Fun Activities for Your Outback VBS

Your Vacation Bible School can’t go wrong when your plan your activities around your outback theme! These helpful hints will make your VBS a success.

Map it Out
To get students excited about your upcoming outback adventure, use a map of Australia as a bulletin board decoration and create an imaginary travel itinerary. Label the checkpoints with the names of your different activities.

Label Your Stations
Let kids design your station signs! Think of boomerangs, kangaroo, wallabies and other Down Under animals to create signs with Australian flair!

Get Geared Up
Kids can also create their own suitcases for their outback adventure! They can use the suitcase to store their pencils, crayons and other art supplies they’ll use throughout the week. Have each student bring in a cardboard pencil box to paint brown. Ask them bring in old belts to wrap around their boxes and use travel stickers to decorate them. 

Get Adventurous
If you’re planning an outdoor session or field trip, make it a walkabout adventure! Plan a walk to a park or playground nearby. Decorate the park with standups of a kangaroo or koala bear — the kids will be delighted! A fun way to finish the walkabout is a game of Outback bean bag toss with snacks afterwards. 

Look the Part
Dressing up for your walkabout will make the activity extra fun. Decorate blank bucket hats, headbands, water bottle holders and other accessories.

Wrap it Up
Wrap up the week’s activities with a special keepsake for kids to take home. Take a picture of each child then have kids create outback-themed photo frame magnets to display the photos. They’ll remember the fun they had at VBS every time they see their photo frame magnet on the fridge!

Having fun can work up an appetite, but you can keep kids fully fueled with some healthy, inexpensive outback snacks.  Click here for some easy menu ideas.
Wondering where to find all the supplies you need for your Outback VBS?  Start shopping.

Outback Snack Attack

Healthy snacks will keep kids going strong all day long. Make snack time fun by providing snacks that tie into your V.B.S. outback theme. You can also get coordinating tableware for serving all your yummy creations.

Try these easy and inexpensive snack ideas, made from simple, fresh ingredients that will be a hit with your VBS students.

 Walkabout Popcorn
…a snack on the go

Ingredients:
Popcorn (either microwave or ready-to-eat)
Large pretzel rods

Directions:
Tear off one paper towel for each child. Fill each paper towel with popcorn, then gather the edges of the paper towel to create a pouch. Tie the edges around a pretzel rod to make a snack ready for a walkabout!

Upside Down Cupcakes
…a tribute to our friends Down Under

Ingredients:
Mini muffins
Whipped Cream
Blueberries

Directions:
Fill a cupcake paper with a few berries, then top with whipped cream. Pop a pre-prepared mini muffin on top. Kids will love eating the “upside down” treat!

Kangaroo Pouches
…fill tummies with this yummy snack

Ingredients:
Pita Pockets
Grape Jelly
Apricot Jam
Strawberry Jam

Directions:
Fill pita pocket half-rounds with assorted jellies and jams. Apricot jam is a traditional Australian food. Provide peanut butter for dunking if possible.

Kiwi Popsicles
…refreshing on a hot summer day

Ingredients:
Watermelon Kiwi instant drink mix
Sugar
Kiwis, peeled and diced

Directions:
Prepare drink mix according to package directions. Pour into small disposable paper cups and top with a few pieces of diced kiwi. Freeze until solid, approx. 2-3 hours. Kids can peel the paper cup away to enjoy the fruity frozen treat.

Fairy Bread
…a traditional Australian children’s snack

Ingredients:
White bread
Honey
Butter
Sprinkles

Directions:
Combine honey and room temperature butter. Spread onto bread slices and top with lots and lots of sprinkles. Cut into triangles and serve!

Ready to wrap up VBS week?  Get simple tips for hosting your Outback-themed VBS graduation here.

Stage the Perfect VBS Outback Adventure

Follow these easy ideas to bring the land down under to the stage, classroom or any Vacation Bible School activity!

Creating your own stage production is a fun, engaging way to reinforce your VBS curriculum.  Put together a short, but informative script that teaches kids the importance of all God’s creatures and how He’s acting in our everyday lives. Teach them that He can be found anywhere and everywhere – sometimes in the most unexpected places. Use your imagination! You might have a story about a kangaroo that is misunderstood because he hops instead of walks. Show that all the other creatures shun him, but that God protects him and shows the other creatures to learn and accept him through His guidance and love. Have the other creatures then happily welcome him to play in all their outback games.

Create a realistic–looking frontier that will be sure to grab everyone’s attention. Hang banners and signs so all the blokes and sheilas know where to find all the fun. Have cutouts of kangaroos, snakes and maybe even some dingoes and camels along the way. Bring the Great Barrier Reef to life with some blue plastic wrap or even a blue tarp. Have the kids decorate a large background with red rocks and trees to make it feel just like the bush.

Make sure each child in the audience gets an outback hat to shield them from the sweltering heat of the backcountry, just as God shields and protects the kangaroo in your story. Get them excited with some sounds of the barren backwoods. Record your own mix of the wail of the dingoes, a hissing snake and the humorous call of the Kookaburra. You can also search online for free sound files to download for your CD to bring the outback to life.

Afterward, have all the students sit in a circle and talk about what they learned and how they would have felt if they were the kangaroo. You could also have each child pick an animal and discuss how he or she would have handled the situation.

This activity can also be used in the classroom. Short on time?  Instead of having students perform, just read the script aloud and discuss afterward. You can also involve all the students and put on a VBS grand finale for parents so the students can show what they’ve learned. Whatever the case, everyone will be sure to have one heck of a G’day.

Wondering where to find all the supplies you need for your Outback VBS?  Start shopping. 

Outback-Themed VBS Graduation Guide

After a week of awesome outback Vacation Bible School adventures, your students have learned so much and grown in faith, too! Celebrate their achievements with an outback-themed graduation that parents can attend.

Planning a Time
Your graduation ceremony may be part of your regular activities on the last day of VBS, or you might consider lengthening the day or hosting a separate evening event. Whatever you decide, be sure to inform parents as early as possible. Send out fliers or outback-themed invitations at least a week in advance.

Outback Fare With Australian Flair
Check out our outback-themed snack article for some fun food ideas. Don’t forget outback-themed cups, plates and table covers.

If you’re hosting an evening event, a potluck supper can be a great way for families to share favorite recipes, try new dishes and celebrate students’ accomplishments. If you like, you can give your dinner an Australian-themed name and create colorful signs for the event. Try "Koala Bear Café" or "Kangaroo Cafeteria".

Sing It Loud!
You might not be at the famous Sydney Opera House, but your students can still sing their hearts out for their parents at your graduation celebration. Along with your favorite inspirational and worship songs, have your kids perform traditional Australian songs, too. Try "Waltzing Matilda" or "Kookaburra".

Ceremony Essentials
To make graduation extra special, have students dress up in child-sized caps and gowns. Award Outback VBS completion certificates, ribbons, trophies or other mementos that students can keep to remember their VBS experience.

Don’t forget about graduation gifts to hand out with the awards! Try plush outback animals, VBS outback pencils or VBS outback wallet prayer cards.

Wondering where to find all the supplies you need for your Outback VBS?  Start shopping.