Jamie the Go Fish Guy

A Song For Earth Day

 

This Is My Father's World 

Extreme Cuisine = A Sweet VBS Stage

Turn your church platform into a TV set for the radical new cooking show "Extreme Cuisine" starring Guy Spaghetti and Bobby Mays!  These wannabe Food Network stars will be attempting to create the ultimate Fruit Of The Spirit Salad each day during your Gotta Move! VBS experience.  Not only will children (and leaders!) love these hilarious skits that teach about the fruit of the Spirit, but the TV set is a great way to effectively and affordably transform your VBS space.

By utilizing the "Extreme Cuisine" logo, the nine 22"x17" Fruit of the Spirit posters (included in your kit), and other TV set elements (cameras, lights, imitation appliances, countertops, kitchen utensils, etc.) you'll be able to make a big impact on children as they walk into the room!

We've also included several animated character and logo files on your Gotta Move! CD-Rom that you can blow up and place around the stage as well.

For additional decorating ideas (there are several included in your kit), make sure to visit our VBS CONNECT site where you can connect with thousands of children's workers who have partnered with Go Fish to put the Bible back into vacation Bible school!  Not only will you be able to brainstorm with churches around the country, but you'll be encouraged by others who are passionate about teaching the Word of God to the next generation!

Let's Dance!

I'm often asked who the children are in our music videos.  Because they do such a great job, people are usually surprised to hear that they're all children who are either neighbors of mine or go to my church!  We are blessed to work with an amazing choreographer and dance instructor, Melissa Huber, who runs a dance studio called The Dancing House.  She did a fantastic job on the Gotta Move! VBS curriculum and I've enjoyed watching children immediately associate her moves with the music.  She is a rock solid believer and has 5 children all under the age of ten.  Needless to say, she absolutely knows what works with children!

Last year we heard from a children's pastor who hired a local choreographer to teach dance to children as an optional alternative to the VBS games rotation.  We loved this idea so much that we asked Melissa to choreograph a more involved dance for the rap section in the "Jump" video.  As part of the 3D: Double Dutch and Dance rotation, children have the option of watching a step by step instructional video of Melissa teaching this dance.  After a day or two, children will have the moves down pat and this activity ties in perfectly with the theme of "moving".

Here is a short sample video so you can see a little clip of the actual music video along with a short clip of Melissa teaching the choreography.  Enjoy!

 

Gotta Move! Bible Study Videos

Each day during their Gotta Move! VBS experience, children will watch a 3-4 minute video to begin their Bible Study time.  This is a great way to transition into the time of teaching and also eases some of the workload for your volunteers!  Here is a sample so that you can get a feel for how these videos are incorporated into the teaching.

 

Double Dutch

With every VBS curriculum we like to change things up and offer new features to keep things exciting.  With "Gotta Move!" we are integrating the world of double dutch jump roping and let me tell you...it is a blast!  We worked with a double dutch team from the Bronx, NY for a few of our new videos and Jason and I had an absolute blast learning how to do it.  It was easier than I thought!

When we were filming, I was amazed at how the minute we started jumping, children started appearing out of nowhere wanting to try it!  We instantly realized that simply having music pumping and kids jumping rope at a church parking lot or park could be a great, non-threatening way to get children to your VBS.

Included in the "Gotta Move!" kit is an instructional video on how to double dutch and we even have the official ropes available here!

SO...you could play Red Rover for the millionth time or you could have a bunch of children rockin' out and trying out their double dutch skills!  It's a great activity to reinforce the theme of "moving" and if the Go Fish Guys can do it, then you can definitely do it too!  Here are a few shots from our video shoot with the double dutch team.  We can't wait to see your sweet moves at VBS this summer too!

  

Now This Is Fun!

Things are hoppin' and VBS kits are shipping like crazy from our Go Fish headquarters in Spring Hill, TN!  When we released our first curriculum a few short years ago we had no idea what God had in store for us.  Needless to say, we have been blown away by the response from churches around the world and we are working hard to give them our very best!  God's Word NEVER returns void and we are excited to hear what happens when children open up their Bibles this summer at vacation Bible school.

A stack of "Gotta Move!" pre-orders

Jason and the team are working hard to make sure each kit is perfect!

A Year Of Our Lives In One Photo

As the kits for our new VBS Gotta Move! are currently being prepared to ship, I'm reminded that a full year of our lives are being packed up into one little box.  We aren't a big company, which is why we are so passionate about every single thing we create.  We have set our bar extremely high because God deserves our best and because we want you to be blown away when you open up your kit!  

It is our privilege to serve the church in this way and we are praying daily that God will use our efforts for His glory.  Thank you to all of the children's pastors, parents, and volunteers who will use these items to make an eternal impact.  It is going to be an amazing summer!