Category Archives: VBS

Summer Programs, VBS

PandaMania: Warning About This Catholic VBS {Vacation Bible School}

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Before last summer began, I posted about doing a VBS at home called Summer Faith Adventure.  It is made/created by the same people that do Holy Heroes.  While it was a fantastic program that I could do at home with my children, I wished that my parish would have done something like it so that my children can have some interaction with other kids of the parish and our neighborhood (after all we live 2 minute away from our church).  Two Sundays ago I saw that they were already advertising the VBS for this year and I assumed that it was yet another non-Catholic program.  I was wrong!

I was so excited to hear that a Totally Catholic Summer Program {a Catholic VBS} will be used at our parish this year.  I have a little experience in VBS from many moons ago when a close friend and I ran the very first one at our parish in our college years.  At our parish level, I volunteered two summers ago in the kitchen.  Our job was to prepare the snacks that went with the theme of the day.  The other mom and I could not help it and we adjusted the snacks and lesson we were supposed to teach while creating the snacks with the kids to incorporate some Catholicism into the program {something we felt it was so desperately lacking in}.  So when I heard that Pandamania was a Catholic VBS, I was very excited!  {BIG SMILE}

I am not sure if I had anything to do with this change?  Maybe it was because after reading a post I saw about VBS product reviews over at Lacy’s {CatholicIcing}, I forwarded it to our DRE so that she could see that there where other options available for our Catholic kids.  Maybe not…but I was so happy to hear and was already looking at my calendar to move things around to make sure the kids would attend {and I was ready to shoot an e-mail to her to volunteer once again.} 
That was until I started following a thread on a Catholic Homeschoolers Yahoo Group and I came to find out that this program has a major flaw!  Sigh…PLEASE, if you are thinking of sending your beautiful little blessings to a Pandamania VBS, you MUST read this blog post about it!  Kris, a Catholic homeschooler over at Education is a Science of Relation, did her research on this and has links available for everyone to see what she is talking about. {you don’t have to take her word for it, just read what warning the Vatican has on Father Teilhard de Chardin} Sigh…it is really a shame that this program was presented to DREs as a good Catholic VBS!

There are so many others out there that could be used:

  1. CHC’s Children’s Retreats/VBS
  2. K4J Vacation Bible School 2011
  3. Growing with the Saints, Catholic VBS {Has four adventures to choose from}:

  • Assorted Saints & the Virtues of Faith, Hope & Love VBS
  • Saint Patrick and the Holy Trinity VBS
  • Parade Around the Father VBS
  • Parachute with the Angels Catholic VBS



4. Cat.Chat Catholic Vacation Bible School Programs {Has three themes to choose from}:

VBS#1: Cool Kingdom Party:  Mary Leads Me Closer to Jesus



  • VBS#2: Marvelous Mystery: The Mass Comes Alive
  • VBS#3: A Wilderness Adventure Through the Sacraments: Jesus in My Heart

Last, but not least {the one we WILL be using again this year}:


Their program is certainly wonderful.  I may just invite some friends to come over our house and do it together!  😉
It is unfortunate that our kiddos will not be participating in our parish’s Totally Catholic Summer Program, because…well because we can’t go against the Holy See’s warning and well…we work way too hard home educating our children to expose them to wrong theology. 

So please find out what program your parish is using.   Educate yourself!

Blessings,

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homeschooling, VBS

Gotta Share: Summer Faith Adventure

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A FREE Catholic Vacation Bible School (VBS) you can do from home! You have to sign up for a specific week (you can also sign up for the Advent and Lent Adventures and they will e-mail you in time for those). For more information from their site:

Register now for the “at-home,” FREE, week-long Catholic vacation Bible school: Holy Heroes Summer Faith Adventure! Choose your week to receive 5 daily emails full of short videos, activities, prayers, songs, all-new coloring pages, quizzes, and puzzles, everything you need to have a summer camp in your own home or backyard. New this year: The Story of the “Sel-fish” and the “Generous Fish.” (Mom and Dad: you’ll love the effect on your children!) Don’t forget: register now.

Supplies you will need for this journey (you will get an e-mail the weekend before you sign up with this list but in case you want to plan ahead):

Supplies for making all the week’s crafts:

  1. White paper or white card-stock
  2. Colorful construction paper
  3. Black construction paper (one piece per child)
  4. Tape
  5. Markers
  6. Scissors
  7. Wax paper
  8. Colorful tissue paper
  9. Glue
  10. Stapler or hole punch and string/yarn/ribbon
  11. Paper cups

Ingredients for making all the week’s snacks:

  1. Pre-made sugar cookie dough: This is only if you do not want to make the dough from scratch for the first two days of snacks. If you choose not to make the dough yourself but instead buy pre-made dough, you will not need any powdered sugar, almond extract, cream of tartar, baking soda, or sugar.
  2. Butter
  3. Sugar
  4. Eggs
  5. Vanilla
  6. Flour
  7. Baking soda
  8. Salt
  9. Hard candy (Jolly Ranchers, Life Savers, or any colorful hard candy)
  10. Powdered sugar
  11. Almond extract
  12. Cream of tartar
  13. Yeast
  14. Pretzel salt or cinnamon mixed with sugar
  15. Marshmallows
  16. Rice Crispies cereal
  17. Animal crackers
  18. Gold fish
  19. M&M’s
  20. Oyster crackers
  21. Pretzel sticks
  22. Pretzel twists

I just signed us up for the first week of August! There are only two more weeks of this left so don’t wait! Let me know what you thought of it, if you decide to do it! I can’t wait because my kids did a VBS at our Parish (I volunteered and they got to go for free, which I am very thankful for) but the program was VERY protestant…no saints, no Mary, no Sacred Heart of Jesus…I’ve seen it advertised at Protestant churches around here, unfortunate that they choose this program over a Catholic one. Anyway, this is my opportunity to do it the “right way” or, I should say, “what I was expecting from the one at our parish.” Enjoy!

Thank you for following Raising (& Teaching) Little Saints! Visit us again soon!