Dare to Be Daniel Vacation Bible School (VBS)

Recently, our Church had Vacation Bible School.  We don’t do a weeklong program, rather, just one full day of learning and fun.

This year’s theme was “Dare to be Daniel”.  We told the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and how God saved them from the fiery furnace.  We also told the story of Daniel and how God saved him from the lions’ den.  

These brave men remained faithful to God and trusted in Him, a lesson for all of us when we are struggling with our challenges in life.

THE BOOK OF DANIEL STORIES 

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were Jewish men who were taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  Their names were changed to Belteshazzar (Daniel), Shadrach (Hananiah), Meshach (Mishael), and Abednego (Azariah) .

They were given food and wine to drink from the king but refused to defile themselves and requested only to have vegetables and water.  God gave these men great knowledge and wisdom, and to Daniel, he gave discernment of visions and dreams.  Because of these gifts, they excelled and were taken into the king’s service.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah)

King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue made and required everyone to bow down to it when they heard music playing or they would be thrown into the fiery furnace.  It was reported to the king that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship their god or the king’s statue.

The king ordered them to be thrown into the furnace, which was heated seven times more than usual. These three men had faith that God would save them and sang songs of praise and blessing to God while walking about the flames unharmed.

When the king looked inside the furnace, he saw four men walking in the flames, and the fourth was like the “Son of God”.  The fire had no effect on their body or clothes, which didn’t even smell like smoke!

King Nebuchadnezzar promoted them, stating that anyone who spoke against their God would be cut to pieces and their house made into a refuse heap.

Daniel and the Lions’ Den 

Daniel was blessed with the ability to understand dreams.  Because of this gift, he was asked to interpret the king’s dreams.  Doing so earned him favor with the king, who recognized Daniel’s God had blessed him with this gift.

During the reign of King Darius, Daniel was appointed to a high position because of his extraordinary wisdom and spirit.  Because of this, jealous men tried to find ways to accuse Daniel of disloyalty to the king.

But Daniel was trustworthy, and they could find no corruption in him.  So they tricked the king into announcing a decree that for 30 days, no one can make a petition to anyone but the king or they would be thrown into the den of lions.

Even after Daniel heard this law, he continued to faithfully pray to God three times a day.  These men found Daniel praying and turned him over to the king in defiance of the decree.  This greatly troubled the king, who was very fond of Daniel.  But he had no choice but to throw Daniel into the lions’ den, telling him that his God must save him.

After a troubling night, the king went to the den and cried out to Daniel, asking him if his God had saved him, to which Daniel answered that God sent an angel to close the mouths of the lions and saved him.

The men who accused Daniel, along with their children and wives, were cast into the lions’ den.  The king then announced that Daniel’s God is to be revered and feared; then Daniel fared well during the reign of Darius.

DESIGN AND SETUPS

Fiery Furnace

For the fiery furnace and lions’ den, we used 10×10 canopy tents that someone already had. If you don’t have one, you can purchase this Canopy Tent 10X10 from Walmart or this 10X10 Popup Canopy Tent on Amazon.

Because this was an open tent, we used black curtains pinned to the tent with clothespins so as not to damage the fabric.  For the fire, we drew out flames onto cardboard boxes and painted them in red, yellow, and orange.  We left the flaps of the boxes attached and on the bottom so we can use them as a base to stand up.  

We also used this red fire shower curtain for the fire in the background, and this fire flame orange shower curtain   cut in two and attached on each side of the tent opening.  You could also draw the flames on a white sheet or use crepe paper for a cheaper option.

Some other items we used for special effects were tiki torches and planters stuffed with tissue paper to look like flames, red curtains on the floor to cover the flames box flaps, floor lighting, an opening framed from large tubes (built by our new ordered deacon, a fabulous fellow), a stone covered entrance created from cardboard (built by the deacon’s wonderfully talented wife), and “Power of Prayer” scroll hanging by the entrance.

Lions’ Den 

Once again, for the lions’ den, we used these 10×10 canopy tents that someone already had. If you don’t have one, you can purchase this Canopy Tent 10X10 from Walmart or this Popup Canopy Tent 10X10 on Amazon.

The entrance frame and stone entryway were again built by the deacon and his wife.  For inside the tent, we had several lions posters, bones and rocks made from paper mache, and even a 6-foot long lifelike stuffed lion!  Outside we had the tiki torches and more bones and rocks for the full effect.

ACTIVITIES

Activity Sheets

During registration, to keep the little ones occupied while we got everything ready, we handed out a few coloring pages and activity sets. This is the Daniel an the Lions’ Den Activity Set I created (not used in our VBS), and can be used for any learning ideas or bible study for kids.

Painted Rocks  

Another activity to keep the kids busy was letting them paint rocks with different scenes from the stories in the book of Daniel.  Other than finding flat rocks, there is little preparation for this project.  We used paint markers for better adhesion, which can be found in any craft store, Walmart, or online.  

Lion Pillow

I believe this activity was the favorite for the kids because they got to take home their very own pillow.  They also liked to throw it at each other when it was free time. 🤷‍♀️

This is an easy project for all ages because it requires little more than adding the stuffing.  However, it is a time-consuming task for the teachers to prepare.  This easy to follow instruction Lions Pillow from Stitched by Janay breaks it down into simple steps.  You can leave some of the preparation for the kids, but our age levels were 3-10, so we thought it best to make as much in advance as possible.  The adults helped the youngest ones tie the remaining parts.

Skits 

Our church has some really great teenagers who were willing to help us with skits during VBS.  Several young men acted out the scenes from the Fiery Furnace and Lions’ Den, along with some narration from our deacon.  

Tie-Dyed Shirts

Keeping with the color scheme of red, yellows, oranges, and browns, we let each child create their own tie-dyed shirt.  The adults rubber banded the shirts beforehand and mixed the dye into small squirt bottles.  Using folded pans created from tinfoil, along with paper towels on the bottom, we let each child create their own masterpiece, with help from the adults, of course.  To keep the mess off your hands, we suggest using gloves for anyone handling the dyes.  

Face Painting 

The face painting was a project that was not difficult to do, but we did have to do some training beforehand, as none of us had tried our hand at face painting before.  This YouTube video was the basis for training, but we didn’t fully paint their faces like in the video, as we had about 5 minutes to spend on each child and were novices.

The most difficult part was finding face paint that went on easily.  We tried several brands but wound up using this Face Paint Kit by Snazaroo, found at Michael’s.  Face Paint Crayons made for easier work drawing out the details.

Music &  Videos

The kids participated in a few sing-alongs, such as the Canticle of Daniel (Bless the Lord), Nothing is Impossible…with God, and Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego.  

Shadrach, Meschach, Abednego

Nothing is Impossible…with God

For the Canticle of Daniel, we played the video below, and the kids held up signs that said, “Bless the Lord”, whenever it played during the song.

GAMES AND FUN  

Hungry, Hungry Lions

This interactive, life-sized game is based off the game Hungry, Hungry Hippos.  

Using small laundry baskets, larger laundry baskets or boxes, scooter boards with rollers, plastic ball pit balls, and lots of help to corral the balls, the object of the game is to collect as many balls as possible in the time allotted (4-5 minutes).  

One person lays on the scooter and is pushed by another into the middle ball pit, trying to collect as many as possible with the small basket.  

They are then pulled back towards their team, who collects the balls into a larger box or basket.  

The team with the most balls at the end of the time limit wins!

At the end of the day, we rewarded the kids with a cookout and water slide.  Thankfully, the weather turned out great for the water slide.  The parents joined us for this end of day activity, and we believe everyone went home happy.