Praise God For His Greatness

Each day VBS will begin and end with a time of corporate worship. Our intent is that everyone can share in these times including leaders and preschoolers.

As kids are walking in, we recommend having fun, energetic music already playing in the background to set the tone for a great day!

Make sure to leave house lights on during the announcements and countdown. The Praise Time will have more impact and stand apart as the official start if you save the stage lights for when the music begins. Have the choreography leaders run on to the stage AFTER the ten second countdown. They can run off after the final song is done and before the skit begins.

Each “Opening Session” contains a 10 second countdown, 4 music videos, a daily greeting by Go Fish, and ends with an opening Psalm. After the opening Psalm is read, the skit will begin with either live actors or puppets followed by final announcements from the VBS Director.

Please note: the song order is the same for all 5 days. The speaking videos, psalms, and skits vary each day. Again, we did this intentionally because kids like knowing which songs are coming next and the transitional order worked extremely well for this curriculum. This also makes it possible for VBS to run smoothly by keeping a consistent schedule and allowing kids to sing all their favorites each day.

Choreography

We have included choreography for all of the videos. You can find the choreography teaching videos in your video download.

We highly recommend using these to teach a small group of 6-8 kids and/or leaders the actions for these songs. Because of licensing and royalty issues, there isn’t a teaching video for the song Shackles (Praise You), however the moves are clear on the main video so your leaders should be able to pick up the moves fairly easily.

It’s very important that your on stage dancers are prepared so that the kids can look to them to learn the moves.

This also adds a lot of energy to your worship times. With your lighting, our videos, and dancers on stage it will truly feel like a big event! We have found that utilizing Jr. & Sr. High kids for this role works wonderfully. When the younger children see their older peers getting into it, they tend to follow!

Are we directionally challenged? Sometimes! But we intentionally went left on the videos when we say to go right so that what the kids see on screen matches where they’re going. We thought it would be a good idea to clarify that before you send us letters explaining the difference between left and right!

The people on stage can leave as soon as the daily greeting or wrap up videos begin. If you have the capabilities, we’d just suggest turning the stage lights on when they’re actively involved and off when the focus should be on the videos only.

Any time when there are no choreographed moves, these on stage leaders can sing along, clap, and encourage kids to stay actively involved in the music time. Having the right kids and/or leaders on stage can really add a lot to the opening and closing worship experience. Make sure everyone is smiling and having fun up there!

The Skits

This year our skits feature 3 characters who will be a part of your opening Praise Time every day during the Praise VBS experience.

• Billy Ray Bob Buffalo: A country music star and aspiring rapper
• MC CiCi: A hip hop star
• Axe: A heavy metal guitar player and aspiring DJ

Throughout the 5 skits, MC CiCi will assist Billy Ray Bob Buffalo in learning how to rap! On the last day their big performance will take place and your kids are going to love cheering them on as they give God praise through their efforts!

LeaderImportant Note: The audio for the Day 5 rap is in your curriculum download: the Day 5 skit song performance track (music only, so that your actors can perform it live) and the Day 5 skit song demo (so that your actors can lip synch, or to use with puppet performers).

House lights up during announcements and countdown, then house lights down for the praise time. Stage lights up only during the music and announcements.

BRB and Cici: God Is Great

Written by John Cosper

The Day 1 Go Fish Greeting video is longer than the rest of the days. If your kids get a bit restless during this first day’s video, please DO NOT let this deter you from using the videos on the rest of the days. It was important that we included more information on this first video which is why it is a little longer than the rest.

Start with a greeting, announcements, and prayer by the VBS Director. After the announcements, start that day’s opening praise time by playing the Day 1 Opening Praise video (from your video download) and start praising!

Included when you buyDay 1 Opening Praise video

Have choreography leaders/dancers run on to the stage as the countdown ends so they’re ready to lead!

The “Day 1 Opening Praise” consists of:

After video, dancers leave and actors or puppets begin the “God Is Great” skit.

LeaderPrint the Day 1 take-home sheet from your curriculum download.

LeaderOpen with a word of prayer

Play the Day 1 Bible Study video (from your video download)

Included when you buyDay 1 Bible Study video

We just heard how Daniel went to God first about his situation.

