Wise Up Lesson Series: Summer Bible School Curriculum
Wonder Ink’s Wise Up Lesson Series is a summer Bible school curriculum that points to the ultimate source of wisdom: God. With the Wise Up Lesson Series and Treasure Quest Event, kids seek and discover God’s wisdom through crafts, games and activities, experiments, snacks, and more!
Summer Bible School Curriculum Overview
The world is noisy. More voices compete for kids’ attention than ever before. So how can we help them learn to decipher the wisdom of heaven from the counterfeit wisdom of earth?
By opening the pages of Scripture, God’s wisdom is at our fingertips! The book of Proverbs opens a window to His divine wisdom. The kids you lead will gaze through that window with you in this summer Bible school curriculum, and the wisdom of God will cut through the noise. God will use ancient words to show kids how to presently walk in His ways—He will show them how to wise up!
For more information about what’s included in our summer lesson series, check out the video below:
Scope and Sequence
“Take hold of my words with all your heart. Keep my commands, and you will live. Get wisdom, and get understanding. Don’t forget my words or turn away from them.”
Wonder Ink offers a summer series every year. Our latest summer Bible school curriculum covers the following topics:
- Wisdom Comes From God
- Seeking God’s Wisdom
- God Guides Our Paths
- Words of Wisdom
Based on the book of Proverbs, this lesson series reveals the treasure of God’s guidance in kids’ lives and how they can seek His wisdom!
Lesson Materials
Wonder Ink’s summer Bible school curriculum comes with the following planning materials:
- Scope and Sequence
- Customizable Calendar Tool pre-populated with series and lesson titles
- Series checklist with prompts to post the bumper video, communicate with parents and volunteers, post social media graphics, etc.
- “All you Need” Preparation & Supply List for each lesson and a master list for each series
Our Wise Up series includes the following materials:
- Welcome and Introduction: A warm introduction letter to the whole experience
- Series Overview: Scope and Sequence and Leader Invitation
- 4 lessons: Toddler Time, Early Childhood, and Elementary-specific lessons
- Bible Story Videos: Videos for both Early Childhood and Elementary level lessons
- Wonder@Home Videos: Bible story videos with at-home discussion questions
- Volunteer Prep resources: Including lesson overviews, devotional, and Bible foundation building blocks
- Social media images: Materials to introduce the series and reinforce each lesson
- Series slides: PNG files to provide visuals for the lesson series
- Bible Story Pictures: One picture for each series lesson
- Volunteer communication templates: Materials to communicate key information for each series (Wonder Truths, Bible passages, links to videos, and Wonder@Home activities for families) via email, text, social media
- Family communication templates: Similar materials for each series to facilitate communication with kids’ families
- Series worship playlists: Elementary and Early Childhood versions hyperlinked in lessons with a combined Worship@Home playlist for families in Wonder@Home
Our Early Childhood Lesson is also catered to large groups, small groups, classrooms, online settings, and home use. It includes the following sections:
FOR LEADERS
- Invitation and Foundation Building Blocks
CURIOSITY
- Play Stations
- Curiosity Activity
- Puppet Intro and Curiosity Questions
- Declaring God’s Wonder
BELIEF
- Prayer of Invitation
- Worship
- God’s Big Story Video (Church Edition)—Bible teaching video
- Word of Wonder
FAITH
- Circle Time
- Craft
- Active Game
IDENTITY
- Worship Response
- Prayer and Blessing
- Closing Game
Our Elementary Lessons are created to be used in large groups, small groups, classrooms, online settings, and at home. It includes the following sections:
- FOR LEADERS
- Invitation and Foundation Building Blocks
- CURIOSITY
- Welcome Question
- Curiosity Questions
- Curiosity Activity
- Declaring God’s Wonder
- BELIEF
- God’s Big Story Video (Church Edition)—Bible teaching video
- Experience It! Script (interactive Bible story script)
- Connecting to the Wonder Truth
- Word of Wonder
- FAITH
- Word of Wonder Activity
- Questions and Prayer Time for Younger Kids
- Questions and Prayer Time for Older Kids
- IDENTITY
- Responding in Worship
- Blessing Your Kids
At Wonder Ink, we know how valuable it is to have an awesome team of dedicated volunteers for your children’s program. Our summer Bible school curriculum offers volunteer prep resources, as well as communication templates to help children’s ministry leaders share important information with parents and volunteers. These resources make it easy for your volunteers to do their jobs—and to gain something from the experience!
