Decor: Making "Pottery"

Michelle Barrera let me use lots great pictures of how her church, Teaching Word Faith Center (Fort Worth, TX) decorated for Athens VBS several years back. Here is how they made large pots.

You can see the bases of the vases

are made of cardboard and duct-tape

which is then covered with paper mache.

They then covered the vases with plaster 

(At least, I think that's plaster).

The greenery really looks stunning on these.

More Greco-Roman Decor Here

More VBS Rome Resources and Ideas

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Shared on Throwback Thursday

What To Do With Stacked Chairs

We have a bunch of chairs we usually stack in the corners of our marketplace during VBS, just to get them out of the way.   When we did Rome we found a creative way to hide the stacked chairs under sheets, turning them into scenery.   (You can often get donations of old white sheets from hotels).

When we had an Egypt themed VBS, we found another way to use our "chairs."   We made "houses" out of them, and used these for our "Tribe Time" (which I believe was called "Family Group Time" that year). 

I liked how a colored piece of cloth looked like a lintel over the doorway (pictured above). A tribe sign also decorated each house.

Inside we made less effort to cover up the chairs (ran out of sheets).  We decorated with blankets and pillows for the kids to sit on, and various other knick knacks our tribe leaders brought.   Each tribe got a camp-fire for their room...something left over from the previous Wilderness VBS.

 

While they didn't look perfectly like houses, the outside was still a lot nicer to look at than stacked chairs.   

You can see two of our rooms in the corner of this picture...they looked nice with the marketplace tents.  We had four in total, one in each corner.   Having these rooms right in the marketplace made for less traveling (there was also two Sunday school rooms used, right outside our marketplace...but we didn't have to use rooms in our other building, which is a further walk). 

Egypt VBS Decor - Marketplace

I thought I would share how we decorated our marketplace and "family homes" for Egypt VBS in 2010 and in 2016.  We did not do all the marketplace crafts--I'm just including the official crafts for now (we did several alternatives as well...and I'm going to do separate posts for these). 

The Scribe Shop (Hieroglyphics)

Reed mats just add something to table decor.  I've seen unlined bamboo mats like these for $1 at the Dollar Store or Walmart.  Party stores may have these too.

The Food Market

The food itself is most of the decor for this shop.

A few modern bowls don't detract too much if 

combined with some baskets. 

 

Brickmaking Shop

This was my shop during the marketplace.  I have more pictures and marketplace tips for brickmaking here.

The Basketry Shop

Click on either of the pictures above to 

see them larger.

In 2016 we tried out a Basketry shop.  This would be the 6th time we had done a Holy Land themed VBS, and so we had collected a lot of baskets (and I believe the shop keeper brought some from home too).  So, we were able to make a pretty spectacular basket display around the edges of our basket making shop.

In the back, the stone is just part of our church.  We used a cheap bamboo fence we got several years back at a party story to cover the window.  Sheets we collected from hotels for costumes when we did Rome covered the sides.  It really set a wonderful atmosphere.  

Animal Market

Our Animal market took NO decoration.  The lovely people who brought the animals from a local farm just let them graze freely in our church's grassy yard.  The kids ran around with baby goats (kids playing with kids...and both seeming to have a blast).  It was vastly different from having them in a cage for kids to visit.    There were some chickens in a cage...and the donkey was supervised more for the kids safety, but in general it was more natural than your typical petting zoo.  Both the animals and kids seemed more relaxed.  We did NOT have this during our regular marketplace, but replaced one day's games with "visiting herders."   We brought the kids in small groups so as to better supervise . 

Other Shops

We did several other alternative shops as well (not from Group's material) .  I'll be blogging about these at some point.

VBS Egypt Decor - Family Homes

The first time our church did Group VBS it was using Egypt: Joseph's Journey.  We really took the idea of these being "Egyptian Homes" seriously.  We asked family leaders to decorate their rooms, and I even devoted three pages of my Egypt Volunteers Guide to what you could find in an Egyptian Family home, and told them to make sure to consider whether they wanted to decorate for a wealthy or poor home.  Was all that necessary?  Not really.

