BBC 2019: Joseph, the Ruler

This was the last week of BBC.  Where did the summer go?  The kids arrived, signed in and said their memory verses.  Thirty-one (31) out of 66 kids could quote all seven verses!  WAY TO GO KIDS! 

Then they made personalized bowls.  This turned out to be an easy craft for me and for them.  We used two different methods: paint and permanent marker.  It turns out the permanent marker was the easiest.  I had already had put name stickers on their bowls.  All they had to do was with the paint/markers make lots of dots around and on their names.  Then we pulled off the stickers and PRESTO. . . their names appeared in white.  To make the bowls dishwasher proof, they will need to bake the bowls @ 350*F for 30 minutes.  Then they must let the oven cool before removing the bowls. 

This week they had their final chance of playing gaga ball, building with Legoes and playing with the plastic animals.  In Jonestown, we also played a GIANT pass the Pig game. 

The kids hardily sang the Bible verse songs.  Leviticus 19:11 and 1 Peter 5:6-7 were the favorites.  Two kids each club location took part in the bubble challenge.  We discovered that my gum was very, very hard.  I guess being in a hot van most of the summer made it hard.  But with a lot of chewing, the kids finally could blow a bubble.  We then talked about how some people are like bubbles.  They are all puffed up (prideful).  We looked at Proverbs 16:18 that tells us "pride brings destruction."  They told me the being humble is the opposite of pride.  So we looked up 1 Peter 5:6-7 to see what humbleness brings.  To practice this verse,  seven kids has a chance to use my Nerf gun to hit a target.  If they missed the target, everyone had to say the verse.  If they hit the outer ring, we said the verse in a whisper.   If they hit the middle ring, we said the verse in a normal volume.  If they hit the bull's eye, we shouted the verse.  No one was able to hit the bull's eye!  They told me I need a new Nerf gun! 

We finished learning about Joseph.  We were amazed at how he was able to totally forgive his mean brothers.  We not only forgave them, but also invited them to move to Egypt so that he could take care of them!  The brothers then had a choice would they accept Joseph's offer or reject it.  In the same way, God makes us an offer.  He tells us if we accept his forgiveness by believing that Jesus paid our sin debt, then he will give us a mansion in heaven.  What will you do with God's offer?  Will you accept it or reject it? 

For our review game, we played Benjamin's Bag.  Each kid got a question to answer.  If they answered it correctly, they got to pull a coin out of Benjamin's Bag.  If they pulled out a gold colored coin, they received 1 Bible Buck.  If they pulled out at blue colored coin, they received 10 Bible bucks.  Everyone got a turn. 

Then for group games we played pool noodle relays!  My one helper laughed and laughed as he watched the kids play.  After the relays I allowed the kids to sword fight with the pool noodles. 

Then club was over and the kids could spend their Bible bucks at the club store. 

BBC 2019: Joseph, Slave & Prisoner

We had another great week at BBC!  The kids are really learning their Bible Verses!  Out of the 70 kids who came this week, 22 could quote all 7 verses.  Many others could quote at least 5.  My personal goal for the kids is that by the last week, everyone can at least quote 1 verse. 

This week, we made Senet games from DVD cases I got from the public library.  The kids decorated four throwing sticks.  B from Newmanstown did an amazing job with her sticks.  They also glued beads together to make 10 playing pieces.  I hope they enjoy teaching their parents and friends how to play this game.  Instead of the Lego bag, I brought the Animal bag.  Some of my groups were getting tired of Legoes.  It was fun to see what they did with the animals.  I had two boys who quickly separated the insects from the other animals.  The girls tended to play with the cats and horses.  The other activity they could do during this time was Four Square in the Air. 

During Bible Time, we talked about who is good.  I laughed when two of the younger kids from Campbelltown told me their older siblings were good.  One group insisted I was good!  Then we looked at what God's Word had to say about this subject.  Romans 3:12 and Mark 10:18 shows us that No one is truly good all the time, except God.  Then 1 Cor. 15:2-3 and 2 Cor. 5:21 tells us that Jesus took our sin when he died on the cross to not only forgive our sins but to make us right (good)  in God's eyes.  Finally, we looked at Romans 10:13.  Here we discovered that it is only those who believe in Jesus (and what He did on the cross) that can be saved (made right). 

