(Note: You CAN do these lessons without the software, but why?!)

Age Range:
As I've written it, Bongo's Bible School is PARTICULARLY GEARED FOR GRADES 3 to Younger Youth.

That said, you can EASILY ADAPT Bongo's Bible School for younger children simply by having teens help the little guys in the Computer Workshop. The other workshops are age adjustable all on their own.

Many VBS' seem geared to the little kids, and yet it is the OLDER kids we start to lose as they get older. Coincidence?
This was designed to appeal to older kids on purpose.

Go to the Bongo CD description page

  About "Bongo's Bible School"
aka... a "Vacation Bongo School"
aka...  a three or four week set of lessons for any Sunday School

In Bongo's Bible School set of lessons, you will:

1. Create Jungle themed spaces

2. Rotate your groups between several Bongo-themed workshops "about the Bible", including

• Bongo Loves the Bible computer workshop
• Bongo's Bible Bakery workshop
• Bongo Goes Bonkers for the Bible workshop. 
  (plus additional workshops suggested below)

3.  Worship, sing, and Play Bongo-inspired games.

	Each workshop teaches BIBLE BASICS and encourage kids to read their Bibles.
	SCALE THEM to any size group or -setting. It can also be a multi-generation "family" VBS.
	USE THEM in a VARIETY of SETTING, including: Sunday mornings, Fellowship, VBS or Summer Sunday School.

Time:

Bongo's workshops are not 'stations' or quickie activities like you see in some VBS currics. Each class is a full lesson time with Bible study and a full activity. It will take a full 50 minutes to do each, and perhaps up to 60 minutes. Our learning activities are fun.

See an alternate schedule of workshop at the end of this document. It shows schedule modifications and additional days.

Scaling and Customizing:  

Rotation model churches will recognized the extreme flexibility of scheduling you can achieve by rotating students between workshops like we do here in Bongo's Bible School lessons. This document contains the lesson plans for THREE workshops and lesson sketches for two more. Read on!

The default configuration presented here is for three groups of kids over a three day period, with about 12 kids in each group. You can easily adjust that to four groups and four days with our "Additional Workshops" section far below.

No matter how many groups or days you have, you'll schedule your workshops to run simultaneously each day. Each day, your groups will switch to a new workshop. The TEACHER, however, will not rotate. They'll teach the same lesson each day, getting better and better at it.

You can add a fourth day with an all-group activity (two are suggested below), or a fourth workshop.

The only workshop that is AGE SENSITIVE is the computer workshop. Just make sure you have teens helping. The little guys love to play Bongo software, they just need help.

Class Size:

Ideally, you want no more than 15 kids per learning group, 12 would be better, otherwise you'll overwhelm the workshop activity. At the bottom of this doc, you'll see some creative scheduling options for those expecting more than 40 kids.

This is the easiest part of Bongo's Bible School!  ...and the most fun.

Create your Jungle atmosphere with "tiki party supplies" found in online catalogs, such as Oriental Trading Company and Anderson's Prom supplies. ==> Grass skirts, lanterns, cardboard palm trees, stone walls, blow-up monkeys, netting, cardboard birds. You can also make "grass skirting" by tattering kraft paper. Decorate tables with brown paper covers. Write verses and ideas on them. Have a Senior High download jungle sounds off the web and mix you a CD to play in the background.  Assemble "jungle stuffed animals" around the workshops, ...inviting the kids to bring in their stuffed animals. Order enough blow-up monkeys to hang from the ceiling and give one away to each child at the end of VBS. Create a Jungle Snack Booth with "bug juice", banana chips, and jungle gummy worms in dirt (oreos) etc etc.  Don't forget to decorate the computers!

Yes, you can find inexpensive blow-up monkeys on the net! Some really big ones too. How fun is that?

The nice thing about this theme is you can re-use the decorating supplies for a future party, or use them to permanently JUNGLE-IZE a classroom, such as your computer lab.

Here are the lesson sketches for three Bongo workshops. Teachers will want to flesh them out before using.

