VBS 2018 Games Training Manual South Hills June 25 June 29, 2018 Games Coordinator: Matthew Lucas mlucas@biblechapel.org phone: 412-805-0295
What Is Our Purpose? Our purpose is to provide a fun activity time for the children while still mentioning the daily Bible Point as often as possible. This time is a chance for the kids to let out some of the energy they have been building up all day while still emphasizing the message of VBS. Roles and Responsibilities: As Game Leaders we are responsible for the safety, whereabouts, and wellbeing of a lot of kids all at once. There will be approximately 100 kids on both fields at one time. We have to be aware of where each kid is and keep them safe. Our role is to facilitate the games going on the field, direct crew leaders in how to play the games and help them through the games, and to ensure the smooth transition between our time slot and the one the kids are either coming or going from. Daily Schedule: 8:00AM Report to room 210 (YAC) to provide assistance to Holly Wall with activities for volunteer s children. There will be a lot of children in the room at this time. Holly has games and exercises planned for the children but will need help with crowd control and bringing the children to the Worship Center. 8:55AM Escort the children to the Worship Center. This will be done by calling out a crew number and having one designated person take them to their row in the Worship Center. It is extremely important to keep track of ALL children on the way to the Worship Center. 9:00AM Go to the FLC to get the material to set up games. 2 P age
9:30AM Crews start to arrive to fields Do your best to start each session on time. Explain the game to the children and crew assistant when they arrive and most importantly repeat the Daily Bible Point so the children can connect the game to the lesson of the day. Break Times The break time varies from last year so when I get the schedule for that I ll know what times they are. During break time the café will be open for you to eat a snack. Volunteers should only use the bathroom and go to the café during this time. Teens are not allowed to roam the building. Remember to be back at the field for the next session ten minutes before it starts. Last session After the last session ends the fields all need to be cleaned up and supplies returned to the FLC and then everyone is welcome to come watch the closing worship in the Worship Center. Expectations: 1. Be enthusiastic and have fun with the children. This is often their favorite part of VBS. We want to safely have fun, burn off some energy, and deliver the Bible point to them in a fun way! 2. Please do not totally drench the children. There were complaints last year that some children were very cold and uncomfortable after going back into the church after games. We have towels at each station; please let the kids use them. This year kids will wear a colored pinnie if they do not want to be wet. 3. Please do not use cell phones during the sessions for calls or texting. If you have an emergency please let the coordination know you have to step away 4. Review the games that will be played and be prepared to explain them to the crew leaders and helpers. Please see the handouts of each game planned. Medical/Emergency Procedures: Remember to report to the kiosk area or nursery with any medical issues you might have. Consider heat and temperatures when playing and take it seriously if you suspect any child having an issue. 3 P age
Ship Rec 2018 VBS Game List Monday Equipment Needed: Pool Ring Circles Cones Wading Pools Tug of War Rope Bandanas Rescue Rings Have the teams sit down in front of you. Say: Today we re going to imagine that we are in the ocean with no land around! What do we do? Can we swim forever? No, we need something to help us float! Ask: What are some things that can help us float? Say: Today we are going to be playing with life preservers to help us when we can t swim. Who else rescues us when we are in trouble? JESUS! So, while we play today think about how Jesus can rescue you in times of need just like this life preserver can. 1. Have the children stand in a circle with one of the children in the middle. 2. The person in the center needs rescued! Each child takes turns trying to toss the life preserver so it lands around the person in the middle (like a ring toss). 3. The first person to successfully land the life preserver over the child in the center will be the next one in the middle. 4. Take turns until everyone has had a chance to be in the middle 5. Encourage crews to be creative with the way they toss a. Stand farther apart b. Toss with eyes closed c. Toss with non-dominant hand d. Toss standing backwards 4 P age
Tug of Water Before crews arrive, fill each pool about ¾ full of water. Say: Raise your hand if you ve ever played Tug of War. Great! We have an awesome, fun, wet shipwrecked version of this game today! If any child doesn t want to get wet ask them to wear a pinnie and stand at the back of the rope. Remind the students that they cannot splash each other. The water in the pool is not allowed to leave the pool. 1. Crews line up one behind the other on opposite sides of the pools. 2. Each child picks up the rope and holds it so the ribbon is over the middle of the pool. 3. For safety have no child wrap the rope around their hands or wrists. They can only grip the rope with their hands. 4. At the signal, crews will try to pull the ribbon over past their side of the pool, dragging the other team into the water. 5. Play this a few times and then introduce new challenges: a. Mix children up b. Children vs. Crew Leaders c. Children vs. Volunteers d. Rotate to different pools and play different teams 5 P age
Tuesday Equipment Needed: Laundry baskets Knit balls or bean bags Cones Large paper plates Carpet squares Food Defense Before crews arrive mark out a square area with cones. Place a larger cone or marker in each of the 4 corners. Place a laundry basket with the knit balls in the center of the play area. Say: This week we get to be part of a group that is helping kids in Panama. Some of these kids don t have as much food as we get every day so to them food is very important. We are going to play a game where we pretend we are shipwrecked and we have to protect our food! 1. Take 1-2 kids from the crew and assign them as Food Defenders. Their job is to protect the food in the center of the play area. They can move around to guard the food while everyone else tries to take the basket of food. Food Defenders can only tag someone if they have the basket. 2. Everyone else is a Food Robber. Their job is to try to steal the WHOLE basket of food and get to one of the 4 corners. If they get tagged with the basket the basket goes back to the middle. 3. Food Robbers start out on one of the 4 cones while Food Defenders start near the basket. 4. Variations a. The amount of Food Defenders b. They don t steal the basket just one piece of food at a time. c. The basket can stay where it is if the Food Robber is tagged instead of it going back to the middle. d. Crew Leaders vs. Children Silly Lily Lagoon Before Crews arrive, set up cones in two horizontal lines placed about 20 ft. apart to indicate where the crews have across. Say: For this next game, you ll start by coming up with a plan in your Crew. You ll need to think together to come up with your strategy for getting across the Island s Gooey Lagoon. You don t to step off the plates and get stuck in the Lagoon! 1. Explain that the crews will line up single file behind the starting line. They ll be given paper plates (lily pads) for getting to the other side of the lagoon. 6 P age
