Go wild with these Wild Encounter VBS Ideas! You and your VBS goers will have a wild time traveling two different biomes – forest and arctic. These Vacation Bible School ideas will leave your little explorers naturally inspired by God's creations.
The Backdrop
Bringing outdoor creations indoors is easier than you might think. We started with a backdrop. Our backdrop was made from rolls of White, Blue and Navy Blue Gossamer taped to the wall, being sure to overlap the different layers. Each layer was then cut with a curvy edge to create an ombre look. Clouds were formed from gathered white gossamer that was secured to white paper and cut into cloud shapes.
We also created some hanging clouds to create depth in our scene. To make your own, simply staple or glue one or two Mini White Hanging Lanterns to 12" White Hanging Paper Lanterns. Spray adhesive onto the lantern and adhere polyfill in sections. Allow time for the adhesive to dry and hang with fishing line.
To bring the arctic biome to life, we lined the floor with White Paper Roll, taping the seams with clear packing tape as we went. Building the icy pond was just as easy! Simply lay out a Light Blue Paper Roll and cut it to the size and shape you want. Flank the sides of the pond with White Floral Sheeting and Poly-Fil®. Add a few Lit Winter Floor Trees and 3D Winter Tree Cardboard Stand-ups to the wintry arctic scene. Surround the trees with crumpled White Paper, White Floral Sheeting and billowy Poly-Fil® or batting to create the look of freshly fallen snow. A few sprinkles of Iridescent Glitter here and there add to the fresh snow look.
Adding Snowflake Floor Decals to the frozen lake makes the perfect game of 'hopscotch'. Try using a white pom-pom snowball as the 'rock'.
With all the frosty snow and frozen icicles, this Arctic scene is sure to leave your VBS goers saying, BBRRRRR!!! It looks cold in there!
We cut sheets of thick styrofoam to mimic ice sheets and glaciers. Iridescent Glitter was added to the styrofoam using Sponge Paintbrushes and Mod Podge®. Stack and tape boxes on top of each other and loosely cover them with crumpled White Paper. Stack the styrofoam ice sheets around and on top of the paper glacier.
There is something so serene about falling snow and now you can make it 'snow' indoors with this easy DIY falling snow garland. Simply string cotton balls, white poms and white glitter poms onto lengths of Clear Stretchy Cording. The stretchy cording has just the right amount of grip to hold the poms in place without needing to tie a knot. String lengths of cording from the ceiling and hang Tissue Snowflakes to create a snowy scene.
To create the forest biome, we laid out rolls of Artificial Grass Roll across the other half of the set, creating a lush forest floor. We embellished our exclusive Wild Encounters VBS Waterfall Archway with crumpled Kraft Paper, Burlap Paper and Brown Paper rocks. Large cardboard boxes were stacked and loosely covered in the same crumpled paper. Adhere a few Medium and Large Palm Leaves into the rock crevices to really add dimension to your waterfall feature.
Blue and Light Blue Tablecloth Rolls were gathered onto strong duct tape and draped behind the blue foil fringe. We made our tablecloths long enough to also create the pond the waterfall empties into. Be sure to add some crumpled paper rocks and Poly-Fil® or batting to make your waterfall look more realistic.
A few 3D Evergreen Standups and artificial Christmas trees were placed around the waterfall to create a lush forest. To add some contrast in color, we covered half of the 3D Evergreen Standups with Spray Adhesive. While the adhesive was still wet, we adhered Apple Green and Nile Green Paper onto the trees and cut off the excess paper.
Bridge the two very different themes with a literal bridge made of wooden pallets. Wrap pool noodles with Burlap Printed Paper. Line up two wooden pallets and adhere the pool noodles to the pallets. Wrap and glue Jute Cording to the pool noodles to create a 'hand rail'. Decorate the Arctic side of the bridge with Icicle Ornaments and the forest side with Ivy Garland.
No forest is complete without a fallen branch or log, and making your own is super easy! Simply duct tape Pool Noodles together to form a long round log shape (we used 7 pool noodles). Cover the ends with a circle of cardboard and draw tree rings with a permanent marker. Crinkle up the entire roll of Kraft Paper and use Spray Adhesive or Hot Glue to adhere the paper onto the pool noodles lengthwise. Cut off the excess paper and dry brush on some Brown Acrylic Paint. Allow the paint to dry and place the log in your set. These faux logs are so easy to make, so you might want to make a few!
Prop the faux log with a few DIY Mushrooms or make a fun DIY Mushroom Ring Toss Game that is super fun to play and easy to make. Click here to learn how to make some mushrooms of your very own.
Be sure to check out all of our other Wild Encounters VBS Ideas including Wild Animal Themed Activities for Kids and some of the Best Animal Themed Snack Ideas. Planning your first VBS or need a few VBS pointers? Check out our Ultimate VBS Planning Guide including free printable checklists. Still not sold on a VBS theme? Take a peek at our 2019 VBS Theme Ideas.