The Bible Verse challenged focused on not giving up.  Two kids were each given a bottle of water which they had to raise over their head and then drop them down for 50 times  (100 for the other kids).  The other kids counted for them.  This group of kids really showed endurance.  You could see that some were struggling to make 50 but they were determined not to give up.  This tied into Hebrews 10:23, where the writer is challenges us to not give up our hope that God will do what He said He will do: welcome all those who believe in Jesus into heaven. 

The Bible Lesson focused on Joseph as his time as a slave & prisoner (Genesis 39-41).  I told the lesson using figure cut outs.  The kids learned to say NO (and some times run away) when they are temped to do sin.  They also learned that God is with them during the good and bad times. 

We played the review game using a large SENET board.  This game me a chance to teach them the game of senet so that when they take their craft home, they can play it with others.  It also helped me see how much they remembered from the Bible Lesson.  Since all the groups were disappointed to not finish the game, I was a success. 

We finished the club with WATER GAMES.  Their favorite game is still Drip, Drip, Drop! 

BBC 2019: Joseph, Favorite Son

Here is week 5 in review:

The kids made a simple string (Joseph) puppet for craft this week.  It was fun seeing which yarn the children chose to make their puppets.  We did have some difficulty keeping some puppets from doing a headstand.  I finally solved the problem by running the puppet string through the clothing.  Still the kids seemed to enjoy the craft.

This week's Bible verse was Matthew 5:44.  I used a 2 person reader's theater skit to introduce the verse. The kids really are enjoying performing before their peers.  To practice the verse, a child chose a crazy card.  Whatever action the card said, is what we need to do while saying the verse.  

The Bible Lesson was taken from Genesis 37.  As the kids learned about Joseph and his brothers, they also saw how jealous can get WAY out of control.  We learned that when we are jealous we should. . . 1. Stop and Pray.  We need to ask God to help us not be jealous.  2.  Think.  We need to list all the things, talents, etc that God had given us.  3.  Love.  We need to show love to the person we are jealous of.  

After snack time, we played different versions of gaga ball:  Mayhem, Defender and Team Gaga.  My favorite is Defender, but Jonestown group voted for Team Gaga.  We also played Mennonite Madness with three of the groups.  In Newmanstown, I split the groups into a older and younger group to play.  It was funny to watch.  The older group, yelled, jumped, and just made a whole lot of noise while they played.  The younger group could hardly focus on their game because they were so curious over the older kids game.  

Then for our Bible review game, we played Joseph's Coat ZAP!  This was a fun game.  If you answer the question correctly, you team got 2,000 points AND you got to take a coat off the line  (you had to do what the coat said).  Some coats had the kids sing the Bible verse.  Other coats had them ZAP their score down to 0.  Other coats said to switch points or add/subtract points from their score.  It seems just when one team was getting WAY ahead, they would be ZAP! 





This past week's Contest was an art contest:  Draw a picture of Jacob wrestling with God.  Below are some of my favorites.  Enjoy! 

BBC 2019: Jacob Away from Home

This week marked the 1/2 way point of summer and of BBC.  This week the kids made the toy Jacob's ladder.  I MUST simplify this craft if I ever do it again!!!!  Yes, it was difficult.  I am hoping all the kid ladder's work, but came home with "extra" boards.  (And that is not a good sign). 

Most of the kids played Tenzie this week instead of using the Lego bag.  I love Tenzie.  It is easy to play and I can easily adapt it for younger and older kids. 

For the weekly challenge, I gave two teams a white board with the same line drawn on it.  Each person had to add a line to the drawing.  When the teams were finished they handed me the boards.  We then talked about how the drawings were very different from each other AND different from how they began.  This lead into the discussion about 2 Corinthians 5:17.  To practice the verse, we played a game that the kids begged to do again!  I divided the large white board into seven sections.  On each section, I wrote "only the boys", "only the girls", "only brown eyes," etc.  Then a kid got a suction ball to throw at the board.  Whatever section the ball stuck to, those were the people who had to stand and say the verse. 