Included in every lesson is a For Leaders section. This section gives an Invitation and Foundational Building Blocks. In the Invitation, your teachers and volunteers are invited to pause, listen, and shift their gaze toward God. It includes the Lesson-at-a-Glance along with encouragement from a fellow children’s ministry leader.
Pricing
Current Wonder Ink subscribers get access to seasonal series included in their subscription. Otherwise, this summer Bible school curriculum is available for just $99.
Treasure Quest Event
Treasure Quest is a fun treasure hunt-themed event that is filled with games, experiments, crafts, snacks, and more—all to help kids discover the greatest treasure: God’s wisdom! The event kit is digital and customizable, and it includes everything you need to host the event, including:
- Editable event guide with planning timeline and checklist
- Supply list
- Volunteer roles and descriptions
- Decorating tips
- Games and activities
- STEM experiments
- Snacks
- Teaching script
- Slides and teaching video
- Worship options
- Registration forms
- Social media graphics
- Promotional materials
- And more!
The Treasure Quest Event can be used at any point during or before the Wise Up series; as a stand-alone summer event or can be extended up to five days as an outreach event.
How to Use Summer Bible School Curriculum
Vacation Bible School Curriculum
Summer Bible school, sometimes called vacation Bible school (VBS), is a summer program offered by churches to connect with and teach kids. This is typically a week-long program centered around a singular theme, whereas a summer Bible school is designed to last much longer and cover a wider range of topics.
Despite the differences in these programs, they can both be structured around Wonder Ink’s summer Bible school curriculum. Using our curriculum for your VBS lesson plans, your church can:
- Foster curiosity about God’s Word in both small and large group settings
- Customize lessons to fit your VBS schedule using Wonder Ink’s flexible framework
- Motivate volunteers through inspiring tools and resources
Plus, our curriculum offers both early childhood and elementary lessons, making it perfectly suited for the typical VBS age range, which is kindergarten to fourth grade.
Summer Event and Activity Planning
Treasure Quest compliments the Wonder Ink Wise Up series, but it can be used in numerous ways, including:
- Weekend Or One-Day Event. Use this experience to help kids kick off summer in your children’s ministry!
- Extended Summer-Event Experience. Use this event alongside a couple of the Wise Up lessons in Wonder Ink as a multiday- or evening-event experience to draw kids and families from your community. See the “How to Expand This Event” section for more information and tips.
- Community-Outreach Event. Host the event any time during the summer, or as a summer kick-off event. Invite new families to get a taste of your church and to meet families in the church.
- All-Church Event. This event can be used any time of year, before church or after church, or as an evening or weekend event!
- At-Home Family Experiences. If families can’t come to you, take the experience to them. You can make kits to send home so families can do the activities on their own. Record all or parts of the event as you host it at your church. Then let at-home families know when and how they can watch—and participate in—the event. Provide the directions and materials needed for doing some of the event activities so families can join in the fun at home. They can have their own family experience any time that works for them!
Why Wonder Ink?
With so many options available, it can become overwhelming to look past your summer Bible school curriculum’s theme or the resources included in your VBS lesson plans. At Wonder Ink, we believe that the top priority should be empowering kids to experience the wonder of God together as they follow Him every day.
Here’s how our curriculum does it:
- Age-appropriate theological lessons: Facilitate deep and personal connections to kids’ faith with biblically-rooted lessons suitable to different age groups.
- Customizable materials: Accommodate diverse learning styles and increase engagement through multi-sensory activities.
- Parent support: Encourage connections between kids and parents to bolster family discipleship.
But the logistics are still important, which is why our curriculum is also fully customizable to allow for flexibility in multimedia lessons, activities, videos, and music.