1. The Bongo Loves the Bible Computer Workshop . Bring in borrowed laptops, or use your computer lab, or use the office computers for a great centerpiece workshop featuring Bongo, the little orange orangutan hero of "Bongo Love the Bible CD" from Sunday Software. Choose which of the four Bongo games from the Bongo Loves the Bible CD (Sunday Software).  I suggest either the Bongo Needs the Bible game (also known as "the game in the cave") which teaches how the Bible describes itself (lamp and light, for example), or.... the Bongo Knows the Bible game (also known as the Jungle game with the four possible levels of knowledge), which introduces players to Basic Bible content and structure that every young person should know. Younger children will need help. Preview the game and print the teacher's guide from www.sundaysoftware.com/tips Introduce the game and game controls to your students. Make sure children have the printed Bongo Student Guide to their game (available at  www.sundaysoftware.com/tips and make sure younger children have help. Play the Game. Give them about 30 minutes. (The content is in the game!  See our online Bongo resources for lists of all the content) After the game, discuss these questions: For Bongo Needs the Bible (cave game)   - Name all the metaphors found in the game for God's Word.   - How is the Word of God like a lamp or a light to us in our daily living?   - Give each child a small free flashlight. Decorate it with the phrase, "The Word of God". (Online companies like Oriental Trading co sell bags of inexpensive lights) For Bongo Knows the Bible (jungle game)   - What are some of the real "pitfalls" (distractions) we face while trying to follow the Word?       ie, "things that keep us from following God's Word."      "What things distract you from reading your Bibles?"

3. "Bongo's Bible Bakery" Workshop Bread is one of the major metaphors that the Bible and Christians have used to describe the Word of God. It is a basic daily food. Everyone needs it. It rises with leaven. It's tasty. It travels well. It can be shared. In this workshop, the kids will make fast baking bread for themselves, and some to share. In the Bible study, you're going to give kids a new way of thinking about the phrase "Daily Bread" in the Lord's Prayer. Begin with Bible Study. Then make the bread. Conclude by eating your daily bread while reinforcing points made in the study. Bible verse for study: When you pray, "Give us this day, our daily bread", now that you know "bread" can mean "word", in what ways does God provide us with his daily WORD? In discussing this answer, talk to the kids about how we prepare a meal, and prepare to sit down and eat it everyday. What would a "snack on the go" of God's Word look like?  How does sharing a meal together differ from eating it by yourself? (Benefits?)  Look at the parts of a meal, what Words from God are like vegetables? desert? The aim of this Bible verse study is to give kids a NEW WAY to think of that line from the Lord's Prayer. There are hundreds of bread recipes, and you can look for others. But I needed one that assembles and bakes within 30 minutes. Here it is: Cinnamon Sugar Flatbread 1 cup all purpose flour 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons warm water 1/4 cup olive oil 2 tablespoons sugar + 3/4 tablespoon cinnamon for sprinkling Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine flours, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl and mix well. Add water and olive oil and mix until a dough forms, using your hands at the end. Form it into a bowl. Dust a baking sheet with flour and roll the dough as thin as you can with a rolling pin. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture all over top and cut with a pizza slicer into small or large "Bible" shaped crackers. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Let cool completely. The cooking time is your additional discussion time. Do it right in the kitchen where the wonderful smells will form a lasting memory. MORE: After sharing the cinnamon bread, share some different kinds of bread, in particular, something with heavy texture, and something dry and tough. Discuss how different scriptures have different tastes. Some are sweet, some are tough, some are more nourishing for certain circumstances. Some breads are dry, but as you eat them, they are delicious, or travel well in tough times. Have a set of popular verses ready, read them aloud and ask kids to vote what kind of "bread" they are like. Return to your focus on the importance of DAILY bread and discuss how students could remember to study God's word on a daily basis. Remember to save some bread to share! ...because that too is what we do with our Daily bread... give it away every day. How do we share the Word everyday? (by what we do and say)

Additional Workshops can be added if needed. See list below.