LeaderAllow time for children to respond

LeaderAllow 2-3 children to share about a recent decision they had to make and how they made it

Even though Daniel gave credit to God for interpreting the dream, King Nebuchadnezzar still didn’t believe that God was the only true God. In Daniel chapter 3 King Nebuchadnezzar built a gold idol 90 feet high and 90 feet wide and ordered all the people in Babylon to bow down and worship the idol. He threatened the people and told them that if they didn’t do it, they would be thrown into a blazing furnace. Well guess who lived in Babylon and did not bow down to the gold idol? Daniel’s friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

When the king heard about it, he was furious! He tried to threaten Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego again but it didn’t work. They confidently told the king that their God was big enough to save them from the furnace. But even if He didn’t save them, they were still not going to bow down to any other god. They knew that a huge gold idol did not even come close to comparing to the greatness of their God. Let’s turn in our Bibles to Daniel chapter 3 to see what happened.

LeaderRead Daniel 3:19-27. If you have 2nd-5th graders, have one of the children read out loud. The leader should read if working with K & 1st graders. Even though it is printed here, make sure to read the scripture from your Bible.

God protected them so much that not only were they completely unharmed, but they didn’t even smell like smoke!

LeaderLeaders at this time carefully light a match and blow it out. Ask the children if they can smell the smoke.

We can smell smoke from just a tiny little match. If you have ever been to a bonfire you know how stinky your clothes and hair are afterwards. You need to wash everything to get the smell of the smoke out. However, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were wearing robes, trousers, turbans, and other clothes and stood right in the fire, yet the Bible says that there wasn’t even the smell of fire on them!

All of the government officials were watching King Nebuchadnezzar to see how he would react! Let’s read about what he did.

LeaderLeaders read Daniel 3:28 from your Bible

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were ordered to worship an idol. They were willing to die because they knew no other god deserved their praise. Even though we aren’t told to worship huge gold statues, we are told to worship other things.

LeaderAllow time for children to respond

The commercials on T.V. everyday try to tell us that we would be happier if we had more things, more food, more vacations, more money and the list goes on and on. When we think about those things more than God, they become idols for us. Nothing is greater than God and He does not want to share His praise with anything else. He deserves it all.

LeaderIf time allows, have the children start working on their take-home sheets (the Day 1 take-home sheet in your curriculum download includes a kids version and a leaders version with answers).

In the Bible lesson today, children will learn that there is no object in heaven or on earth that is worthy of our praise. After studying the biblical account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, kids will see that even King Nebuchadnezzar ended up giving praise to the one true God.

The craft today will remind kids that we live to give God praise. Our mission is to get down and lift God high!

Items Needed

LeaderPrint the Praise Poster craft template (11×17 or 8.5×11) from your curriculum download.

Instructions

• Have copies of the poster printed and placed by each seat at the craft area.
• While kids are called individually to get their pictures taken in front of the backdrop the others can start decorating their posters.
• Have kids getting their pictures taken choose their favorite props and then take a picture of them in a typical John Travolta disco pose!
• Have their left hand pointed up and their right hand pointed down so that it fits properly in the poster template. Their LEFT hand will point up to “I Lift God High” and their RIGHT hand will point down to “I Get Down”.
• Make sure that kids write their names on their posters so that you can properly match the pictures with the posters when the pictures are all printed out.
• Glue or tape the pictures to the poster.

Gather the kids and do the Get Down activity/game (game details below).

*Recommended “Get Down” Scripture verses:*

• Leviticus 26:1
• Isaiah 40:28
• Isaiah 42:8

Equipment Needed

Object of the game

To eliminate each player and be the last one standing. Also, a great feature of this particular game is that players will learn Scripture as they play!

How to play (rules)

1. 1Have the players stand in a circle with their Bibles.
2. 2For this game to work, the players will all need to have the same version of the Bible.
3. 3Another option is for you to print out cards for each verse and hand them out to the kids. This is more work but it makes things easier when you play the game.
4. 4The leader will give the kids a verse to look up.
5. 5Pick one player to start and that player will say the Scripture reference (i.e. Psalm 1:1). The reference will count as one word. Then the kids each take turns saying one word of the verse at a time as they go around the circle. (Using Psalm 1:1 as an example, the first player would say “Blessed”, then the next player would say “is”, etc.) When they get to the end of the verse the player who says the last word will look to the next player and say “Get Down”. That player then needs to do a little dance and sit down.
6. 6The process starts over with the next player using the same Bible verse until the game is over.
7. 7This continues until there is only one player left.
8. 8If time allows, you can play again with a new Bible verse.

In the Bible lesson today, children will learn that there is no object in heaven or on earth that is worthy of our praise. After studying the biblical account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, kids will see that even King Nebuchadnezzar ended up giving praise to the one true God.