Granted, the "family home" pages I did helped with marketplace decorating too, so I don't regret doing that.  But for family/tribe/group leaders, that sort of prep/decoration is really not essential.   Family rooms can be absolutely undecorated and it's no big thing.

But if you want to add some Egyptian flair, there's some simple ways to do that without much fuss.   You can put your "Family Time" materials in a basket (a nice touch we've kept because it helps with organization too).

If you have some woven rugs or blankets to throw down on the floor of family rooms, that's a nice touch.    Using a low stool in stead of a chair is both historically accurate and keeps volunteers closer to kids level (sitting on the floor with them does that too--but some volunteers may feel more comfortable with something to sit on).    Bringing some throw pillows from home can add some practical cushioning (and is also historical).

This is not a great picture above, but I think this was one of the coolest (and smartest) set ups.  The rugs naturally showed the kids where to sit.  The focal point in the center gave kids stuff to look at without drawing their attention behind them, away from the stool where the group leader sat.  And I have to mention that stool...cause that stool is so much like what Egyptians used it's uncanny.

And here's our sign stands.  I think we left these in the rooms on the first day (so kids could find their rooms) and then moved them to the marketplace to use there.  We reused these to hold columns several years later when we did Rome.

VBS Egypt Decor

In 2010 we did our first Holy Land Adventure VBS -  Egypt:  Joseph's Journey.  Group is putting out that program again this year, so I thought I'd share our decor for inspiration for other churches.  I don't remember how all of these were constructed (was involved with some but not all of it.

The columns above were made, I believe, with stacked boxes covered by brown paper (we bought a large role).  I am not sure how the flared tops were accomplished.  The panels and the eagle above it were done on foam board (we used a slide projector to project up Egyptian clip art larger so we could easily copy it).  The hieroglyphics on the wall were just cut out of colored paper and adhered with double stick tape.  Larger items were adhered with command strips.

This Oblisk was also made with boxes.   Wish I knew more than that to share with you.  They have this desert backdrop for sale again at Group but I foudn a place selling it cheaper here. (The pyramid and other Egyptian scenery are removable, so we were able to reuse this backdrop for VBS Wildernes).   I've also seen cool desert backdrops on oriental traders, and on Amazon and even more on this pinterest page.

We made our "Nile River" out of blue plastic tablecloths, and one of our volunteers made this amazing crocodile (I think out of clay that was alter painted).   Plastic water lilies ("lotus flowers") like we used can be found here.

Do you know what my kids remember the most about our last Egypt VBS...getting to climb on top of chairs we had stacked up to help us make carpet tube palm trees.  To make these trees we cut the bottoms off of paper bags and slipped them over carpet tubes until they crumpled into a nice "bark."  The leaves were paper cut outs over umbrella frames for support (you have to destroy the umbrella...take all the cloth off of it...so next time the wind destroys your umbrella...save it for VBS!)   You can also use Christmas Tree stands to hold, and we have every year used one our flag pole stands for one palm tree.   We also made some stands with wood, but I can't remember exactly how (a poll and a large base were involved).

This fire "brazier" was made by putting a light and a small fan in the bottom of the pot, and attaching orange, red and yellow streamers (or maybe tissue paper) to chicken wire under the fan.  It looked a lot cooler in motion.

Sign made with a pole and I think some left over foam board scraps.

Our registration table.  The bricks on the side are borrowed from our God sighting wall.

We made a bridge out of bamboo and 2x4s...kinda didn't hold up very well with kids walking over it.  You can find Sphinxes like we used here.  You can find white columes like we used at various party stores (this was the cheapest I found).  You can also find instructions on how to make your own columns here. These can be re-used in most of the other Holy Land VBS programs (everyone say wilderness that they've done so far...even Galilee and Nazareth have synagogues you can use columns for).

Marketplace: Brick Making Suggestions

Back in 2010 our church did the Egypt VBS that Group is putting out again this year.  I worked in the Marketplace making mud bricks, and I can tell you, it was a blast.  It's cheap, fun and really does give kids a good idea about life in Egypt (or lots of places in the middle east, really...where most people made their houses out of mud bricks).