Note from Neil about Lesson Development & Detail
When it comes to lesson plans and teaching concept for kids, I believe in keeping them simple and focused. I don't believe in providing lesson plans with long speeches. That's your job :-)  I come from the Workshop Rotation Model approach to such things, --believing that good teachers naturally add-to a basic lesson plan, and that pastors/leaders should go over them with their teachers, adding content, keypoints they want to make, and extra questions to ask. Rotation modelers also recognize that the FIRST time a teacher leads the workshop, it is a bit of a dry-run. But by the second day when the second group comes, and the teacher already knows how to improve and enhance the lesson, and begin to add comments and questions. The kids change after workshop #1 as well, picking up on your theme and concepts from the other activities, worship, lessons. A lesson plan is a living thing.

You've also noticed that unlike traditional VBS currics, we're not giving you a list of scripture verses for each day. That's due to the nature of the content itself. Other than the "Daily Bread" line which is quoted in Worship and Bongo's Bakery Workshop, the Bongo Loves the Bible CD teaches a bunch of scripture verses in its games. This, and the Bonkers Workshop focuses on the grand story/structure of the Bible itself, and the Worship song "Thy Word" is a collection of scriptural images from the Psalms. If you want to grab Bibles and point out all these many references, go for it!

 

These are crowdbreaker games for when the kids arrive.

Banana Relay
The Famous Banana Relay Game (one of my all-time favorite crowdbreakers). Divide the group into teams of 5 to 10 players each. Have each team sit in chairs that are lined up to form a row. Hand a banana to the last person in the row. On "go" teams pass the banana up the row as fast as they can. When the banana reaches the first person in the row (also known as, the Captain Banana Eater), the Captain runs as fast as they can across the room and back to the end of their team's row of chairs. While they were gone, the team has moved up one chair so that the back chair is now empty. This is where the captain sits. The banana passing process begins again up to the next person in the front of the line  (everyone must touch it, it cannot be tossed). The new 'first person' in the row runs across the room and comes back to the end of their team's line, and so on and so on, --until the original Captain Banana Eater has now made their way back up to the first chair again. When the banana reaches the Captain for the second time, they must peel and eat it and show their empty mouth to the referee.  You can easily play this game twice. It's a lot of fun.

Sid the Surf Mummy Game
Sid the Surf Mummy is a character in the Bongo Loves the Bible CD. He's very friendly. Split your group into teams of 3, designating one person in each group as "The Sid". Give the other two kids a roll of toilet paper. On the count of three, have the two wrap up their teammate and see who makes the best "Sid the Surf Mummy." For excitement, only give each team 1 minute. Then go to each Sid and ask them to do their best mummy impression. Do three rounds of this so everyone gets to be Sid. Keep score and give the winning team a pack of toilet paper prize.

Catch the Word
This game is based on Bongo's treasure chest which is found at the end of each game in Bongo's software. The treasure chest spits out "the word" for extra points. You're going to do this with either water balloons or  tennis balls launched by some of your favorite teens.  Each of the balloons or tennis balls have special point values written on them, some say "word" for extra points. Play this in teams, meaning, it's not every kid for themselves, but a player catching a balloon or ball is catching points for their team.  First team to 100 wins.

Lava! Jungle! Lake!
This is exactly the same as the very popular "Poopdeck, Quarterdeck, Maindeck" game, only we're using three places from the Bongo game. To Play:  Create a playing area consisting of three squares on the floor, each square about 10x10. Use tape or rope to make the boxes.  The entire group starts by standing in the middle Jungle square. The GameLeader stands on a chair and yells out either "Lava, Jungle, or Lake", and all the kids must scramble to get into that square. The last one in the square gets a LETTER drawn on them with a washable marker. First one to get all the letters in BONGO ends the game and everyone gets to start again without any letters. Keep it moving.  In small groups you can play this as an elimination game, but you need to move fast to keep everyone who's 'out' interested.  ***Now here's the fun twist: The GameLeader tells the kids to ONLY GO where he says, and not where he points, ...but when he yells "Lake" he points to Lava, and hilarity ensues as some kids go the wrong direction. Makes the game a lot of fun, and may even have a Bible point: "listen for the Word of God and do not be deceived".