The snack today will remind kids of how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were protected in the fiery furnace by God. After stepping out of the furnace the Bible says they didn’t even smell like smoke!

Ingredients

Instructions

Put the large marshmallow or marshmallow fluff in between two fudge stripe cookies and BAM...instant s’mores.

LeaderWhile the kids are preparing and eating the snack, use that time to discuss again the amazing story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

If you have extra time after completing the snack, group leaders can assist children in starting the karaoke time and/or looking up these additional verses.

• Leviticus 26:1
• Isaiah 40:28
• Isaiah 42:8

We have included the karaoke option because several children’s workers have observed that kids almost always finish their snacks early. Since our Praise curriculum is so heavily influenced by music, karaoke continues to be a great way to make sure your kids stay engaged!

After snack time, your kids can take turns rockin’ out with Go Fish! All you need is the Praise video download and a TV or screen to play it on. Your Technical Coordinator may be able to help you add a microphone or two as well, but that isn’t necessary to make this an extremely fun part of your VBS week.

*The karaoke videos are in your Praise video download.*

By the end of the week your kids will have these songs and motions down pat. Have fun!

These games from the Praise Games Manual tie into today’s lesson. Every game works on any day, so mix and match as you like.

Equipment Needed

Object of the game

To eliminate all members of the other team or to knock down their idol.

How to play (rules)

1. 1Divide the kids into two teams.
2. 2Line all the balls up on the center line.
3. 3When the go ahead is given, kids run to grab as many balls as possible for their team.
4. 4Players are not allowed to cross over the center line.
5. 5Players throw the ball at the opposite team (must hit them below the head or they’re out).
6. 6When a player is hit, they must stand on the sideline.
7. 7When someone on their team catches a ball, 2 people from that team may come back in.
8. 8When an idol is knocked over (by a ball or accidentally by a player guarding it) the game is over.
9. 9Only one “Nebuchadnezzar” is allowed to guard the idol at any given time.

Equipment Needed

Object of the game

To get from point A to point B without touching the floor/ground which represents the fiery furnace in the Bible story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

How to play (rules)

1. 1Divide the group into teams of 2-4 (depending on the equipment you provide them).
2. 2With the equipment provided, each team must successfully figure out how to get from the starting line to the finish line without getting burned by the fiery furnace.
3. 3If there is not enough equipment for all groups to go at the same time, you can time each group to see how long it takes them to make it across the fiery furnace.
4. 4If any member of the group touches the ground, the whole group has to go back to the start and try again.

LeaderGreat preschool option

Equipment Needed

Object of the game

See how many idols the team can knock down in a certain amount of time (or see how long it takes to knock down all the idols).

How to play (rules)

1. 1Divide the group into small teams.
2. 2Put one team in the middle of the play area with the bean bags or balls.
3. 3Set the idols up in a semi-circle at a distance where the group could hit with some accuracy (closer or farther depending on the ages of the players).
4. 4When the leader says “Go” the group rolls the balls or throws the beanbags to knock down the idols.
5. 5Either give the group a certain amount of time to see how many they can knock down or simply time them to see how long it takes to knock the idols down.
6. 6Some members of the team (or leaders) will need to run and return the bean bags and/or balls back to the group.

Free play until your group has all arrived and is ready to go to the opening praise and worship time with the elementary children.

LeaderSung to the tune of “Bingo was His Name-o”

I have a book that comes from God / And this is how you spell it / B-I-B-L-E, B-I-B-L-E, B-I-B-L-E / It is the Word of God

Repeat but replace the first “B” with a hand clap and sing the rest of the letters in B-I-B-L-E. Each time you repeat the song, replace an additional letter with another hand clap until you’re clapping for all of the letters.

Psalm 121

This week preschoolers will be working together to memorize a Psalm. We have chosen Psalm 121 and added some simple actions to it. The words and actions are below. Have fun committing Psalm 121 to memory this week at VBS.

