Three Lessons I Learned from Vacation Bible School

I still remember the first time I ever volunteered at my parish. I was in 9 ^th grade, and the VBS director was desperate for someone to run the games station. She probably asked me because she had no one else to ask. Without a good leader in that station, the high school boys would just goof off all day and ignore the “customers.” I was quiet, still a little shy, and had next to zero leadership experience. And I loved leading that station! Two decades later, I am a Director of Faith Formation, and VBS is still one of my favorite events on the calendar. VBS has taught me at least three important things about effectively sharing Jesus with kids.

1. Kids need to move. Not just the kinesthetic learners, but all of them. Even the kids who can handle sitting still and listening need to move on to something else or somewhere else where they can sit and listen again. Now, I love to learn. Right now, my personal bedtime reading is the Compendium to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Baltimore Catechism Number Four. I get audio books out of the library on ancient civilizations to listen to on my way to and from work. I’m currently considering re-learning Spanish. Even I need to move on - on to a different topic, on to a different medium, and on to a different learning style. This need to move on is supercharged in our kids.

 

2. Kids like stuff. Whether it’s Perplexinator puzzle cubes or whirly gig pinwheels, the object-lesson approach of VBS sends something home every day. What kid doesn’t like to get something? What adult doesn’t like to get something? Palm Sunday is not a holy day of obligation, but when we give out pieces of dried plants, people pack the church! We have a lot of great stuff in the Church. I often joke about how I traded in my sports figures and baseball cards for statues and holy cards. I’ve found that by reallocating some of my budget, I can make the faith tangible. Parents have told me countless times that the take-home items we give the kids every session really help to bring the learning home and remind their kids later of what they learned about Jesus through that item. Sacramentals, manipulatives, and other items you might use daily can remind all of us that Jesus is with us everywhere!

 

3. Kids love music. You can perform it live or just put on a video. As long as the musical quality is good, even older kids like it. Music is rhythmic, repetitious, and it sticks with you. I still can remember the Fruits of the Spirit, not because of anything that happened in a master’s level theology class, but because of the VBS song we sang for one week when I was in second grade. Just think of all the song lyrics your memory has accumulated over the years without you even trying. All it takes to recall the whole song is a few notes. Wouldn’t it be great if the truths of our faith were as easy to recall and as hard to forget? Music is the key. When we’re happy, we turn to music. When we’re sad, we turn to music. Even Jesus did. Before going to Gethsemane, Jesus sang a hymn. I often wonder if it was a song from his childhood.

I have found that a series of 20-minute activities for different learning styles all teaching the same point can be very effective catechesis. I like to teach about vocation by having students build something with inexpensive STEM toys (that they take home), examine their own fingerprints with a magnifying glass, and make thank-you cards for our staff members. Then we tie it all together. When God made you, he had a plan in mind. You are unique. And when you put your gifts and talents to work for God, you can do all the great things our church staff does, and so much more! We end with a fun VBS song: “God has a reason, reason for my life…”