VBS 2013 - Turn it Up - from Orange - Full Review

My Turn It Up VBS kit arrived yesterday, so today 'm happy to update my post with the full review of Turn It Up from Orange! (I'll update my side-by-side chart tonight so keep watching for it.) "Get kids talking about the power of God's one big story - the Bible - and how it all connects together. They will learn how important it is to turn up the power of God's story in their lives!" 

Orange did a great job with the content and substance of this VBS resource and provide a lot of options for you. It it had been ready before January 1st it would have at least made my top five for sure! Take a look and consider if Turn It Up is a good "fit" for your children's ministry!

Turn it Up

Orange

http://whatisorange.org/summerxp/products/turn-it-up/

Day 1: Bible Story: The Magnificent Paradise and The Broken World – Creation through The Flood (Genesis 1:1–2:25; 3:1-24; 6:5-8) Bottom Line:  When people broke God’s rule, the world was broken.

Day 2: Bible Story: The Lost Tribes – God’s Promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-7; 15:1-6; 13-14; 22:1-15) Bottom Line: God promised to show those who were lost that He would always love them.

Day 3: Bible Story: The Lost Tribes – The Israelites Grumble (Exodus 6:2-8; 16:2-3; 17:3; Numbers 14:2-4; 1 Samuel 8:1-22) Bottom Line: God wanted everyone to know that He was the only way the world could be rescued.

Day 4: Bible Story: The Promised One – Jesus’ Life and Crucifixion (The Gospels) Bottom Line: Jesus gave His life to rescue those who believe in Him.

Day 5: Bible Story: The Promised One – The Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) Bottom Line: When God raised Jesus from the dead, it proved He had a plan since the beginning.

Family Experience End of Week Celebration: Bible Story: The Shining Witnesses – The Mission (Matthew 28:16-20; Acts 1:4-11) Bottom Line: Those who followed Jesus showed His love by shining His light for all the world to see.

Setting – a contemporary setting - not real clear exactly what the setting is

Message – Kids will get excited about the most incredible true story of all - God’s loving pursuit of us through time

Focus - Evangelism, Application and Bible Content

Strengths –

• As I would expect, Turn It Up has a strong focus, content and application
• I love the Parent CUE cards – great resource to send home with kids each day
• I LOVE the "Partnering with Parents" - tremendous idea to give parents ideas of things they can do at home before VBS begins to prepare their children for VBS!
• I LOVE the Parenting Event with ideas of things to do with parents while their children are in the VBS program!
• Strong focus on small groups
• Strong evangelism focus and content to help children who know Jesus grow in their walk with Him
• I love the Faith Skills center – excellent!
• Last year I said I'd like to see info to help children be involved in serving their community and this year they have an excellent service project station. I LOVE the Service Project Station! 
• Crafts are affordable and made from everyday items or from kits available through Oriental Trading
• Last year I said I'd like to see info to help churches know how to engage children with special needs and this year there is excellent info to help churches do this!

Would like to see – 

• While the DVD lessons are well done, I'd really rather see Bible lessons which engage the kids and involve them in the telling of the lesson – the content is solid, but it needs to be presented in a more engaging manner so children experience the lessons, can remember them, understand them and live them for changed lives. 
• A clear emphasis on a daily “live-it” activity and time the following day for children to share what they did and how it impacted their life to live what they learned!
• More enthusiasm in the open/closing – object lessons, science projects, stunts – something other than just a skit to capture the kid’s attention and get them thinking!

Last year I said, "I'd like to see a scope and sequence which is unified with the preschool children – if you use this for VBS, I’d recommend adapting the elementary lessons so the preschoolers learn the same thing as their older siblings – use the preschool materials for eight weeks on Sundays in the Summer"; this year, I'm happy to see a unified scope and sequence.

I said, "I'd like to see a credit for more music; three song downloads (five for preschool songs) are included with the curriculum, but you will need to purchase additional music – or find your own music – I’d like to see all songs included with the materials." and this year all 10 songs are included!

I also said, "I'd like to see more information for the director . . . volunteer safety info, building/grounds safety, screening volunteers and more info on follow up" and this year, there is more complete director's info; better info on involving children with special needs and better info on safety - I'd still like to see more about screening volunteers.

If you are looking for a resource you can use with Christian children to help them grow in their walk with Jesus, Turn It Up could be a great “fit” for you. It looks to me like Turn It Up might have an evangelism focus, but since I have not been able to see all the lessons, if it doesn't, you’ll have to add it to the lessons – it would be easy enough to do. Turn It Up provides eight lessons, so you could use it on Sunday mornings in the summer for eight weeks. Orange says, “The Turn It Up Summer XP is a five-day VBS that takes a journey through the Bible, giving kids context for God’s Big Story. Help kids discover how they can be a part of the story when they turn up the power of God’s love in their life.” Turn It Up is all about options – and is worth taking a look at it to see if it will “fit” your ministry!