Let's Go Fish!

Last night's theme was, "Let's Go Fish."

Here's a look at the post card that I sent home the week before to remind everyone of what we were doing.  

I truly believe that these postcards are absolutely crucial to making sure that we have good participation.  

For safety reasons kids are not allowed to bring fishhooks of any kind!  

If you'd like a copy of my template to customize please feel free to leave me a comment or send me an e-mail. 

Last year, this theme was hard to pull together.  Why?  I had this elaborate idea in my mind of what I wanted my fishing pond to look like and it just wasn't working out the way I wanted it to.  The fabric wasn't draping right, my fish looked very strange, I was covered in hot glue, and I ended the day a sweaty and hot glue covered mess.  This year?  An absolute breeze.  This is why I strongly recommend doing things right the first time and then keeping them to reuse!  

When fishing night was over last year I took my fabric, folded it up, and stuck it on a shelf in my resource room so that I could use it again this year.  Here's a look at what our fishing pond looked like last year. 

And use it again I did.  This year's set-up took me about 30 minutes.  It was so much easier.  I pulled my fabric down off of the shelves and went to town.  Last year I draped my fabric over our mini puppet stage but this year I decided to go a different route.  We have a ginormous puppet stage that I considered using but just didn't want the hassle for an hour and a half program.  To save on space our puppet stage easily breaks down and is put away when not in use.  This year I used the same plumbing pipes and wooden blocks that I used to hold our crew signs up during VBS.  All I had to do was hot glue the fabric to the top and I was good to go.  

Easy as pie. 

I actually like it better this year.  I think the uneven line at the top makes it look like it's almost moving in little waves and I like that it's a lot longer this year and easier for someone to get behind.  

That's how I created my fishing pond.  

This is one of those theme nights that can cost you a very little amount of money, or it can cost you a great deal of money.  It is all dependent on how much you want to spend and how elaborate of a fishing pond that you want to have.  This year, this theme night cost me $0!  That's right, $0.  Why?  I saved everything that I used last year and didn't need to purchase anything.  

So how did I make the fishing pond?  

I used yellow, gray, red, and pink felt, green tulle, clothespins, and some paint.  

I cut out an assortment of ocean life from the felt pieces.  

I made dolphins, fish, and even one jellyfish.  

I made my seaweed on the bottom out of green tulle and lime green felt to give it some more contrast.  

I picked up a $5 fishing net at Wal-mart.

I painted my clothespins to look like worms with some simple craft paint and extra googly eyes I already had in my craft room.  

After that I grabbed my hot glue gun and just started hot gluing pieces onto my fabric.   and when I pulled it out yesterday, it was still intact!  

How does this night work?  

It's simple really.  As kids say verses they are allowed to come into the sanctuary and "go fish" for a special prize.  

The prizes can be anything from a piece of candy to leftover trinkets from last year's AWANA store.  

This night is used as an incentive to help kids learn those verses.  

Our kids love it.  Going to "fish" for their prize is one of their highlights. 

There are so many great object lessons and verses that you can use to theme your night around.  

My personal favorite is found in Matthew 4:18-20.  The moment when Jesus calls His first disciples to Him. 

"As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew.  They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will send you out to fish for people.'  At once they left their nets and followed him."  

How important is it for all believers to know that being a follower of Jesus is about more than ourselves.  Being a follower of Jesus is about sharing that love and that grace with other people.  Every Wednesday I have the opportunity to impact anywhere from 60 to 70 kids.  Let's just imagine that each of those kids had the opportunity to impact ten people.  Before you know it anywhere from 600 to 700 people have been impacted by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Isn't that amazing?  

I am constantly challenging my kids to share the love of Jesus with their friends, family, teachers and schoolmates, and I hear the stories when they do.  And oh my, it is absolutely glorious.  It's in those moments that I truly believe heaven opens up and the angels are celebrating.  Those are the moments that I live for.  Those moments when I realize that my five year olds, or that my 4th graders understand what it means to truly go fishing.