This page is devoted to sharing the actual lesson plans I used while teaching the Miracles of Jesus to a K-1 class in a Vacation Bible School setting. The lessons we covered were:
*Jesus Turns The Water Into Wine/ I Am The Vine
*Nobleman’s Son and Lame Man Healed/I Am The Good Shepherd
*Jesus Feeds 5000 and Walks on the Water/I Am The Bread of Life
*The Blind Man is Healed/I Am The Light Of The World
* Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead/I Am The Door and I Am The Way, The Truth and The Life
The 2 songs that follow were written for this VBS:
That You May Believe by Diana Dow
I Am… by Diana Dow
This song was written for a previous class but fit in great with the VBS:
What Is A Miracle? by Diana Dow
General instructions for putting together a pop-up book can be found here:
Pop-up books
Specific instructions and pdf files for the pop-up book used in this VBS can be found here:
The Miracles Pop-up Book
Pictures and pdf files of the I AM… pocket book can be found here:
I Am Pocket Book
Here is a slide show of the poster wall.
Jesus Turned the Water Into Wine
I Am The Vine
Our 2008 VBS starts this morning. I’ll come back and give more details but I need to write down a lesson plan.
Lesson Plan:
Meet together in auditorium
Go with 3/4 year old class to the activities room. There will be a small wedding set up where we’ll talk about what weddings are for and what happens at them. There will also be some grapes that we’ll use for teaching about how wine was made. We’ll let the kids squeeze their own grapes and make grape juice.
Go to the class room and sit on the floor. Talk about what a miracle is. Sing: What is a miracle?
Read the story of the water to wine from the book Miracles and Wonders.
Read story again from the Bible (Book of John)
Sing: This Beginning of Miracles by Bettye Locklair
Go to table.
Pass out 1st page of pop-up book and review story.
Uncover first poster on wall
Sing: That You May Believe
Talk about the I am wall. Specifically discuss the vine.
Go on walk outside to see a tomato vine.
Return to class room and sit at table.
Pass out I am book and let them put the grapes in the appropriate pocket
Sing: I AM…
Put first piece on attendance chart.
Nobleman’s Son and Lame Man Healed
I Am The Good Shepherd
The first day of VBS is always a little stressful. This one was no different, but the stress was unfounded. The morning went great. We had 7 in our class of 5 and 6 year olds. There are 8 signed up, but one was had his tonsils out last week and probably won’t get to come until the end of the week.
The theme of our VBS is — That You May Believe. We are studying the 7 miracles as recorded in the book of John. The passage found in John 20 says, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (20:31). We are also taking a look at the “I am…” phrases mentioned in John. Some of the older classes are including the witnesses to Jesus mentioned in John.
Here is the schedule:
* Monday: Water to Wine (I am the vine)
* Tuesday: Nobleman’s Son and Lame Man Healed (I am the good shepherd)
* Wednesday: Feeding the 5000 and Walking on the Water (I am the bread of life)
* Thursday: Blind Man Healed (I am the light of the world)
* Friday: Lazarus Raised (I am the door and I am the way, the truth and the life)
Our first day we studied Jesus turning the water into wine and “I am the vine”. My lesson plan (in my previous post) was pretty sketchy. I’ll try to do better from now on. I haven’t taught class in 6 months. It’s amazing how rusty I had gotten. Hopefully, by the end of the week, I’ll have gotten up to speed. I’ll be teaching again starting in July, so I definitely need to get moving again.
In years past, we’ve had an art room we took the kids to each day. One of our ladies here is the high school art teacher and really enjoys doing this for VBS. She has tried to make the art relate to the lesson we were studying. This year, she had to be out of town, so we are without an art room. Instead, we’re using the same room as an activities room. Our wonderful art teacher decorated it before she left and we go there each day to get a little taste of the manners and customs of the day. The room has a tomb for Lazarus to come out of, a village scene with a few building fronts, a corner for a wedding feast and palm trees placed around to give a feeling of being outside.
Yesterday, we went to the “wedding feast” corner and talked about weddings. We talked about wine and let the kids crush grapes to make their own grape juice. Today, we’ll go to the village corner where there is a square of blue cloth on the floor. This will be our pool of Bethesda. We’ll sit around the pool and talk about what would happen there when the angel came. We’ll talk about what it was like to be unable to walk back then.
Lesson Plan:
Go to activities room after meeting in auditorium. Do activities mentioned above.
Go to classroom and sit on the floor.
Pass out I Believe gloves. These are gloves that are used to take a shower with. There are 5 pieces to be stuck to each finger with the loopy side of velcro. The pictures are of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, resurrection and ascension. The last is a rectangle with the words — I believe. We’ll talk about what miracles are and the reason for miracles. We’ll talk about what the miracles are to help us believe.
Sing: That You May Believe
Review yesterday’s lesson using flip chart pictures.
Sing: This Beginning of Miracles and Jesus Turned the Water Into Wine. Both of these songs are by Bettye Locklair and can be heard by following the links.
Tell today’s story using flip chart pictures. Then read the story from the Bible.
Uncover 2nd picture on wall.
