Simple Burning Bush Crafts

We had centers each night where the children would go and do something related to that night's lesson.  I wanted to keep everything very simple and decided on these two crafts for the burning bush night.

I got brown construction paper for the mountain and cut random bushes out of green construction paper. Then I (actually my son did this part) tore up red, yellow and orange pieces of construction paper placing each color in a different cup.  When the kids came to this center, their helper glued their bush where they wanted it and then placed lots of random glue dots all over the bush.  The child could then put the pieces of fire all over the bush to represent the bush burning!!

The next craft we found from Oriental Trading.  The kids were able to decorate a flip flop frame to help them remember that God told Moses to take his sandals off - which was one of their favorite parts of the story!!!  We added a picture of each sweet child in the sandal later on in the week and sent it home the last night of VBS.

Finding Moses' Sheep

This activity could be used for many lessons that deal with sheep.  My kids LOVED this activity and wanted to do it every night!  I made different colored sheep from our die cut in the workroom and hid them ALL over the room.  After we talked about how Moses was a shepherd and how he looked out for the sheep, they were able to go all over the room and collect the sheep.  They would bring them back to me when they found them.  

Look, Mrs. Becky, at all the sheep I found!

My friend, Kim, taught the 3 year olds and she had the kids find the sheep as well. She took it up a notch and had a "pen" (strawberry basket) for each color sheep.  In each "pen" was a sheep the color that was suppose to be in that pen.  As the children collected the sheep, they had to put the sheep into the correct color pen.  Again - a HUGE hit!

Our Own Burning Bush

Each night at VBS I had a drama center for my two year olds - a chance for them to act out the story.  I made the mountain out of a table and lots of different size chairs.  Then I covered them with brown bulletin board paper.  At the top, I had our bush.  I could not find the red lights I had set aside so I used red bulletin board paper and yellow/orange paper streamers to make it look like it was burning.  The kids actually got to take their shoes off and "climb" up the mountain.  They loved it!

As you can see some of the shepherds (like Moses) were a bit fearful but overall it was 

a success!!!

Burning Bush Snacks

We just finished our VBS this year where the preschool class focused on Moses.  Our first lesson was centered around the burning bush.  For our snacks that night, we served the kids this . . .

We made sausage ball snacks and pretzel rods to represent Moses' rod turning into a snake.

We also had broccoli (which we called the bush) and they were able to make it burn by dipping it in ranch dip that we made red with red food coloring!!!

The kids LOVED it!!

It was a hit!

The Burning Bush

When we were studying the life of Moses, I took a bush from the living room and put a string of red Christmas lights I got last year after Christmas for 50 cents. It really glowed when we turned the lights out. The kids loved have a "real" burning bush in our classroom. Anna and Jon Michael are posing with our burning bush.

Trash-Filled Thursdays - Old Neckties

There are a few Bible stories that require a snake of some sorts in it. This is a very easy and cool way to make the snake part of your story come alive for your students. You will need the following:

an old neck tie

google eyes

red material for a tongue

hot glue gun or tacky glue

optional materials: quilt batting or polyfil

thread

film canister with rice or dried beans in it.

Instructions: Glue the eyes and tongue at the end of the tie (as seen in the picture)

This can be the end to your snake (esp. if you are letting the children make their own snakes). However, you can add a different dimension to your snake by stuffing it with the polyfil or quilt batting. If you want to create a rattlesnake, you can add a film canister with rice or dried beans to the very end of the tie. Sew the back of the tie up so the stuffing does not fall out.

What the snake looks like if not stuffed.

This is great for so many lessons involving a snake. You can have the students act different parts of the story using this prop. What a great new dimension to classic stories!

Moses Memories

Here are some ideas to use when teaching different parts of the life of Moses. These ideas are pretty simple but add so much to any lesson. You can also send these home with your students as memories (see the memory box post). The Golden Calf

Buy plastic cows (Wal-Mart 88 cent aisle or other dollar stores) and spray paint them gold.

Aaron's Rod to Snake

Find plastic snakes at any dollar store and Popsicle sticks. Have the students pretend to put their rod down and then change it out to be a snake.

Bronze Snake

Find plastic snakes at any dollar store and Popsicle sticks. You could spray paint the snakes a brass color if you wish.

Burning Bush - take off your sandals.

Make lacing sandals for your students out of foam (can be found at any craft store). Trace around a shoe for a pattern and then using a hole punch, punch holes around the sandals. Give each student 2 pieces of yarn to lace.

Pillar of cloud and fire

Using Popsicle sticks to create these pillars. Use construction paper to make the cloud and fire. You can glue cotton balls to the cloud or red glitter to the fire to add effects.