Hi

What is your lesson theme for your unit? I assume it is something related to the life of Jesus?

Anyway, you may want to consider the following:

1. Something with food – dates, olives, pita bread etc. for kids to "purchase" and sample.
2. "Following Jesus" booth – make simple sandals to take home (trace foot onto cardboard - cut out. Punch holes around the edges and lace with twine or heavy yarn.)
3. A "scribe" – someone who could write messages- perhaps a calligrapher?? Not authentic but special for the children. Kids could ask for messages to be written to friends or family, then have them "delivered" by someone in the scribe's booth.

Those are some thoughts that I hope will be helpful and will work with your lesson theme.

Jan Snell

What about a visit to the synogauge? Maybe have someone dressed as Jesus teaching, or a reading of the torah, etc. Keep us posted on how things work out, it sounds exciting.

There was a VBS curriculum called Marketplace 29 AD by Group.

Since then Group has down other Marketplace type VBS programs. Do an internet search using "Marketplace VBS" and you'll find lots of ideas and images.

The Bible Village

You know there's actually a place in Galilee called the Bible Village. It demonstrates "life in 1st C AD."

They have a website with lists of activities you can do there (which could be duplicated in a Sunday School to a certain degree). "Shepherds Gate" "Nomads Tent" etc.

They also list ingredients for a typical Galilean MEAL you can order/eat there.

http://k-k.co.il/index.php?lang=en-US

<>< Neil

Palm Trees

Here is a cool way to make Palm Trees.

1. Start with a carpet tube which are readily available from any carpet installer.
2. Cut tube to desired height, say 6 feet.
3. Place the tube in a large flower pot filled with plaster of paris or sakrete/cement. Lean tube against a wall until set. You can put more than one tube in a pot.
4. After the tube is set up in the pot, begin with strips of brown or tan burlap about 4-6 inches wide and as long as you can make them. Unravel about an inch or so of one side of the burlap to make a long fringed pieces. Begin wrapping and gluing this around the trunk of the palm tree. fabric glue such as Aleene's glue works best for this.
5. Then cut a swimming noodle float about 6 inches long. Slice into it 1/2 way, the long way, do this twice. Interlock the two pieces and shove into the top end of the tube/ trunk. You may want to glue this in place, but I have found it generally stays put on its own.
6. Then take those thin white dry cleaner hangers that are basically not good for clothes, and pull on the end. Flatten out the hook. You now have a leaf shape form.
7. Cut out a top and bottom green felt palm leaf a little larger than the hanger frame. Glue the two sides together with the hanger in the center and the flattened hook sticking out the base. Poke the hanger into the foam swimming noodle in the center of the tube. You have the first leaf on your palm tree. Do this as many times as you want for a full palm tree, I use about 10 leaves. The leaves can be curved easily to give the proper frond a graceful curve on the tree.

These trees will last for a very long time.