2. The rules for getting across are that while they re in between the cones (the lagoon) everyone has to be standing on a lily pad. They can t drag the lily pads, they can only pick them up and move them. 3. Hand out 1 paper plate for everyone except give one person 2 plates. 4. Solution: One person makes a lily pad crossing with all the plates that everyone can then walk across. 7 P age
Wednesday Equipment Needed: Beach balls Spray bottles Cones Laundry baskets Bop It or Drop It Before Crews arrive, set up cones into 3-4 large court with one line down the middle. Have the beach balls ready. Say: Today we re talking about when things are tough or don t come easy. A lot of times when we think about struggle we focus on only bad things but a lot of good can come from struggle too. We have to remember when we struggle that Jesus is strong enough that he can rescue us! 1. Split the crews evenly onto the courts and then split them further into two even teams on those courts. 2. Explain that the goal for the two teams is to hit the ball back and forth across the line without it hitting the ground. a. The goal isn t to get a point by it hitting on the other side. The goal is to not have it touch the ground. 3. Start with one ball and have the teams try to keep the ball in the air. 4. After about 30 seconds add another ball. 5. Keep adding balls every 30 seconds until there is chaos! 6. While the children are trying to keep the ball in the air have the games leaders squirt them with water as they play to add to the struggle. 7. Variations a. Switch sides b. Crew Leaders vs. Children Sea Turtle Travel Before Crews arrive, set out laundry baskets for each crew spaced apart. Put two beach balls in one basket. Explain that Crews will each have their own area where they will have a stack of cans and a ball. Crews will need to stay inside their area while their playing. Say: Today we re going to pretend we are sea-turtles and try to carry or beach balls from one basket to the other basket. BUT sea-turtles move slow so we have to be creative and think of ways to get the beach balls from one basket to the other. If they leave their area they have to wait for another round. 1. The goal is to move both beach balls from one basket to the other. 8 P age
2. The sea-turtle have to try without using their hands. a. Back to back b. Stomach to stomach c. Crawling with 3 kids balancing between their head 9 P age
Thursday Equipment Needed: Marbles Plastic Spoons Cups Cones Rubber Ducks Tossing Rings Pool Relay Race Before Crews arrive, have the pools set up at each crew. Put a half bag of marbles in each pool. Have the spoons set up at each crew, 1 per child. Have the cups at each crew as well. 1 per crew. 1 cone per crew Say: Today we are going to play a relay race game where we work on teamwork and cheering each other on! For this game all of your crews will work together as parts of a remarkable marble moving machine. 1. Point out the pool in your area. 2. Each crew will line up single file behind the cone. 3. One at a time the child will run down with the spoon in their hand. Get to the pool, scoop out a marble with the spoon, run back with the marble on their spoon, then drop the marble in the cup their crew leader will be holding. 4. If the marble falls up they have to freeze, pick it up, and put it back on their spoon before they get back to the cone. 5. Everyone goes until the team is done! 6. Variations: a. Race another crew b. Hold the spoon in your other hand c. Walk backwards Ring Toss Pool Have the pools set up still, 1 per crew, with the rubber ducks floating in the pool. Have cones set up around the pool at different distances marked for ring tosses. Say: This next game is so much fun! We re going to play ring toss with rubber ducks in the pool! We re going to race the other crew to see who can get all the rings around rubber ducks first! Have the children line up in a single file behind the farthest cone. 1. When the Game Leaders say go the child gets a ring from the Crew Leader and from the closet cone throws the cone. 10 P age
2. If the cone goes around a duck the child can run to the pool, grab the duck, and put it gently outside the pool. 3. If the child misses the duck they run to the back of the line. 4. This continues until all ducks are out of the pool. 5. If you run out of rings and ducks are still in the pool the Crew Leader runs up to the pool, gets all the rings, and the game continues. 6. Once a team wins you can move to a different cone around the pool to make the game harder or easier. 11 P age
Friday Equipment Needed: Small Plastic Cups 5 Gallon Buckets Obstacle Course Anything worth grabbing Duck-Duck-Goose with Water Have a bucket at each crew filled with water with little cups for the children. Say: Today, our last day, we are going to play duck-duck-goose with a twist! 1. Have the crews sit in a large circle. 2. Explain the rules of duck-duck-goose. 3. The twist is that the person who is saying duck-duck-goose has a cup with a SMALL amount of water in it. Whenever they say goose they dump the SMALL amount of water on that childs head and then run! 4. Variations a. Have Crew Leaders play Obstacle Course Using any equipment that we ve used throughout the week construct an obstacle course for the kids to go through. Say: We ve learned a lot in this week about doing good deeds and helping others in different countries or even at home. In the next game we are going to play while working with each other. 1. The children will race the crew next to them in an obstacle course created by the Games Leader. 2. The first crew done wins. 3. Variations: a. Have the kids run it holding hands with a friend b. Have the kids run it backwards c. Run it crawling, hopping, crab walk, etc. 12 P age