Summertime Means Vacation Bible School, Part 2

Rain, rain, don’t go away.

For our Vacation Bible School, we are continuing our “God helps us weather the storm” theme. This week we were exploring how rain is involved in our lives.

Arizona only get about 7.5 inches of rain each year. Over ¾ of our rain comes during the summertime, which is known as the Monsoon season. We can get very heavy rains in just 30 to 60 minutes and is accompanied by loud and often scary thunder and lightning.

I asked my children what they liked about the summer rains. Many said they like to go outside and play in it. Some of the children like to play in the puddles after the rain had stopped. I asked them what they did not like about the rain and almost everyone said the thunder and lightning. It was too loud and scary.

During our music and movement time we used drums and noise makers to create the noise that thunder makes. This activity was designed to help them understand that it is just noise and we don’t have to be afraid. We also talked about that during thunderstorms we can lose the power to our houses, so we need to be prepared. We handed out flashlights and played flashlight tag. We let them take the flashlight home to keep in their rooms.

For our art activity we made rain pictures. Using Colorations® Liquid Watercolor the children put paint on their construction paper with spray bottles. They had the choice of colors to use. After their paintings had dried we took them outside and used eye droppers to drop water on the pictures to simulate rain. The watercolor ran and blended with the other colors.

Our rain pictures turned out great. We laminated them and sent their pictures home to remind them that God provides rain for us, plants, and animals, and that we need these summer rains to help everything in Arizona grow and stay healthy.

We talked about being safe during these thunderstorms. We talked about asking God to be with us and to help us not to be afraid and to "Weather the Storm."

You may have different summer weather where you live, so have fun with all you weather activities.

Have a blessed day,
Lynn