VBS Safari Decorations

Our church did a Safari theme for Vacation Bible School and we volunteered to be in charge of decorating. The kids and I had a fun time making different signs out of tree limbs and scrap lumber to add to the jungle feel of it all.

Trent found this neat Y shaped dead branch in the woods, and Alexis painted the "Do not feed the lions" sign for the snack area. We set it up on a sheet of plywood and painted new lion tracks around it every night.
Trent helped me to construct the signs.

I found a kangaroo stencil on the computer, cut it out, and Trent spray painted it for our kangaroo crossing sign.

And we made these cute road signs for our main stage set.

It's not the best picture, but we used a stable set (that was made for a christmas play a couple of years ago) and created a hut with a straw roof for the main stage. The kids and I also had fun making African masks. We added extras like spears, a colorful quilt, an African print curtain, hanging baskets, wild stuffed animals in the trees, benches and yellow gords (summer squash).

We also created spears out of tree limbs. First we peeled the bark, blackened the ends in the firepit, then painted red stripes on them. Trent drilled a hole in each one and we added raffia, ribbons, and beads.

Another big hit for the preschoolers was the Lion box. I simply cut a hole in a box, painted a lion face around it, added some construction paper for a mane, then made 4 bean bags. Instant game of "Feed the Lion." Even the big kids couldn't resist playing it:)

And the finished hut - straw roof and all. It thrilled the kids (and some adults) to be able to walk through it every night for snacks. {Click here to see the building of the hut.}

As we prepared for the week I began to realize how again we had immersed ourselves into the learning of a different culture, their ways, lifestyles, dress, homelife, religions, beliefs, culture, environment, etc., not to mention all the fun we had with painting, sawing, constructing, hammering, and designing. It's amazing how much learning goes on all the time without even trying.
{More VBS fun here!}