Step 1 - Decorating - We decorated our auditorium. We do not have a gym or other large room facilities for our children's ministry, so we often get permission to use the auditorium for large group activities like this. We put up a large tent, ocean scene backgrounds, fish and nets, hanging palm trees, a surf board and lawn chairs. On one side of the stage is a "Treausre Table" with Treasures such as children's dictionaries, bibles, kids praise cd's and Bible games. On the corners of the stage are treasure boxes full of candy.
Step 2 - Activities - Each night of the 6 weeks I came up with an activity that all of the kids could participate in and that would help further the goal of helping them learn to use God's word.
Week 1 - We decorated Treasure Chests. These can be purchased in various forms from Orientaltrading.com. We decorated these chests with paint pens, glitter and stickers and filled them with the scriptures we would be learning each week for the 6 weeks of Treasure Island.
Week 2 - Scripture Scavenger Hunt - I got this idea from googling "Bible Treasure Hunts". I gave each group 13 scripture references. Each group had to look up the scriptures and then go collect the item that the scripture named. For instance we used the passage Matthew 7:25 which reads "The rains came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat agasint that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." The clue was "rock" and the kids had to find a rock to complete the first clue. The first group in K-2nd that completed this hunt got a prize (gold chocolate candy) and the first group in 3rd -6th grade got the same prize.
Week 3 - Decorating Shovels. I purchased wooden handled shovels from Wal-Mart for about $5 each. Each group (grade) recieved a shovel and were asked to look up scriptures. They had to use the color or item mentioned in the scriptures to decorate their shovel. For instance if the scripture said something about feathers, they had to find a way to attach feathers to the shovel. I also had each group write a scripture on the shovel that had something to do with treasure (I supplied the 6 verses we were learning). When each group was done they were able to show and present their shovels to the other groups.
Week 4 - Discussion - we took a break from crafts and had a week of discussion. I wanted to make sure that some of the things we had been talking about were sinking in for them. I had the teens lead the group and ask various questions such as "Your mom asks you as you are getting in bed if you remembered to do your homework for tomorrow. You are very tired so you say "yes", even though you really havne't done it. Is this a right decision or a wrong decision?" The children are allowed to answer what they think and then as a group they looked up Colossians 3:9-10. These are verses about telling the truth. We did about 10 questions like this. I wanted to show them that when they have questions about what is right or wrong that they can find these answers in the scriptures. God's word is very clear about how we should live and what we should or shouldn't do.
Week 5 - Treasure Maps - I had each group decorate a treasure map. I used large pieces of butcher paper and tore the edges of it to make it look old. The groups had to have 3 points on the map, a starting place, a name for their Island and an X to mark the spot for the treasure. I wanted their treasures to be something spiritual. Some of the kids put "Sharing our food" while another group put "Loving others" as their treasures.
Week 6 - Treasure Hunt - This is different from the scavenger hunt in that I had the kids look up scriptures as before, but instead of collecting various items like rocks and grass they just had to find the next clue. Clue 1 lead to Clue 2 and so on until they found the treasure. Each group followed the same clues and all of them lead to individual treasure for each group.
Each night we had a scripture verse for the kids to learn. There are many scriptures on Treasures in heaven, or the treasure of God's word or the Kingdom of God. An example I used is Psalm 119:11 "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." After every evening a child would get a treasure (candy or small toy) out of the treasure box for being able to tell their leaders their memory verses. Children could also get treasures for bringing friends or bringing their Bibles. 2 names were drawn every night for the larger prizes such as the Bibles, games or CD's.
During this time the kids learned a books of the Bible song. They learned the Old Testament song. After much searching I found a song that works for us. The kids have been able to learn it and it has a catchy tune. It's by the McLean family singers and can be found at www.christiansoup.com. The books of the New Testament song is also on this CD. We used the old 'standby' version that most people seem to know.
Nursery, Toddler and Preschool classes were also offered and taught by volunteers. I had a simple "pirate/treasure" craft for these classes as well as a Bible story and simple games to go along with it.