Our Bible Lesson focused on Jacob while he was away from home.  We looked at how God was changing him from Jacob: the grabber/ thief/deceiver into Israel: prince of God.  I asked them "Is God changing you from a sinner into a saint?"  The first step in becoming a saint is to believe that Jesus died for you.  Then live in obedience to God. 

Because this was such a HOT week, we played a number of water relays.  We concluded with a yearly favorite: Left, Right, Self.  We pass a die around while we say the Bible Verse.  Whoever is left holding the die, rolls it, then dumps a cup of water where the die tells them. 

And then it was time to go home. 

Last week's newspaper had an opinion poll.  Twenty-seven kids answered it to earn 5 Bible Bucks.  "In your opinion, who should have gotten the blessing and birthright:  Jacob or Esau?"  Twenty-two said Esau, while only 5 said Jacob.  Britney said, "In my opinion, neither should get it, but if I had to choose I would choose Esau."  Brynn said, "Jacob because he obeyed his mom."  Lilly said, "Jacob because he made the family food."  Kathryn said, "Esau should have gotten the blessing because Jacob lied." 

BBC 2019: Birthright and Blessing

What an amazing week here at Backyard Bible club!  The kids got to make "Jacob's Famous Bean Soup Mix" for their craft.  I often heard, "Mmmmm.  Something smells good." as the kids arrived at the craft table. 

Since it was raining on Monday, I offered the kids a chance to play Tenzie or Legoes.  My other groups got the choice of Legoes and Gaga Ball.  Although I only played a round or two of Gaga Ball, I am sore.  I don't know how the kids play for hours! 

This week's challenge was who could drink their bottle of cherry Kool-Aid first.  Unknown to my contestants the Kool-Aid was made with salt instead of sugar.  Some made a faces.  Others spit it out.  But E and L from Monday's group drank it and were politely going to sit down before I asked them, "so did you like the Kool-Aid?"  Then and only then did I get the response I was looking for.  I explained that I had deceived them into thinking they were getting wonderful, refreshing Kool-Aid, but really they were getting salt-water (Yuck!).  Then we looked at our verse of the week: Leviticus 19:11.  I hope the kids remember that God views deceit as sin. 

We had fun this week with the Bible Lesson.  I chose a volunteer to be Isaac.  Then we sang (to the tune: Farmer in the Dell), Isaac lived in Canaan.  Isaac lived in Canaan. High ho a derry oh!  Isaac lived in Canaan.  (vs 2) Issac got a wife.  (vs 3)  The wife's name was Rebekah.  (vs 4) Rebekah gave birth to Esau.  (vs 5) Easu was red and hairy.  (vs 6)  Jacob was Esau's brother.  (vs 7)  Jacob loved to cook.  In doing this, I got four volunteers to help act out the story of Esau and Jacob.  The kids did a wonderful job.  (In fact, I have a number of kids begging me to let them be Jacob, Rachel and Leah next week!) 

We played a number of games with Hula Hoops.  There favorite hoop games still is color hoops.  You play this kind of like Musical Chairs.  I am always amazing at what games end up being a favorite. 

For our review game, we played Checkmate.  If they answered a question correctly, they could pull checkers out of a bag.  Each black checker was worth 1,000 points.  They could pull until they pulled a red checker.  The team with the most points at the end wins.  I love review games, because it gives me an idea of who was listening, what they learned and if I need to correct a wrong assumption. 

 P.S. the kids earned 5 Bible bucks, if they handed in an essay to this question:  What do you think Isaac was thinking when his father put him on the altar?  I had many wonderful answers.  The kids really thought about this.  Here are some of my favorite answers. 

M.R said, "I think Isaac was thinking I'm scared, but God will help deliver me from this altar."

K S said, "He was sad in the beginning and happy when the angel saved him."

J W said, "I think Isaac was thinking his dad was crazy." 

E. S said, "Isaac felt confused.  I think this because he was probably thinking something along these lines.  "What is my father thinking?"  "Why are we building an altar with no sacrifice?"  "Why is my father being so secretive?"  and "why are we going to this exact spot?"  This is why I believe Isaac felt confused."

G.S said, "I think Isaac was thinking where is the animal to sacrifice.  When his dad tied him up, he was thinking, I'm going to die and my dad doesn't love me." 

