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Vacation Bible School Crafts – In The Wild VBS

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Welcome my wild friends! I know you’re somewhat wild because if you’re reading this post right now, chances are that you’re helping with vacation bible school this year. VBS is one of my favorite things each year but let’s be honest, I also have to come home each day afterward and take a nap – because it’s wild . But because I love you, I’ve come up with several VBS Craft ideas for the theme, In The Wild. It can also work for any animal / zoo / jungle themed VBS that you are participating in.

Our church holds a pre-VBS planning meeting each year and is nice enough to let me play in paint and googly eyes all day while I whip up some craft examples for that meeting. These are all ideas that you can do that will tie in with the theme. Since I was making these examples for all ages, some will work for your age group and some you might just want to pass onto your friends that have other age groups.

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VBS Craft Idea #1 – Bird Masks

I love how cute these are and the great news is that they’re super simple.

If you have a VBS day that’s going to be jam-packed and you need a quick craft, make these. All you need is a foam mask (or cut your own masks out of fun foam), a foam beak and feathers. Place a large glob of tacky glue at the top of the mask and let them kids just go wild randomly placing feathers in the glue. Set it off to the side and let it dry. You can attach a thin elastic band to hold it onto their face or attach it to a popsicle stick for them to hold.

VBS Craft Idea #2 – Frog Catch Games

Now these are really cute and my daughter loved playing with it. You have two options with this craft. 1) Paint the toilet paper roll in advance and then just let the kids assemble (great for younger kids) or 2) let the kids paint and then assemble themselves if you have a longer craft time.

To make these: Paint the outside of the toilet paper roll green and then inside red. Cut out 4 frog legs and attach to the sides with glue. Cut about a 10″ piece of red yarn. Attach a large bead to one end and using a staple, secure to the inside bottom of the frog, while also stapling the bottom of the toilet paper roll together. Add googly eyes with glue and then have a wild time trying to catch the bead in the frog’s mouth.

VBS Craft Idea #3 – Toilet Paper Roll Snake

Here’s a secret – this is a tried and true craft with my 3rd grade VBS class. The entire class loved this craft! To cut down on time, we used markers to color the toilet paper rolls instead of paint. You could also spray paint a lot of rolls in advance and let them decorate the designs with markers.

In fact, they loved it so much two years ago that I made a video of the step-by-step process for you.

Click over to get full instructions on making the Toilet Paper Roll Snakes.

Pro Tip– If you need a ton of toilet paper rolls, you can buy just the roll ( click here to buy rolls ) OR you can gently pull the roll of out the middle of the toilet paper they sell at The Dollar Tree. Don’t throw away the toilet paper without the cardboard roll, just stack it in a basket and use away. Your kids won’t care if there’s a roll in the middle or not.

VBS Craft Idea #4 – Rain Makers

We had one huge win with these and one huge fail. These are simple to make. Place a large piece of duct tape over one end of a paper towel tube and fill with about half a cup of rice. Place another piece of tape over the open end to close the rice inside the paper towel tube. You’re halfway done.

Here’s where we hit a snag. We were planning to just wrap the tubes with painter’s tape and then decorate but stickers will not stick to painter’s tape! We had to tape the stickers down with clear tape.

Instead of using painter’s tape, we wound up covering the other tube with construction paper. It worked perfectly and was easier than the tape. To add a little texture and fun, we cut some crepe paper streamers into a fringe and taped them on each end. Finally decorate the tube with stickers.

Easy and a great project for all ages.

VBS Craft Idea #5 – Pool Noodle Wild Animals

I’ve made these a few times with different age groups of kids and they are always a hit. Every age group, teens included, always loves making these things.

The best part of this craft is that you can get all of these supplies at the dollar store. You simply offer the kids creative supplies, showing them how to push the chenille stems (pipe cleaners) into the pool noodle or how to glue down the pom-poms and then let them go wild.

You can find out full instructions on how to make these here – Pool Noodle Monsters .

This is one of the crafts I’ll be making this year with my 3rd grade class along with more toilet paper roll snakes.

VBS Craft Idea #6 – Giraffe Hand Prints

Here’s an adorable preschool craft that the parents will thank you for.

It’s as simple as painting a child’s hand and arm yellow and then pressing it onto a long sheet of white construction paper. It’s easier if you press the hand first, and then have them pick up their hand and press the arm down.

After their hands have been washed, let them glue on some brown pom-poms and a pair of googly eyes on. This one’s so cute it might be worth having another child for – just kidding Mr. Byrd, get up off the floor now .

VBS Craft #7 – Mason Jar Votive

I know this will be a hit with your VBS kids because my 9 year old called dibs on this one as soon as we made it.

To make this, place a small mason jar or jelly jar upside down on a table. Coat with a thin layer of white school glue and then press tissue paper squares onto the glue to cover the jar. You might have to also paint where the tissue paper overlaps with a tiny bit of glue. While you let the glue dry, cut out a beak and eyes from fun foam.

Turn the jar over. Glue feathers on the sides of the jar and attach the eyes and beak.

Place a small electric votive candle (from the Dollar Store) inside the jar.