Stories

• All the games, crafts and snacks should act as reinforcement for the main event: the Bible stories. Jonah and the Big Fish centers around the themes of God's salvation for Jonah and mankind. For the first day, teach the kids that Jonah ran away from God and caused the storm, but that God saved the sailors after they threw Jonah into the ocean. Focus on Jonah's salvation from the ocean through the belly of a fish for the second day. Tell the children that God saved Jonah again by making the fish spit him up onto dry land on the third day. On the fourth day, tell the children that Jonah preached God's law to the Ninevites and they were saved. Finally, teach the children that God saved Jonah from the heat and his own hardened heart on the fifth day.
  
  

Crafts

• Children will look forward to the fish-themed craft projects they will complete each day of Vacation Bible School. The first day children can make fish banks from empty 2-liter plastic bottles. Turn the bottle on its side and cut a 1 1/2-inch-long slit in the middle of one side. Directly across from the slit on the bottom side of the bottle cut a round hole. Cover the hole with tape. Use construction paper, glue, markers and glitter to create fins to glue on the bank. Throughout the week, have children put money in the bank to donate to the church or missionaries. Create a fish from a small paper bag halfway stuffed with newspaper. Tie the bag with yarn, leaving the extra bag to form the fish's tail. The children can stuff and color the bag.
  
  

Games and Activities

• Games and activities help reinforce the lessons the children are learning while helping them burn off extra energy and have fun. Some games are best played in small groups. Gather the children together in circles of 5 to 10 children. Give one child a ball and send him to walk around the circle while the other children chant, "Jonah, Jonah disobeyed. God forgave him anyway." Then the child throws the ball into the circle and whoever catches it is the next "Jonah." Play hide-and-seek with a small figurine or paper doll to represent Jonah. Send children as "fish" into the room to find "Jonah." Play a version of Simon Says, but use "God Says" to remind the children to obey God.
  
  

Snacks

• Use whimsical snacks to fill children's bellies while helping them remember the daily story. Serve tuna fish sandwiches on bread cut in fish shapes. Offer peanut butter and jelly alternatives. Give each child a gummy bear, representing Jonah, to place in the fish's stomach. Offer blue-colored gelatin along with cheese fish crackers as a fish in the ocean snack.