Creating an at-home VBS is easier than you think!

A recent webinar sponsored by the Catholic catechetical company RCL Benziger showed how easily parents can become the lead “counselors” of their children’s Vacation Bible School (VBS).
    

Barbara Robless, a mother, parish catechetical leader and secular Franciscan based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, offered tips on how families can set up a “domestic church” and create their own “do-it-yourself” VBS by using the stories of the saints as a springboard for faith-sharing, prayer and fun activities.
    

• Begin by setting up a small home altar, if you don’t have one already, to bring a tone of “joy and heavenliness” into your home, Robless said.
    

“The ‘domestic church’ is not a new concept, but an outcome of Vatican II,” she said. “It’s not about making your house look like church, or filling your house with sacramentals or statues. It’s about sanctifying the home and the family.”
    

In addition to putting out a favorite Bible, the home altar can include a liturgical cloth made of felt, napkins, a tablecloth or a scarf; votive candles; and flowers gathered from your own garden. Have your children make a holy card of the saint on whom you are focusing your VBS and tape it to the altar. Robless said many families might also have a drawer of holy cards from past funerals they have attended. These cards can be placed on the altar and remind the family to include the deceased in their VBS prayer intentions.
 

• Have your children write their own VBS prayer. Remind them to include specific virtues they hope to emulate in their chosen saint and what they are thankful for. “If no one feels comfortable praying spontaneously, then a rote prayer will do just fine – like an Our Father or a Hail Mary,” Robless said.
 

• Read the story of your saint aloud to capture your children’s sense of awe, wonder and curiosity, Robless said, noting that the story will provide common ground for the discussion that follows. Invite your children to share their insights on the saint’s virtues, vices and their unique conversion story.
    

“When you read a story, break open the story like you would the Word of God,” said Robless, noting that by age 4 or 5, children have already developed “the ability to put themselves in another person’s shoes,” which is the wellspring of empathy. 
 

• Animate the saint’s story by using dolls or simple puppets made out of paper bags, socks, latex gloves or popsicle sticks. For example, if your VBS is exploring the story of St. Francis of Assisi, simple puppets can be made to tell his story from various points of view. Story “narrators” might include Gubbio – the wolf famously tamed by St. Francis, who brought peace to the community; the leper whom he embraced (Jesus in disguise); and the birds to whom he preached when no one was around. Consider including your live pets in the “audience” to remind children that animals are part of the living world that St. Francis loved.
 

• Incorporate creative writing projects, hands-on crafts and scavenger hunts after telling the story of your saint. For example, children studying St. Francis can write a poem about some aspect of creation after gathering natural items such as rocks, leaves, sticks and flowers.
 

• Consider choosing a saint that draws your children outside. Robless said a few examples of “outdoorsy” saints are Kateri Tekakwitha, Joan of Arc, Teresa of Kolkata, Brendan the Navigator and Brigid of Kildare. Set up a tent in the backyard for a nighttime VBS session by flashlight or around a fire pit.
 

• Incorporate music during your home VBS. Spotify and Pandora offer categories of music inspired by the saints. Easy-to-sing songs include “This Little Light of Mine”; “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”; “Jesus Loves Me”; “I’ve Got That Joy (Down in My Heart)”; “The Prayer of St. Francis”; and “Morning Has Broken.”
    

Alternatively, parents can take a beloved tune, such as “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” and ask their children to write their own lyrics to it. Children can make simple musical instruments out of paper plates, tin cans, cereal boxes, rice and dried beans.
 

• Plan a saints-inspired project in the kitchen. Ideas include preparing a dish from your saint’s home country and baking bread – the latter as a gateway to discuss the Eucharist. While baking, you can introduce the teaching of the Eucharist as “spiritual food”; the meaning of “the breaking of the bread”; and the corporal works of mercy of feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty.
    

“Food is a wonderful way to bring the saints to the dining table with you,” Robless said. 
 

• Once you get your VBS rolling, consider linking up with other Catholic families on Zoom to continue the saintly discussions. Not only will you be setting up a domestic church in your own home, but helping your kids build “small church communities” whenever they are away from their physical school campuses. Such communities also remind us of the early church, which began as a series of small communities of worshippers who often couldn’t practice their faith in public.
    

For a listing of free catechetical resources for home, school and parish settings, visit www.rclbenziger.com.