phone line ensued, and Chadder was even locked in an office! Fortunately, when a door gets locked, God opens a window! Chadder was able to escape. But will Chadder become snack for a Panda? Stay tuned for tomorrow!

  After the video, kids listened to different sounds and discussed “knee-to-knee” how those sounds make them feel.
  They were reminded that God doesn’t just listen to us but also feels emotions right along with us! On the way out, the children received the Bible buddy for the day, Amanda, a Red Panda with cute little ears reminding us that God listens to you.
  

• Crazy Crafts – Kids creatively designed their very own “Dizzy Drum” using markers, gems, and their imaginations. The designs were colorful, intricate, and the kids totally liked the noise that these devices were able to generate.
• Wild Bible Adventure – Today’s Wild Bible Adventure started in the hallway! Before they went into the station kids were asked to identify some fake characters – Sponge Bob was called out! This was to make sure they understood the concept of a “fake god.” They heard that in Bible times, many people believed in fake gods. One fake god was named Baal (pronounced: BAY-uhl). The prophet Elijah, was given the task of telling people Baal was not worth following! How would they believe this? There was a showdown! It was a real test: whose God could light a fire on a mountain; a fire that was prepared to sacrifice a bull?

  The children then accompanied Elijah to the “mountaintop” (inside the station). There they all helped build an altar (by laying stones) and prepared for the sacrifice – burning something precious – not a bull (as in Bible times) but a yummy chocolate bar! Do you know how hard that was for them? Oh to yield perfectly good chocolate! Was the fire lit? And why all of the water? I think I’ll let your children tell you the rest of what happened on our Bible Adventure!

The Grad Group (our older elementary kids) went on a field trip today to carry out their mission project. They went to Food Gatherers. They worked all morning on preparing signage for Food Gatherers’ food drive barrels. Tomorrow’s trip: to Alpha House. (Wear sneakers or other closed-toe shoes.)

At our mid-way-through-VBC snack time at Treetop Treats our snack was Elijah’s Altar Cupcakes. The frosting really was blue. I wonder why? Yum!

As we brought VBC Day Two to a close, everyone gathered together for Rowdy Wrap Up. Here we watched a slide presentation of photos of our kids helping to re-tell our Bible story. What fun! There was more singing and making noise with our craft creations. And testing out another creation made by one of our fearless leaders. Did it work?

What a day packed-full of fun!

Important stuff for parents/guardians:

• Grad Group: Please be sure that the kids wear sneakers or other closed-toe shoes.
• Some school supplies and backpacks have been slowly arriving! We are collecting backpacks and school supplies for kids who would otherwise go to school this fall without the basics. This program is run through the Bryant Community Center in Ann Arbor. There are some great sales going on around town this week: Staples has a 1 cent sale on packages of eraser caps and pencils, and on bottles of school glue! One cent!
  (Note: We receive no compensation from Staples for mentioning them in this post!)

See you for another day tomorrow!
The FUMC VBC Team