Preschool Psalm 121 Memorization Activity (with motions) — Psalm 121 (NIV)

• I lift up my eyes (point to eyes) to the mountains (bring tips of fingers together to make a pointed mountain in the air)
• Where does my help come from? (hold hands out like you don’t know the answer)
• My help comes from the LORD, (make the sign language “L” and move it from the top left shoulder down to the lower right waist)
• The Maker of heaven and earth. (lightly pound each fist on top of each other)
• He (point up to God) will not (slash hands)
• Let your foot slip (point to feet)
• He (point up to God) who watches (shade eyes with hand) over you
• Will not (slash hands) slumber; (hands next to head like sleeping)
• Indeed, He (point up to God) who watches (shade eyes with hand) over Israel
• Will neither slumber nor sleep. (shake head “no” while laying head on hands like sleeping)
• The LORD (make the sign language “L” and move it from the top left shoulder down to the lower right waist) watches over you (shade eyes with hand)
• The LORD (make the sign language “L” and move it from the top left shoulder down to the lower right waist)
• Is your shade (place hand over head like an umbrella) at your right hand;
• The sun (open and close fist like the sun shining in the sky)
• Will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. (shake your head “no”)
• The LORD (make the sign language “L” and move it from the top left shoulder down to the lower right waist)
• Will keep you from all harm - He (point up to God) will watch (shade eyes with hand) over your life;
• The LORD (make the sign language “L” and move it from the top left shoulder down to the lower right waist)
• Will watch (shade eyes with hand) over your coming and going
• Both now (point at ground) and forevermore (spread your arms wide).

Block, Lego or Lincoln Log station

Allow children to play with blocks as you begin your time together. Encourage them to see how many blocks they can stack on top of each other. Questions to ask while they are building:

Play the Day 1 Bible Study video (from your video download)

Included when you buyDay 1 Bible Study video

Optional Supplies

Optional Volunteers

We just heard a true story from the Bible in the video. Does anyone remember who the story was about?

LeaderNebuchadnezzar & Daniel

That’s right! Great job remembering! Right now we’re going to talk a little more about King Nebuchadnezzar.

LeaderPlace crown on your head as you narrate the story

Even though Daniel praised God for telling him what the king’s dream meant, Nebuchadnezzar still didn’t understand just how great and awesome God was. We’re going to read a true story from Daniel chapter 3 and see how God showed himself to Nebuchadnezzar.

LeaderOpen your Bible to Daniel chapter 3 so the children realize that this is a true story from God’s Word.

Remember how we were building with our blocks and stacking them on top of each other? The Bible says King Nebuchadnezzar used gold to build a huge statue that was 90 feet high and 90 feet wide! That’s about as tall as 6 houses stacked on top of each other!

King Nebuchadnezzar thought his statue was so great that he wanted everyone in his kingdom to bow down to it. He wanted them to worship the statue instead of God. When you worship something other than God, it’s called an idol.

King Nebuchadnezzar told the people if they didn’t bow down to his idol, he would have them thrown into a furnace. A furnace is a really, really, really hot fire!

LeaderPoint to fiery flames on the wall

They were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men heard about the king’s new rule, but they would not bow down to the giant statue! They did not want to disobey God.

King Nebuchadnezzar was so angry that he told Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego that he was going to throw them into his furnace!

Raise your hand if you have gotten burned by something hot. It really hurts to get burned doesn’t it? Even though Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew it would hurt to get thrown into the furnace, they trusted God to save them. They told the king that even if God didn’t save them, they still wouldn’t bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol! They knew that the idol did not even come close to being as great as God. God is real and that idol was just a bunch of gold!

This made the king even more upset and he told his men to make the furnace even hotter! He told his soldiers to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the furnace.

LeaderHave 3 volunteers stand by the fire and tie the rope loosely around them.

The furnace was so hot that some of the soldiers who were throwing them in even died!

After Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fire, King Nebuchadnezzar was in for a BIG surprise! The Bible says he jumped up (jump up when you tell this part) and asked, “Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the fire? Look, I see four men walking around in the fire, they’re not tied up and they’re not hurt at all, and the fourth one looks like a son of the gods.”

LeaderHave volunteer wearing bathrobe or angel costume stand by fire and untie the rope from Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego volunteers.

Nebuchadnezzar went closer to the furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire and everyone crowded around them. They all saw that the fire had not hurt them at all! Their hair wasn’t burned, their skin wasn’t burned, and their clothes didn’t even smell like smoke! Amazing!

Listen to this! When King Nebuchadnezzar saw what happened he said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.”

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to worship an idol even if it meant being burned in the furnace. They knew it was more important to obey God than to obey the king.

We are going to hang this poster on our wall today to remind us to praise God for His greatness.

LeaderHang poster on the wall

Let’s pray and thank God for being so great!

