This week, That Kid and I went to VBS. I lead the Bible Memory group, along with my friend Em. We saw three different groups (K-1; 2-3; 4-5-6) for 20 minutes a night. We tried to teach them a memory verse and put a craft together, and then the next night they would return and were supposed to tell us the verse from the previous night.
I'm a softy. I don't like it when kids cry because they didn't win a prize. So, the first night I made a rule that as long as the kids *tried* to say the verse they would get a lollypop. On the third night, Em mentioned that her son didn't want to memorize the verse (he's going into kindergarten) because "Mandee will let me have candy, anyway!" Em also told me that kids were telling her, "I don't know the verse, but I want my candy!" So I had to make a rule that the kids had to at least know part of the verse for it to count. Kids are smart. And they only want to do exactly what they *have* to do. And last night, they started *reading* the verse off the paper I sent home with them. So, I decided if the kid *memorized* the verse, they got to chose what flavor lollypop they wanted. Otherwise, if they just read it, I just handed them a lollypop. I had a lot of angry kids who didn't want butterscotch, or root beer, or mango...and I told them if they had taken the time to memorize the verse I would have let them chose. :)
I'm already thinking about next year. I really want to do the same thing; but I'm going to have a different rule. No crafts; they were time consuming, and we needed so many supplies. It was also hard because we had no idea how many kids were coming, so we over-estimated what we would need. Thankfully we'll have those supplies for next year, and for other uses through the Children's Ministry.
Tomorrow is the VBS program. I can't wait! That Kid is going to perform...his first performance, ever! The video camera will be rolling! :)
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