Here's my brick making suggestions:

THE DIRT ON BRICK DIRT

Group has instructions for making bricks, but for those not using this program, you can find instructions on the Biblical Archaeology website, or you can just experiment with your own mix of mud, straw, and water.  Note that Group instructions skip steps 3 and 4, for obvious reasons--who has time for prepping mud for 5 days for a simple kids project?  Turns out the straw was used because it releases humic acid which makes for really strong bricks--so the four days of mud stomping was to give time for fermentation and to mix the acid from the straw through the mud.  For VBS craft purposes, less strong bricks will do...but if you were doing this for homeschool I could see how going through the whole 5 day process might be educational.   

I'd say in most cases it's better to get regular straight out of the ground dirt if you can (especially if you live in a place like Texas where the ground is literally called Texas clay).  Garden soil or sand does not make especially sturdy bricks, but the bricks I made out of "Texas clay" from my backyard ...that dried rock hard and solid.  You can ask volunteers to each bring a bucket of dirt from home or you can talk with a construction company to see if they have any extra "out of the ground" dirt you can use.   As for straw, we didn't chop our straw up in little pieces and the big pieces did make our bricks less stable.   Chopping up straw is time consuming so I suggest involving the kids in this step.  Kids love cutting up things into tiny pieces anyways and you can cut up straw with scissors.   

BRICK MOLDS

Group instructions also include dimensions for the mold, but if you need dimensions,  I have some on my homeschool site here (not sure if this was the same as group's).     They are pretty simple to make, just four short pieces of wood nailed or glued together like in the picture above (ours were a little narrow--slightly wider ones are easier to work with).   You will also want to reserve  some thick short slabs of wood to use to help kids pack the mud and push the bricks out of the mold (see below).

A butter knife can be useful to run along the side of the brick mold if the brick has trouble coming out of the mold.  Below a child uses a plastic knife to smooth his brick.

The bricks shown here were made with a mix of 

garden sand/soil mixed in, and came out kind of

crumbly.  "Texas clay" straight out of my back yard 

worked much better - it dried solid like rock.

LOCATION AND MESS PREP

This "craft" is messy!  If you can, put your brick making area outside...doing this craft on hard ground or cement is preferable.   If the only outdoor location has grass, you may need boards, cookie sheets, or other flat hard surfaces to put your bricks on.  If picnic tables are available they work well...but remember to cover them with a plastic tarp or disposable tablecloth.  

If you have to do this indoors (as we did), protect your floor with a large tarp and line the outsides of the area with towels for kids to wipe their feet off on.  Also, have some extra towels and a bucket of clean water for kids to wash their hands in...maybe some hand sanitizer or soap too  (Historical Tidbit: Egyptians actually had a form of soap).    Also, be forewarned that your clothes will get muddy...it will add to the authenticity of your costume (*wink*).   We offered kids pillowcase tunics to wear during VBS, which worked to protect their clothes from home too.  If you don't do this, I would suggest providing some sort of apron or overshirt for kids to wear during this craft. 

 My outfit during the week got 

more and more "authentic"

DECOR

At our VBS, "shopkeepers" were in charge of decorating their area.  Decor for the brick making shop is pretty simple.   The bricks themselves can be part of your decorations...as the week progresses the kids will need to leave the bricks to dry, though having a few to show to start with is helpful.    Hey bales can be used as seats.  For covering your table and any decorative draping on the sides of the tent I suggest beige plastic shower curtains.  Only use sheets if you own them, not ones you've borrowed as they could get mud splattered on them.   I managed to find one real wooden bucket at a thrift store for ours, but we had plastic ones too...you could paint plastic buckets like wood but I don't think it would be worth the trouble, personally (cause you'll need a lot of buckets for this).   If you are outside you can keep dirt in piles.  Hay looks nice in burlap sacks or canvas laundry bags (but again, the messiness factor is something to consider...only do this with donated bags, not loaned).