Go to table and pass out pop-up books. Let kids glue Nobleman’s son in place. Take up pop-up books.
Give the kids a restroom break. This will not only get them moving a little but will help them keep the 2 miracles we’ll be studying separate in their minds.
Go back to the floor and tell the story of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda.
Uncover 3rd picture on wall.
Go to table and pass out pop-up books again. Let the kids glue the lame man in their book.
Sing: Rise Take Up Thy Bed — another song by Bettye Locklair
Take a few minutes to help them decorate cards for Adam. Talk to them about how Jesus was able to heal the sick. We can’t heal the sick, but we can help them feel better by doing things for them when they’re sick.
Read sheep/shepherd flip chart. This is a flip chart I made for a previous class. It sure was nice to still have it and to know where it was when I needed it.
Now that they know about the shepherds talk to them about Jesus saying, “I am the good shepherd”. Point out the shepherd on the “I am…” wall. Pass out “I am…” books and let them put the shepherd’s staff in the appropriate place.
Sing: I Am… — This is another song I wrote that I’ll try to put online soon.
Pass out I believe “cards on a ring”. These are the same pictures as the glove. Talk to them again about what the miracles were for and what we are to believe.
If there is time left, sing some songs that they choose.
Jesus Feeds 5000 and Walks on the Water
I Am The Bread Of Life
This is the third day of our VBS. I had a couple of kids missing yesterday. One was at the hospital while her aunt had a baby. I’m not sure where the other was. We had a good class anyway. My youngest is in my class. I haven’t taught him in a year and a half. He was acting up a little yesterday. It could be that I’m the teacher, but I think it may be that his regular teachers are letting him get by with things I wouldn’t let him get by with. I’ll be his regular teacher starting in July, so he’d better watch out. :)
Today in the activities room, we’ll have a cloth spread on the floor. We’ll sit down with kids picnic style and talk about what the people ate when they were traveling back in Jesus’ days. This is an introduction to Jesus feeding the 5000. I have some loaves of bread to pass around. I wasn’t brave enough to bring any fish. We’ll just have to imagine that part.
Later in the class, after we’ve talked about Jesus walking on the water, we’ll take a walk outside to a small wading pool that is set up. The kids are going to see if they can walk on the water. I really don’t expect many of my kids to want to get their feet wet. We’ve got quite a bit of timid kids. Maybe we can plan on being out there when the next class is there. They are anything but timid.
Later on in class we will talk about “I am the bread of life”.
Lesson Plan:
Activities room: do activity explained above
Classroom: Sit on floor for miracle review, I believe glove and story of Jesus feeding the 5000
Table: Pop-up book page for feeding 5000. Uncover 4th poster
Bathroom Break
Classroom: sit at table and tell story of Jesus walking on water. Pop-up Book page for walking on water
Outside: walk to pool to attempt to walk on water
Classroom: sit at table for I am book, review I am wall, read bread flip chart, pass out I am books and place pictures in appropriate place
Attendance Chart
Sing until time for class to end.
The Blind Man is Healed
I Am The Light of The World
Today’s lesson just has one miracle. We’ve had 2 for the past 2 days. There is so much review to do each day that one lesson will be just right. We’ll be talking about being blind in the activities room. I’m going to take a couple of pieces of fabric and let any kids that want to be blindfolded and see what it’s like. I wish I had gotten hold of some braille before class. I would like to talk to them about the differences in being blind now and being blind back then.
Yesterday, the kids really enjoyed trying to walk on the water in the little pool. It was kind of surprising to me that most, if not all, of them did not know the difference between the words “in” and “on”. Even the most verbal one of the bunch had to have it explained to her. If you don’t know the difference between “in” and “on”, the miracle of Jesus walking on the water doesn’t make much sense. As one little girl said, “I walked on the water at the beach.” It is so important to be aware of what your class understands. You may be going on about one thing and they have a totally different thing in their mind because they don’t have the vocabulary to understand all the little details of the English language.
We will be looking at two “I am…’s” today. One is “I am the light of the world”. This is represented on the I AM wall by a candle in the window of the house. The other is “I am the door”. This is represented by the door of the house on the I AM wall.
Lesson Plan:
Activities Room
Classroom: Sit on floor for Bible story. Let kids look at their I Believe gloves to remind them what the miracles found in John are to help them believe. Review previous miracles, tell story of blind man.
Tables: As they are settling down, uncover 6th picture on wall. Let kids that want to take turns pointing to pictures as we sing That You May Believe.
Pass out Pop-up books. Review each of the previous stories again as they look through their pop-up book. Then, let them slide the eyes of the blind man back and forth to see him go from blind (with mud on his eyes) to seeing.
Take a bathroom break
Return to class and sit at tables.
Pass out I Believe card rings. These are cards that have pictures just like on the I Believe glove. They are attached by rings. They are another way to remind them what we are to believe.
Review what we’ve learned about the “I am…” wall. Let each child go to the wall and point to each picture and say, “I am the vine, I am the door, etc.” Sing I Am… together.
Pass out I am books. Let the kids put all the pictures in the correct pockets. We just have one pocket that doesn’t have a picture by now. We’ll get that picture tomorrow.
