What to Save for Wonder Junction?

You might not think that a jungle and an Old West train town would have a lot in common, but with a little VBS creativity, there’s a lot of crossover in the budget where you can save.

You might not think that a jungle and an Old West train town would have a lot in common, but with a little VBS creativity, there’s a lot of crossover in the budget where you can save.

There are not a lot of green plants in Wonder Junction, so all those vines and plants will need to be stored until another year. But you know what you will find at Wonder Junction? Rocks. Save your jungle rocks and add some desert boulders in your décor scenes. You can even put some around your recycled campfire if you want to have an Old West scene that’s not in the middle of town.

If you made jungle cargo boxes, turn them around (where the words aren’t showing) and place them in front of the general store or the other storefronts in the town.

When you think of the Old West in terms of color, you likely think of brown. Lots of dust, right? Add some pops of color by reusing some of the brightly colored jungle flowers by creating flowering cacti.

With a little creativity, you can turn your Jungle Journey boat wheel into a wagon wheel. Break off a spoke or two and have some broken, discarded wagon wheels lying around town.

Did your jungle scene have any lanterns at the campsite? The Old West didn’t have electricity, so lanterns could go atop a barrel “table” or hang outside any buildings or mines you create.

There aren’t a ton of jungle animals in the Old West, but with a fresh coat of paint and color change, jungle snakes can be transformed into desert snakes. (Think rattlesnakes.)

There is another item that every seasoned VBS worker is already saving each and every year. Boxes! (A VBS leader with good storage never throws out a good box!) Get a jump start on next year by saving empty rectangular boxes to turn into haybales. Coat them in glue, then cover them in hay. It's much cheaper, lighter, and less messy than actual haybales.

Don’t forget to think outside of decorations when it comes to what you can save.

Don’t forget to think outside of decorations when it comes to what you can save. Craft baggies can be reused from year to year. Picture and video files should be properly stored and named for use in promotions. Even your volunteer rosters and registration addresses should be saved and used when planning kicks into gear for next year.

Do you have any creative ideas of what you plan on saving? Share your tips in the Answers VBS Discussion Group on Facebook. Even if we have to wait for almost a year for Wonder Junction, we can start dreaming!