2006 VBS Top Picks
Lynda Freeman editor 'Round About the Church Copyright © Lynda Freeman Last Updated March 12, 2006 Web Page by Lynda Freeman Send an e-mail to Lynda at Lynda@roundaboutthechurch.comOnce again this year the publishers have developed excellent VBS resources that may be utilized in a number of settings throughout the year! I'm pleased to see better attention devoted to writing lessons that engage the children and focus their attention on understanding and living God's Word! The following are my personal Top Picks for VBS 2006!
Favorite Bible Lessons - Lessons presented in an engaging and active way with an emphasis on living God's Word -
- Group Publishing - Fiesta!
- It is really hard to top these lessons for the creative and imaginative way they truly engage children in "experiencing" God's Word! I love the small group questions that follow each lesson and the focus on living God's Word! Tremendously well done, Group Publishing!
- Concordia Publishing House - Treasure Cove
- Regular Baptist Press - Set Sail!
- Cook - Time Stone Travelers
- I'm delighted to see the amount of activity Concordia, Regular Baptist and Cook wove into their Bible lessons this year! Tremendously well done!
VBS Setting - Fun, unique, interesting settings that capture the imagination of children!
- Group Publishing - Fiesta!
- Fiesta was the perfect word to use as a name for their VBS as it is a true "party"! Color, music, fun all combine for a setting kids will be enthralled with! Tremendously well done, Group Publishing!
- Cook - Time Stone Travelers
- Standard Publishing - Trading Places -
- I love how both Cook and Standard allowed children to "travel" each day to a new, different and exciting "location" - truly creative and engaging! Tremendously well done!
Craft Kits - Fun projects kids will want to keep that are affordable and durable in kits that are complete AND connect the craft to the lesson point!
- Concordia Publishing House - Treasure Cove
- I would like to see more options that are more affordable, but once again, Concordia provides craft kit options that are fun, durable and connect the craft with the Bible point! Tremendously well done, Concordia!
- Oriental Trading Company
- S&S World Wide
- GuildCraft
- You absolutely can not go wrong with crafts from these three companies. They provide a wide variety of options in any price range that are easy to use and tie in with Bible Lesson points - see reviews to follow. Tremendously well done!
Craft Book - filled with creative, fun and easy ideas that connect well with Bible Lessons!
- Gospel Light - SonTreasure Island
- It is hard to beat Gospel Light when it comes to craft books! Once again they provided a book filled with ideas for every age of child! I love how they give helps on ways to tie the craft in with the Bible lesson! Tremendously well done, Gospel Light!
- Standard Publishing - Trading Places -
- Standard's craft book is terrific! I love the crafts that tie in with Bible lessons as well as the countries children "visit" in VBS! Tremendously well done, Standard!
Music - songs children can sing with enthusiasm, far beyond the five days of VBS!
- Group - Fiesta!
- These are songs children will want to sing at church, home, in their car - everywhere they go! Tremendously well done, Group!
- Group - Bethlehem Village
- I love these songs - they are fun to sing any time of year, not just at Christmas, however, I think you ruined, "Mary did you know?" as it should be sung with meaning - not with "speed". Tremendously well done, Group!
- Standard Publishing - Trading Places
- Concordia Publishing House -
- I love the fun songs, meaningful songs - perfect combination for VBS - or anytime! Tremendously well done!
Puppet - Puppets are fun for all year long - not just at VBS!
- Concordia Publishing House - Treasure Chest
- I didn't think I would be that impressed with this puppet, but it is tremendously well made, fits a man's hand and is absolutely unique! Tremendously well done, Concordia!
- Standard Publishing - Chameleon
- Children were captivated by this puppet! It is a perfect size and design - looked like a great, plush toy and actually was a puppet! Tremendously well done, Standard!
- Regular Baptist Press - Dolphin
- What child isn't enthralled with dolphins?!!! This puppet also looked like a plush toy, but in actuality was a puppet! Tremendously well done, Regular Baptist Press!
Top Pick Overall - My individual category "top picks" are based on my personal opinion, but my "Top Pick" overall is based on how a vbs resource "scored" on the comparison chart. VBS resources with the most features/components scored the highest and received my Top Pick Ribbon.
- Cook - Time Stone Travelers -
- I was thrilled to see Cook combined all the features - music, crafts, games, snacks with Bible lessons that engaged the children and focused them on understanding and living God's Word! I also love how Cook's VBS is reproducible and highly affordable! Tremendously well done, Cook!
- Concordia Publishing House - Treasure Cove -
- Concordia is always one of my top picks! They can be relied on to combine quality resources sure to engage children with easy to understand tools volunteers will love! Most importantly, Concordia's commitment to Biblically present Jesus as the center of their VBS, shines through in every part of their material! Tremendously well done, Concordia!
- Group Publishing - Fiesta!
- All the things we love and look for from Group were once again in this year's VBS resource! The lessons are amazing! I love the Daily Application Point - I'm so glad you added this to your curriculum! Tremendously well done, Group!
- Regular Baptist Press - Set Sail!
- RBP can always be depended on to provide quality VBS resources that allow churches to make a strong evangelistic outreach into their community! RBP provides some of the best, most complete director's resources and consistently provides lessons that are better written to engage children every year! Tremendously well done, Regular Baptist Press!