Game area layout:

Game Leader
Lava	Jungle	Lake

 

• Opening Song: "Thy Word"
• Prayers for the Day =including prayers from the kids, and including the Lord's Prayer...especially the "Daily Bread" line.
• Scripture Skit
• Message from the Pastor
• Closing Song

Bongo Worship Time is approximately 20-25 minutes long and can include announcements, prayers, singing, and skits. To organize it, bring in your pastor, Worship Leaders, music people, and other volunteers to "divide and conquer."

WORSHIP SONGS

Thy Word ...the Amy Grant/Michael W. Smith version is great to teach to kids. Teach them the lyrics, and take time to discuss some of the key ideas. If you can, demonstrate the importance of having a lamp for your feet!  This is going to be the THEME SONG for your Bongo VBS.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path

When I feel afraid, And think I've lost my way
Still, You're there right beside me
Nothing will I fear, As long as You are near
Please be near me to the end

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path

I will not forget, Your love for me and yet
My heart forever is wandering
Jesus by my guide, And hold me to Your side
And I will love You to the end

Nothing will I fear, As long as You are near, Please be near me to the end

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path
And a light unto my path
....You're the light unto my path

For extra worship-time Bible study, invite the pastor or a creative teacher to illustrate each verse, one per day. You can download this song from various online sources, hear/see it on youtube, and easily find the sheet music for performance if needed.  Help children understand how a "lamp" worked in non-electrical times, its importance, and other related biblical images (such as, when Jesus said "don't hide your lamp under a bushel"...which is to say, God's Word is something WE can shine and share with others. Oh the possibilities in this metphor!)
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Other Songs:

  = The B-I-B-L-E (yes that's the book for me)
  = A Books of the Bible Song  (there are many, and your church probably already owns one and may have a DVD video of one to follow).

Some of the "Songs about the Bible" for children are pretty juvenile. Your older children will probably balk at singing some of them. Instead, I would pick a familiar hymn about The Word which the kids are likely to encounter in your sanctuary, walk through it, explain images, and playing it with a bit of a beat and fun motions. Start by looking in the index at the BACK of your church's hymnbook.
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Scripture Skit Suggestions:

Assemble an adult and a kid who are natural hams to follow these simple skits in worship. Invite the pastor to offer brief commentary and conclusion to the kids after the skit.

Each skit here uses a technique that frees up the actors/kids from using scripts. The script is written out for the narrator, and the 'actor' fills in the action, doing whatever the narrator describes, repeating what the narrator says. It can be very fun to watch. As the narrator, you throw in miscellaneous things for the actor to do as they deliver the words you are narrating. For example, if you say "he got out of bed" you add "very slowly" and then add, "placing fluffy his stuffed sheep on the pillow before he left."

1) EMBARRASSED BOY: The boy who hid from his friends the fact that he studied the Bible and went to church because he didn't want to look uncool. Example: Narrator: "Johnny Cool he was no fool, he got out of bed and went to Bongo Bible School. ("Time to get up!") First he brushed his hair and brushed his teeth. (Brush brush) Then he swallowed down some toast. (swallow), then some eggs (swallow), then two bowls of cereal (swallow, swallow) and said "Good bye Mom" (bye mom!) and went out the door. That's when he realized he had forgotten to get dressed. (Yikes) He ran back in side and got dressed. Said Hi Mom, Bye Mom, (Hi Mom, Bye Mom) and went to church. He thought Jesus was cool ("hey, Jesus is cool")....etc etc.  Jumping ahead in your script idea, the narrator now takes Johnny through several "excuse scenarios" for why he didn't admit to going to church and caring about the Bible. One of his friends says the Bible is for nerds. Another says he doesn't have time, or doesn't think it's real. The narrator has Johnny say various things in response. (In one version of this excercise, we stopped and had people submit what they think Johnny should say to his anti-Bible friends. It was fun and effective). Then the narrator has Johnny stand, stand bravely, stand as if the entire world needed to hear his words, throw out his chest, raise his hand, and shout the words, "I know some people think Jesus is lame! But I know he loves me and gave his life for me, and if I can't give him 10 minutes a day or part of my Sunday to say thanks and to listen to his advice, then it is ME who is the REAL lame person!" 

