Growing up we always had dramas that would be performed each day to accompany our VBS. As a kid it was always so exciting and kept us asking “what is going to happen tomorrow?” Were Billy and Joe going to drowned in the ocean, get eaten by a giant octopus, where they ever going to find the lost treasure of the infamous Blackbeard?
Having this background it inspired me to do the same for the kids of The Springs Church!
I began with the script writing! I usually dream big, writing way outside of our means in respect to special effects, stage design, and media needs. As we begin to produce is when we decide what things we should leave out and what things should stay.
To match the theme of Shipwrecked, I wrote a drama about some siblings going on a trip in search of their lost parents. Of course they get shipwrecked on a desert island, and are faced with many adventure and challenges such as a man eating anaconda, a giant tiger, pirates, and more. Each day the dramas pointed to the theme that “Jesus rescues.”
Lets talk about the details involved in making all this happen.
Starting with stage design. Looking at the stage I was overwhelming thinking about how in the world we were going to cover it and make it look like a tropical island within the budget.
But it all started with a sketch.
Looking at this sketch, I still had no idea how this would be accomplished under budget. But we said a prayer and started proceeding, focusing on the biggest props first.
First was the ship. Once again it started with a sketch…
Then I met with some of the amazing handy men of the church and presented the vision to them! I was amazed with what they were able to come up with for a little over $200.
The best part about this ship was that it was built with all screws and with no floor so it could be disassembled and stored taking up no more than 12 square feet of space!
Once it got a good paint job from some volunteers it looked much better!
We added some blue water motion effect lights from “Submerged” VBS 2 years ago and that really finished the effect.
We also added some pulleys at the top of the sail so they could be pulled up and down. Put a little fan behind the sail and we were in business!
Next was the treehouse. Day 4 of the VBS drama, the kids stranded on the island realize that they could be stranded a while. So they decide to build a safe place off the ground; a treehouse. During the drama they assembly this treehouse.
I actually found it a lot easier to make than anticipated. It was made completely from pieces of pallets and took about 2 hours to assemble with a total cost of $0. It consisted of a base with groves for the 3 walls to rest in. The base was made to sit on a normal 3×6 table. 
Then we build the tree by rolling brown craft paper and hanging it from the ceiling. For foliage, we rolled green craft paper and draped it over a piece of pipe and suspended the pipe from the ceiling. All together it ended up looking pretty good!
The water fall was simpler than I expected as well. We simply used the drum cage that we would have had to work around anyway and covered it with gray spray painted sheets and blue cloth. To create the waterfall effect, I was very happy that we were approved to buy a low lying fog machine for about $165 off Amazon. We placed it at the top of the waterfall so when it turned on, the fog fell down the falls and looked amazing. Once again we used a water effect light to finish it off! Unfortunately I don’t have a great pic of just the waterfall.
Next we have Ssssally. The last big thing we needed was a sly, sweet talking anaconda puppet to try and strangle some of the characters.
One of the ladies of the church was happy to oblige and take a shot at making something that is impossible to find a pattern for.
15 Feet long and weighing in at 2 pounds, Sally was born! And her ssssly sssweet talk was a huge hit in our VBS dramas! Attach some fishing string to the tail and with the right puppeteer, Sally came to life!
Lighting was another thing I came to learn was very important through this VBS . When we got a professional light guy to come in, I was amazed at what the lights we did have were capable of! And it really changed everything. We had a night setting with purple and dark blue lights, beach setting with, yellow, blue, and green lights, and a jungle setting with lots of green lights! It transformed the drama from scene to scene!
This was our night scene.
The media team was happy to assist to the cause as well! Creating, in some instances corny, but super fun videos to follow the storyline! Below is some of what they came up with.
It was amazing to me how an amateur script and sketches actually came to be even better than we expected. It showed me more than any other VBS the importance of team building and delegating. It is not just finding the people who have the skills and heart, but finding the people that can catch the vision and run with it. We had so many amazing volunteers who poured their hearts into it and the result was incredible. These kids were not just given something that was entertaining but a drama that communicated the message that Jesus rescues in a relatable, easy to understand way.
If anyone is doing this VBS in the future I have included the script so you can have as much fun as we did producing this!
If you have questions I would love to be able to help you out from what I have learned!
Creative Kids' Ministry 