BBC 2019: Abraham & Isaac

When the kids arrived this week, they could go to the craft table, LEGO Bag or play 4 square in the air.  I laughed to see the Newmanstown kids trying to bounce the ball as they attempted to play 4 square in the grass.  I guess they had never seen 4 square in the air.  Quickly, I explained the rules (it is like playing 4 square and volleyball).  It was fun to see how quickly they fell in love with the new game.  (Unfortunately, I forgot to get pictures of them playing the game).  This week for a craft we made a small plague. 



Our Bible lesson was taken from Genesis 21-22.  God gave Abraham a hard test to see if he would obey Him even when it was hard (and didn't make sense).  God asked him to go to Mt Moriah and kill his beloved son Isaac as a gift to God.  This was the same son, who God had promised would be born to Abraham and Sarah.  God had told Abraham that Isaac would receive the same three amazing promised that Abraham received.  So, now God was asking Abraham to kill him?  Would Abraham obey?  Abraham packed his bags.  He and Isaac began the journey to Mt Moriah.  Abraham didn't know how God was going to keep His promise to him and Isaac if Isaac was dead, but he decided to trust God anyway.  Just when he was about to thrust the knife into his beloved son, God called out and told him to stop.  Abraham passed the test!  Not only that, but God provided a substitute, a ram, to be offered instead of Isaac.  Many years later, Jesus died on the same Mountain as our substitute.  We have an amazing God. 


To introduce our Bible Verse, I asked for three volunteers to act out a story while I read it.  The young prince rescued a young girl who had fallen into a pit full of deadly snakes.  Unfortunately, in the rescue the prince received a snake bite.  The girl was saved because the prince was willing to give up his life for her.  In this week's Bible verse, Jesus is like that prince.  For our Bible Verse Game, we played pass the gift as we quoted 1 John 4:14.  Whoever was holding the gift when we finished got to open one box.  We kept doing this until the last box was opened.  They kids enjoyed the candy that was in the last box. 

This week we played a number of water games!  Some got very wet.  Others not so much.  I surprisingly didn't get wet at all!  I am sure on the next water week, I will not be so fortunate. 

BBC 2019: God's Promises to Abraham

We had a fantastic start to this year's BBC.  Andrew came to BBC grinning from ear to ear.  Finally, he was 5 years old and could come with his siblings to BBC.  The day of Campbelltown BBC, Kaden, Marleigh and Kyla were dressed and ready by 7:00 am (although we only start at 9:30).  When Kathryn arrived at Jonestown, I was surprised because her mom told me that the kids would not be here this week.  Kathryn then told me that she choose BBC over VBS!  Abigail's grandma told me she cried when she learned that BBC: Newmanstown changed to a Wednesday this year. Abigail was only going to be at her grandma's on Thursday and Fridays.  But she was smiling on Wednesday because grandma made arrangements to pick her on Wednesdays also this summer just so she could attend BBC!  I love knowing that the kids LOVE to attend Backyard Bible Club.

Because so many pre-registered this year, the kids didn't have to wait so long to sign in.  That meant they could go quickly go to the craft table, LEGO bag or gaga pit.  This week, the kids made star string art.  For many this was the first time they did string art.  I send a HUGE thank you to Homer Kreider for cutting out the boards and drilling the nail holes.

We are learning seven memory verses (and songs) this year.  This week's Bible verse was: Hebrews 11:6.  I used a feather challenged to explain what faith is.  Then I used a puppet glove to share the history of God's promises to Abraham (Genesis 12-21).  The kids learned because God keeps His promises, they can trust Him.

After snack time, we played with the parachute.  We made waves, a mushroom and sat in the cave.  We played switch-a-roo, keep on/keep off, cat & mouse and sharks.  Having two different sized of parachutes this year was great.  Both my larger and small groups got to play instead of just my small groups.

Our closing review game was "Bucket of Stars".  Answer a question correctly and you get 10 seconds to dig through the bucket of stars to find the highest point value star.

I was pleased to see that many of the kids choose to save the Bible bucks that they earned this week.

Each kid got this week's Patriarch Paper: Abraham, a sticker for the wallet and a neat movable book to take home.