2)  JESUS OBEYS: Jesus resists the temptation to take care of his own needs and temptations, and decides to just obey God's Word. You'll do this like the skit above and base your script on Luke 4, the temptation in the wilderness. Instead of putting Jesus on the pinnacle of the Temple, you'll put him on the top of the church's steeple. Instead of making stones into bread, he'll be tempted with making stones into your local favorite fast food place. etc etc. Jesus will answer the narrator devil with more than one sentence answers, --and speak like "dude, are you serious? Why should I disobey God just for a burger and fries with mayo, ketchup and tomato? I mean, it doesn't even have cheese!   ... Conclusion: Jesus showed us that God's word is worth everything.  

3)  OPPOSITE GIRL: The girl who read her Bible everyday, and then went out and did the opposite of what her daily Bible reading said to do. You'll do this in the same format as the above readings... having the narrator lead an actor through the motions. The storyline is something like: "Elise is at home in bed, gets up to read a Bible verse about forgiving others, then runs into her brother downstairs and pounds him for messing with her ipod. On her way to school, a Bible verse bookmark from church reminds her to seek kindness and walk humbly. But when she gets to her locker she passes by a kid being bullied, then brags to a friend that she's a better cheerleader than that girl is. etc etc.

Promise: I'm going to write out these skits by the end of the month and post them here.

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THE BIG Suggestion:
This may be an EXCELLENT TIME to discern WHO has Bibles at home, and Bible storybooks. Many children do not, so let me make a suggestion: Invite SENIORS in the congregation to "sponsor a Bible storybook" for a child in your VBS. Look at the American Bible Society website for some great choices in quantity, and Christianbooks.com for deals. Extravagant? Hardly. It's our job to teach the Word of God, and that means getting it into their hands at home too. Dear Pastor, this is also an excellent opportunity to hand out some age-appropriate Bibles to visiting children. Do this when their parent comes to pick them up.

THE MODEST Offer:
I want to back you up on this, and put my money where my mouth is, so if you want to give a copy of my Bongo CD to your kids,  email me at neil@sundaysoftware.com and I'll give you a very special low price on my Bongo Loves the Bible CD. This offer is good only if your church is using Bongo CD.  Imagine: kids studying the Bible at home!

Add a DRAMA workshop... where kids create and videotape their TV Commercials for the Bible.  (think of those info-mercials! Acts Now and we'll send you two Bibles! ...one to keep and one to share!)

Add an ART workshop... where kids make a Mezuzzah ...a wooden box containing a scripture scroll which goes on your door frame.

EXAMPLE of a FOUR GROUP WORKSHOP SCHEDULE:

(For Five groups, add a fifth day and either a fifth workshop, or an "all group" workshop, such as video.)

I've posted two higher resolution versions of the graphic seen here and at the top of this page. You're welcome to use them.

Click one of these links, and then RIGHT click the image that loads to 'save as' somewhere on your computer.
Version 1
Version 2

If you need a graphic modified for you, email neil@sundaysoftware.com

Special Publicity

In many areas, the local zoo, local "travelling petting zoos" and local pet owners will bring animals to your event, including monkeys. Check the yellow pages and call your local zoo.

As part of your event, you could also schedule a TRIP TO THE LOCAL ZOO. Include a Bible study in the lunch pavilion which features scripture about animals, including Genesis 1 where God's Word gives us responsibility for the animals.
 

Nametags that do not fly off the kids.... Use NameBadger software to register your kids and let them print their NAMETAGS as they arrive. The name badge roll used in thermal printers is EXTRA STICKY, so you won't have "Hello My Name Is" flying off your kids as they move around. Sneaky Bonus:  When they print their tags, NameBadger also registers their attendance. Learn more at www.sundaysoftware.com/namebadger

Bongo's Vacation Bongo School was written by Neil MacQueen, Sunday Software's owner, a Presbyterian minister, Christian educator, author, and the developer of Bongo Loves the Bible CD (among other software). I have 25+ years of Sunday School and VBS experience and have written several VBS' for my own churches over the years. As a Rotation Model enthusiast and supporter, I enjoy giving away my written resources. 

And seriously, I'm serious about that offer I made above to give the Bongo CD to your kids at a heavy discount so they can play it at home. Just try me.

<>< Neil

Or go to the Bongo CD page