7.  Dry your bricks on trays of hay or sand to keep them from sticking.  You will need to take them outside every day to dry in the sun, so kids will have to leave them (pray for no rain!). 

8.  An idea we toyed with but didn't use was making something with our bricks--like a firepit or an edging to a flower garden.  Didn't do that, but I still think this would be cool (depending on the sturdiness of your bricks).

Child playing with the muddy water
we used to mix our bricks.

MISC TIPS

• Younger kids may come back to play in the dirt and mud.  Our brick-making shop turned into an "extra activity" for wee ones who finished early in other shops.

• Visit this site to learn more about Egyptian Brick Making. It has a drawing of Egyptians making bricks, and TONS of interesting facts about ancient Egyptian brick-making.   There's also a more succinct description of how to make mud bricks at Biblical Archeology.

Most of these photos were not taken by me, but other wonderful photographers at Dayspring Baptist Church. 

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Shared on Littles Learning Link-up and Dear Homeschooler Bookshelf and Throwback Thursday

Make a Foam or Cardboard Block Wall

Photo by Rebecca Johnson

If you are looking for a more stone cut/brick wall, you can make one using painted foam blocks (like above) or cardboard boxes. I've even seen a castle wall using pizza boxes here, and you can see a great method for making an arch with boxes or blocks here.

At our church we also created blocks like this using sandwhich bags for a "God Sightings" wall one year.  You can stuff one bag with paper, then slip that one into another sandwhich bag facing in the opposite direction to make the "brick.". These aren't very sturdy, but could be glued to a cardboard backing for more stability.

One cool feature of this type of wall (not reinforced) is that if you need to have someone break through a wall, you can (and then just put the pieces back for next time).

See All Rock Wall Ideas Here

Painting/Drawing a Brick or Stone Wall - Various Methods

Below you'll find a variety of methods for painting or drawing brick and stone walls.

Hand painted arch on foam board.

Picture by Kelly Moreland

Hand Painted Wall
Don't be intimidated against painting a wall by hand.    Take the  wall above...it looks amazing and a lot of time went into it for sure.  BUT, take a closer look.  This wall is doable!  The larger bricks aren't drawn with perfect lines...and they are better for it (because real stonework from that period might often be a little imperfect).  The larger stones are not done with technically challenging shading but with a blotchy loose texture that allows some of the white underneath to show through.  The solid painted stones around the arch pop against the textured larger stones. 

At another church they did these simple cardboard "stones" using the brown of the cardboard and just a little bit of paint details...

But if hand-painting still makes you nervous, there's some extra tricks you can employ below....


Sponge Painted Wall

Picture by Becky Burns

A simple way to create a brick rock wall is to paint bricks using sponges and  paint.   The sponge creates the grainy texture of bricks.

One benefit to this is that even children can help with this type of wall (and probably would have fun doing it). Also, sponge painting can be done on nearly any material, including cloth (like the picture at right). And if painted on cloth your "wall" can easily be rolled up and stored for later use.

While it's less three dimensional than some other methods, it's simple and effective.

The picture to the right was graciously provided by The Nelson's Blog.


Stenciled Wall Painting
You can also use stencils and spray paint to help create your brick or stone wall. There are various places which sell stencils (you can see some I found on Amazon below), but since a stone pattern is not very difficult you might consider making your own.

You can use spray paint or sponge paint in several different shades of brown and/or grey to create the stone look. I found a tutorial here on how to paint a brick wall with stencils. You can also use plaster for an even more realistic look. Here's some info on how to do that. The instructions are for more permanent features, but possibly could be done on cardboard to get the same temporary look. Not sure how it would hold up...probably would need some extra support.


Wall Painting Tutorials

• Stone Wall Painting Tutorial (Very Realistic)
• Faux Stone Wall Painting Tutorial (Very Realistic)
• How to Paint A Castle Wall (Cartoonish)

See All Rock Wall Ideas Here

This page may include Amazon Affiliate Links.

Making a Wall Look Like Smooth Stone or Mud-Plaster

This video tutorial teaches how to make a fake wall look like mud-plaster or stone.

See All Rock Wall Ideas Here