LeaderLead kids in prayer

Supplies:

Use the flames decorated on the wall to pretend you are at a bonfire. The children can pretend to roast their marshmallows and even sing a song around the fire! Talk about how when you have a bonfire, you can smell the smoke even afterwards in your hair and clothes. Remind them from the story earlier that even though Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were standing in the fire, God protected them so much that they didn’t even smell like smoke!

Leader(If you have enough volunteers, you could have them broil marshmallows in an oven or toaster oven while children are at bonfire, then use those marshmallows instead of the ones on the sticks.)

LeaderSet up as many of these stations as you desire. Plan for the children to go through them in groups of 3-5 children along with 1 adult leader or youth helper for each station. Children should stay at each station for about 10 minutes. It often works well to set a timer for the entire class, and have the groups rotate all at the same time.

GAK Recipe (Supplies for one batch)

Directions

1. 1Combine glue and warm water in large mixing bowl.
2. 2Add a few drops of food coloring to the glue/water mixture and stir.
3. 3In the plastic cup combine 1 cup of hot water with 1½ tablespoons of Borax. Stir the solution (it’s ok if all of the powder dissolves).
4. 4While stirring the glue/water mixture, slowly pour a small amount of the Borax solution into the large mixing bowl. You should begin to see the gak take form and solidify. Keep adding the Borax solution to the glue mixture (don’t stop mixing) until you get the consistency of slime. You may need to use your hands!
5. 5Store the gak in ziplock bag or airtight container until you are ready to use.

Idea for discussion:

You probably haven’t been told to worship a huge statue, but sometimes we are told to worship other things. The commercials on TV try to tell us that we would be happier if we had more things like toys, dolls, or money. When we think about those things more than God, they become idols for us. Nothing is greater than God and He does not want to share His praise with anything else. God deserves it all!

Try to get as many fireman costumes as you can so children can try on the boots, hats, coats, gloves, etc. If possible bring in a local fireman to show some of his/her equipment with the children.

Idea for discussion:

Talk about what firemen wear to protect themselves from fire when they go into burning buildings. Talk about how much greater God is than the man-made equipment. Emphasize that even though firemen go into fires, there are many times that they do not go in because it is too dangerous. Isn’t it truly amazing how God protected Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? As much as their equipment can help protect firemen, God is the only one great enough to keep us totally safe!

(the “Preschool coloring sheet” in your curriculum download)

LeaderPrint the Preschool coloring sheet from your curriculum download.

Color over the 4 men on the sheet with a clear wax crayon. Then use red and orange watercolor paints to paint the sheet with “fire”. The watercolor fire will separate from the wax covered characters showing that they were protected and unharmed by the fire.

In addition to the coloring sheet, have objects from creation such as fruits, vegetables, plants, flowers, rocks, tree branches, grasses, etc. Even though we are not directly studying creation, we can use God’s creation to demonstrate to children how incredibly great our God is.

Ideas for discussion:

• Can any of us create a _____? (rock, flower, etc)
• Do you think it was difficult for God to create _____?
• God is so great that it was easy for Him to create _____.
• Do you know that God did not need any help to create _____.

God is so incredible! Have fun exploring His creation with the children in your group.

Equipment Needed

Object of the game

See how many idols the team can knock down in a certain amount of time (or see how long it takes to knock down all the idols).

How to play (rules)

1. 1Divide the group into small teams.
2. 2Put one team in the middle of the play area with the bean bags or balls.
3. 3Set the idols up in a semi-circle at a distance where the group could hit with some accuracy (closer or farther depending on the ages of the players).
4. 4When the leader says “Go” the group rolls the balls or throws the beanbags to knock down the idols.
5. 5Either give the group a certain amount of time to see how many they can knock down or simply time them to see how long it takes to knock the idols down.
6. 6Some members of the team (or leaders) will need to run and return the bean bags and/or balls back to the group.

Equipment Needed

Object of the game

To get from point A to point B without touching the floor/ground which represents the fiery furnace in the Bible story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

How to play (rules)

1. 1Divide the group into teams of 2-4 (depending on the equipment you provide them).
2. 2With the equipment provided, each team must successfully figure out how to get from the starting line to the finish line without getting burned by the fiery furnace.
3. 3If there is not enough equipment for all groups to go at the same time, you can time each group to see how long it takes them to make it across the fiery furnace.
4. 4If any member of the group touches the ground, the whole group has to go back to the start and try again.

As kids are coming in, start the Day 1 Closing Praise video (from your video download) right away to get them engaged immediately!

Included when you buyDay 1 Closing Praise video

The “Day 1 Closing” consists of: