Tag Archives: kid fun

How to Survive VBS

Posted in Faith, inspiration, Organization, Prayer, Steph by

“If you want to make the leap from awesome husband to ‘out of this world husband,’ you will go get me a Sonic Diet Coke every morning this week!!” I hinted to my husband.

#DesperateTimes

Loud music. (played on repeat in your head forever.) Louder kids. (outnumbered 5 to 1.) Running around. (Non-stop for 4 straight hours)

And I signed up for it. With a smile.

It’s VBS.  Say Ya Ya Ya Ya Yes for the Va Va B B S!!!!! (Now that is stuck in my mind!!)

I have taught VBS for the last several years. Every year I say it is my last year. And every year I sign up for more responsibility the following year 😉 VBS is like childbirth. You forget about all the aches and pains and just remember the pure JOY. Like watching my sweet 1st graders sing, “I Am Remarkably Made!” Their precious smiles shine with their belief of every word they sing to the tips of their sweet totsies.

Here are 10 ways I Survive VBS:

  1. Procrastinate Not –   Some people work best under pressure. I just curl in a corner and cry if I get overwhelmed. VBS can make you feel like you are swamped with so much material! Bible Lessons, crafts, memory verses, games, and the list goes on! I start 6 weeks before VBS and tackle a day each week. On the sixth week, I review the whole week. For each day, I will make lists of materials I need to buy and materials I need to bring from home for that day. I will also go ahead and complete any copies or cutting out that needs to be done. Spreading it out makes is less intimidating. I get a big grocery sack and put all the materials needed for each day and label with the day of the week.  Has the procrastination ship already sailed?  Skip to #9 😉
  2. Teamwork– Get together with your fellow teachers. 2, 3, 4 heads are better than 1! Talking through the lessons with your peers will help you decide what will work best for your group. You can also go in together and get some wonderful things from Oriental Trading to help your week. Decorations and small prizes are reasonable and worth every penny. Don’t reinvent the wheel if you don’t have to!
  3. Delegate, Delegate, Delegate – If you are fortunate to have extra helpers for your VBS, then use them! In my classroom, we split up the Bible lesson, craft and game. Whoever owns that task they OWN it! It is their responsibility to make sure all the supplies are in order and lead that activity. You don’t have to do it all on your own. I love to involve our Youth in VBS. Some are proactive and others may need a bit more direction. Even if it is getting them to just sit between Chatty Cathy and Handsy MaGee, it is all appreciated!! And the kids LOVE to have the cool teenagers in the classroom. Honestly, it is as much a ministry to the youth as it is to our little ones! They are all the future of our Church.
  4. Visuals Engrave the Lessons in Their Little Minds – Any time you can include a
    Ocean Trenches

    Ocean Trench “Submerged” VBS

    visual aid in telling your story, it will help leave a lasting impression in the kids’ hearts and minds. Costumes, acting out scenes, and science experiments all engage the children. Engaged kids are listening and learning.  I also love any visual that the children can take home as a conversation starter. Now VBS is reaching others that didn’t even attend! This week we gave our kids a sticker with a porpoise on it. When asked, the kids can explain that God has a specific purpose for each and every one of them 😉

  5. Decorating: Less is More –In this Pinterest world, it is easy to get caught up in “who has the coolest room” mentality. The focus of the week really needs to be God’s Word and sharing His love with the children. I am not crafty. My prize decoration was a jellyfish made out of a Dollar Tree shower cap and curling ribbon. (I will admit I got a ton of compliments on it that made this girl feel pretty Miss Crafty!) Don’t worry about the decorations. After the initial excitement of walking into the cool VBS room, the kids are over it. They are ready to learn and be entertained! You do that…not the room J
  6. Don’t Overschedule – VBS week can be energizing and exhausting all at the same time. When we get home after a morning at VBS, I just need a bit to sit and decompress. I am so glad that we made a decision to not plan much of anything during the week of VBS. We go to VBS, enjoy family time, rest up and maybe have some pool time since it is 100 degrees this week!!!
  7. Invite Friends – Every year I ask my kids to give me a list of kids to invite to VBS. Southern Lady-7Most years I get a lot of no’s, but we never gave up asking. This year I hit the jackpot. I got six awesome kids to come with us! I had the extreme privilege to hold one of our sweet friend’s hand as she prayed and asked Jesus to live in her heart.   Bless. It doesn’t get better than that.
  8. Trust the Holy Spirit – Often the parents have been planting seeds of God’s Word and Truth throughout the children’s lives. As teachers, we throw some VBS Miracle Grow on those seeds. Sometimes we have the privilege to introduce God’s love to kids to the first time. We do our part. We plan. We prepare. We practice our lessons. But it is the Holy Spirit that will prepare their little hearts for Jesus. We don’t have to carry that burden. We just do our part in God’s plan for the children’s salvation.  It’s not our job to “save” anyone.  Only Jesus can do that.
  9. Pray, Pray and Pray Some More – The whole week needs to be wrapped in prayer. From the workers to the children to the children’s parents. We need to be praying for the Holy Spirit to be present, for our words to be His, and for His love to be overflowing through us.
  10. Don’t Skip the Snack Table – Did I mention that the snacks are miraculously negative calories during VBS week?  A Twix bar and a Diet Coke two hours after breakfast every day are totally necessary.  Ministering to God’s children can boost your mood and your appetite.  😉

Now for a week long nap if I could just get that music outta my head…

Sometimes You Gotta Hit a WALL

Posted in inspiration, Parenting, The Blessings by

Sometimes You Gotta Hit The Wall

Hey. It’s me. Steph? The Southern Lady Mama? Remember me?

Whew. Good. Sorry it has been a while. I had to peel myself off of the wall that I hit last week 😉

Last week was cra-zy. Some good crazy. Some bad crazy.

I am fortunate enough to spend a good bit of my free time volunteering at my kids’ school. Last week was Book Fair, and I am Scholastic MONSTER Book Fair at LESon the committee that runs the show. It is incredibly fun and extremely rewarding. We sold almost $30,000 in books in five days. That’s HUGE! It was fun to be part of, but at the end of the day, I looked forward to my heating pad and a glass (or 2) of Chardonnay. In the midst of that, we had a health scare with both my uncle and my dad. Needless to say, there were some sleepless nights, tears shed, and numerous prayers said.

When we finally closed down the book fair on Friday afternoon, I had another big event on my calendar. 20 Brownies camping at my house the next day. And I hadn’t cleaned a lick all week. And Eric, my husband, was leaving to go out of town for a much needed guys weekend. And I have never started a fire by myself. And I have never pitched a tent. And I had a solid foot of leaves on my back deck. And I really wanted to shove the 4 pages of directions that Eric left for the tent and leaf blower up his nose. Can you feel my anxiety level rising?

Saturday morning I pulled out the tent and the 4 pages of directions (complete with diagrams) and tried to tackle pitching my first tent in all my 38 years. Ella “helped” me by swinging on the tree branch and running and catching pages when the wind caught them. At one point when the $%## pole went the wrong way for the 10th time, she said, “It’s no use. We can’t do it without Daddy’s help.” That made me even more determined to get it up. I made her help me more and after another painful 20 minutes, we got the tent up. I asked her what she learned and she answered, “That you can say the ‘s’ word and I can get away with saying ‘crap’ when we are pitching a tent!” #Truth However, I was thinking more along the lines of us putting our minds to something, perseverance, determination. But no, she gets the free pass on a foul mouth.

Ella and I tentWhat she did get from her Brownie campout was a great lesson about friendship. They played games. They just ran around and were silly. They told stories around the campfire that I started!!!! (Where’s my badge!!??) They wrote poems for each other. They had a dance party. The moms even Whip Whip Ney Neyed for the girls. (To which Ella quickly told me, “I would rather not see that again.”) They made smores and drank hot chocolate. They made memories that would last a lifetime.

The ultimate compliment was when one of the Brownies asked if she could come camp out at our house again next week J

So while I look at the last week where I literally ran myself ragged, I am just so thankful that I can. I am thankful for my uncle and dad’s health, which I was reminded this week, can turn on a dime. We cannot take it for granted for one second. I am thankful that Eric is supportive of me “working” full time and not earning a cent. I am thankful that I can use some of my talents at my kids’ school. I am thankful that I didn’t miss a second of the excitement of the book fair. It won’t be long before kids will be ashamed to be so openly excited about books. I am thankful for a home that my daughter’s friends want to come back to again and again. I am thankful that my daughter is making friends and memories that will last a lifetime and that she wants me to be a part of it. I am thankful that I am making new friends through the other mamas because this Mama thing is tough and we need each other,

And I was very thankful for my fuzzy blanket, comfy chair and Kindle coma day that I had on Sunday (and maybe part of Monday) to recuperate.

Stuff Steph Loves – Kindergarten Toolkit

Posted in Stuff Steph Loves by

Kindergarten ToolkitIn my “Stuff Steph Loves” blog posts, I like to feature products or businesses that enrich my life. Whether it is because I love their product, what they stand for, or if they make my life easier, I like to spread the love to my readers. Gotta help Mamas out, right?

With Kindergarten Toolkit, I hit the trifecta because it hits all three. The Kindergarten Toolkit was developed by my good friend and a former Kindergarten teacher, Carrie.

I remember feeling a TON of pressure as my kids were approaching Kindergarten. Let’s be honest. Kindergarten today is nothing like my childhood Kindergarten. It is more like the 80s 1st grade…minus the Trapper Keeper and Roos! Kids today are expected to start Kindergarten knowing what we learned in our first year of elementary school. Yikes!

Before my kids started Kindergarten, I would stay up at night thinking… Are they ready? Do they know everything they need to know? What if they are behind? Oh my goodness. If they start behind, how will we ever catch up? Are going to be living in my basement at 30 years old?? I am not a teacher. How in the world can I help them learn everything they need to know?!?  

If you have ever thought any of those things too, the Kindergarten Toolkit is for you. Here are a few ways that the Kindergarten Toolkit can turn you, Mama, into the Teacher of the Year!

  • Designed specifically for preschoolers. You can start with your child at two and it will grow with them all the way through Kindergarten.
  • Builds a foundation of learning throughout the preschool years to promote Kindergarten readiness! Confident kids = happy Mamas.  It is perfect for those off days of preschool and summer vacation!
  • The Toolkit focuses on 10 main goals based on what kids will be assessed on to ensure your kids are confident and comfortable when they started Kindergarten.
  • Each of the 10 main goals has 3-4 mini lessons on how to teach that goal. There are also “Toolkit on the Go” ideas for when you are out and about. Follow Kindergarten Toolkit on Instagram and FB to get great ideas about how to use your Toolkit in a ton of creative ways! I am constantly amazed about how simple Carrie makes it and the kids are having FUN!
  • Designed so that anyone can work with the child and the tools in the Toolkit. No education degree required! Parent, Kindergarten Toolkit fun learningGrandparent, or babysitter…anyone can easily use the tools.
  • One stop shop….everything you will need in one box!! No more searching for random learning tools around the house…..flashcards, workbooks, lined paper etc.
  • Got 5 minutes to kill while you are waiting? Lessons can be that quick. Perfect for your preschooler’s short attention span! Have fun learning instead of trying to keep them from licking everything is sight 😉
  • Only one Toolkit per one family needed. Items included in the toolkit are:
    • The Toolkit booklet – 3-4 mini lessons for each of the 10 Kindergarten goals. There are also supplemental pages in the back that are designed to be copied for future assessments and lessons, so you can use it for multiple children!
    • Four sets of flashcards – Upper and lower case letters, Numbers 1-20, 25 Kindergarten sight words,10 colors and shapes
    • Whiteboard and pen
  • Last and certainly not least, the Kindergarten Toolkit was created to foster one-on-one learning time with your child.  Quality, special, sit down learning time…that isn’t at Preschool, from an iPad or the TV. Those can all play a very important part, but you are establishing yourself as a partner in their education.

To order your Kindergarten Toolkit, visit: www.kindergartentoolkit.com . Use coupon code: SLM15 thru 9/6 to receive 15% off!

Follow Kindergarten Toolkit on social media for lots of great learning ideas:

Instagram:https://instagram.com/kindergartentoolkit

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/KindergartenToolkit

Happy Learning, Mamas!!!