Pass out I believe story wheels. This is another reminder of what we are to believe. Using the same pictures as the glove and the card rings, this story wheel will just emphasize the importance of it one more time.
Attendance Chart
Sing until time for class to end.
Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead
I Am The Door
I Am The Way, The Truth and The Life
It is already Friday. We’ve had a wonderful VBS week. Of the 8 kids I had sign-up for my class, I had 7 on most days. We’ve had some sickness floating around, there was a new baby born, and one of the little boys had his tonsils out last week. We were hoping he could come some, but he’s taking a little while to recover.
I think my kids have learned quite a bit. They know what the 7 I AMs are talked about in John: I am the vine, I am the good shepherd, I am the light of the world, I am the bread of life, I am the door, I am the way the truth and the life and I am the resurrection. The I Am wall was a big hit. I’ll get a picture on here of it as soon as I recover from today.
The kids also know what 7 miracles are recorded in John: Water to Wine, Nobleman’s Son, Lame Man healed at pool of Bethesda, 5000 Fed, Jesus Walks on Water, Blind Man Healed, Lazarus Raised.
Some of the classes are including Jesus’ resurrection in that list and are talking about it today. I chose to talk about it everyday with 3 activities I put together for the kids. I wanted them to really understand that all these things were done so “that you may believe”. Knowing that some people don’t necessarily know what they are to believe in, I wanted my kids to be sure they understood that they are to believe that Jesus is the son of God, that he died, was buried, arose and lives in Heaven.
They can all tell you all of the things mentioned above. Now, whether or not they can do it next week or 6 months from now, time will only tell. But they can now.
After VBS today, we’ll take all the kids to the park down the street. The ladies of the congregation have prepared a picnic for all of us. This is so nice for so many reasons. It gives the kids a chance to play together. As you can tell from reading these lesson plans, our VBS is not play time. It gives the teachers a chance to sit and relax for a little bit while someone else does the work. And it gives the other ladies in the congregation that don’t feel comfortable teaching a way to help out with the VBS. We all look forward to it.
Yesterday, at the end of class, my class was treated to a skit the 9/10 year old class put together. They had some costumes and acted out the story of the blind man in the activities room. This room has a village scene on the walls which was a great back drop for the story. The older kids did a great job and my kids really enjoyed it. It was fairly impromptu. They had a simple prepared script, but the kids did not have much practice time. I was quite impressed with some of their acting abilities.
Lesson Plan:
Activities Room: We have a large tomb in the room that we’ll use to talk about burial traditions of the time.
Classroom: We’ve been sitting on the floor, but we brought another table in yesterday so we could spread out a little. That pretty much took up our floor room. If everyone shows up, we’ll sit at the table, if we have a couple missing, we’ll take the table out and sit on the floor again.
I Believe gloves
Review previous miracles
Tell story of Lazarus using book Miracles and Wonders. I’ve used this book 3 times this week. It has very accurate text and I really like the pictures.
Move to tables: Uncover 7th picture. Sing: That You May Believe while student points to each miracle. I’ll need to let each one of them do this at some point in the class today since all the pictures are uncovered.
Pass out pop-up books. These pop-up books are now complete with the covers on them. Review each of the stories and then retell (or let the kids retell) the story of Lazarus. Let the kids glue Lazarus inside the tomb. Let them put their pop-up book in their backpack. The backpacks came from Oriental Trading company. They can either be used as a backpack or as a drawstring bag. We put an iron-on transfer that is similar to the book cover on the backpack. I need to remember to have backpacks hanging on the back of their chairs before class.
Attendance Chart: I want to do this earlier in class than normal so the glue will have a chance to dry before they take them home.
Take bathroom break
Pass out I believe card rings. Review these with them and let them put them in their backpacks.
Review I Am wall. Let each kid go to the wall and say the I Am’s as they point to the appropriate picture.
Talk about the last I Am: I am the way, the truth, the life.
Pass out I Am books and let them put all the pictures in the correct pocket. Let them put the I Am books in their backpacks.
Pass out I believe Story wheels. After reviewing them, let them put them in their backpacks.
Let them put the I believe gloves in their backpacks as well as their Jesus walking on the water activity.
I made a CD of all the songs we sang in VBS. I originally made it for the teachers so they could learn the songs, but decided the kids might enjoy a copy also. I added the other Bible class songs I’ve written. I figured, since there was more room on the CD it might as well be full. Pass them out (one per family) and let them put them in their backpacks.
Take the attendance charts off the wall and let them put them in their backpacks.
Spend the rest of class time singing their favorite songs. If there’s still some kids that didn’t get to sing That you May believe as they point to the miracles, do it now.
All the activities were sent home in a back pack that had the VBS logo ironed on. Take homes in the backpack were the Pop-up Book, the I Am… book, the I Believe glove, I Believe wheel, I Believe card rings, a recording of songs used during VBS and their Attendance Chart.
fantastic! next month we teach de I am/ 7 miracles to the childeren in our class (Holland ;-) ) your idea is great. I love the I am book, en the poster wall.
Do you have the pictures from the posterwall? I can’t find them on this site….
greetings from a sis from holland!