I’ve almost chosen Group’s VBS several times over the last few years, and why not? They have built a strong reputation for producing excellent Vacation Bible School curriculum. But each time other VBS themes seemed to fit our church just a little better.
This year Group has done something that might finally earn them my business. Here is my preview of the Crocodile Dock VBS for 2009. Be sure to visit my Vacation Bible school resource page and my theme reviews for VBS 2009.
Be sure to check out our new VBS forums. That is a great place to share ideas or your opinion about this year’s Vacation Bible School themes. Stop by and leave me some feedback about this theme.
First Impressions Of 2009 Crocodile Dock VBS
- Bible Content: Very promising focus on God and the Gospel.
- Theme Appeal: Not a great first impression, but it works.
- Supporting Materials: Excellent, Group makes VBS easy.
- Music: Limited samples available (as of 8/2008), but what I’ve heard so far is good.
- Overall grade: A -
Crocodile Dock Theme
The setting for Group’s 2009 Bible school is the bayou (aka the swamp). This location shows some original thinking and will capture kids attention. Don’t confuse it with Crocodile ROCK vbs – which doesn’t exist and reminds me of Elton John a little too much.
The reaction on the Group VBS forum was a little mixed. The theme is outside the box with its location, but the field test videos helped people picture the theme in action. They do admit the inaccuracy of having crocodiles instead of alligators in the bayou. But when animal characters talk, it’s easy to overlook.
Crocodile Dock Bible Teaching
I was really excited and pleasantly surprised with the daily Bible points listed on Group’s website. Everyday offers a rock solid God-centered lesson. This is something that few major VBS curriculum publishers have been able to do. Four of the five lessons are from the book of Exodus and directly speak to God’s character. Plus on day four they jump to the New Testament to cover Jesus’ death and resurrection. Here is the day-by-day breakdown of Crocodile Dock.
- “God is with us” is based on Moses and the burning bush.
- “God is powerful” is taken from the God’s judgment plagues upon the Egyptians.
- “God does what he says he’ll do” is based on the first Passover.
- “God gives new life” recounts the death and resurrection of Jesus.
- “God cares for us” is based on the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea.
The Easy Vacation Bible School
Group has marketed their VBS materials as “the easy VBS” for several years. This is something I’ve grown to appreciate. It’s not that I want to promote low commitment ministry, rather less stress for VBS volunteers means more energy to actually minister to the children.
The Crocodile Dock VBS forum at Group is filled with practical advice and help to make Crocodile Dock even easier to use in your church. I’m always amazed at the fan base Group’s VBS has earned. You can visit Group’s Crocodile Dock VBS website here.
Music and Video From Crocodile Dock
I’ve always thought Group was ahead of the other curriculum publishers when it came to media. I really like the way they mix original VBS music with kid friendly praise songs. These repackaged songs can become a part of your ongoing mix in children’s church.
The DVD led worship rally is also appealing to smaller churches. Having the video playing, even behind your music leaders, is a great idea.
Concerns About Crocodile Dock
Too many churches doing Group VBS. This is a constant concern for churches that choose Group VBS. They are almost too popular in some towns. Since many kids make the rounds for Bible school, doing the same theme more than twice is generally a let down.
Some churches might not go for so much Old Testament. In the past I’ve been critical of curriculum publishers who seem to avoid the Old Testament. This year Group has gone the other way, which I think is wonderful. However, many theologically liberal churches avoid the hard parts of the Old Testament. The plagues, passover, exodus, and the crossing of the Red Sea are all stories that offend theologically liberal Christians. I applaud Group for their bold use of the whole Bible and am praying that Crocodile Dock VBS will help many children come to know God.
What do you think?
Please share your opinions about Group’s Crocidile Dock VBS Theme in the comment selection below. My comments are just one opinion, so let me know what you think.
Need More Help? You can find even more practical ideas on my Vacation Bible School ideas page and my Vacation Bible School crafts page.
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I’ve been reviewing 2009 vbs curriculums for the past hour and just found your review. I haven’t looked at Crocodile Dock yet, but am encouraged by what you had to say. My biggest critisism of the others I’ve reviewed is that they fail to show us who God is and point to His character. VBS reachout has done that for us the past four years, but is VERY difficult to implement and we are looking for something simpler. According to your review, we may have found it! Thanks!
@Kim Stevens: Thanks for the feedback. I was really excited to see how much Group was pointing to God as –the point– of the lessons. I’m waiting to see more of the actual lesson plans before I commit, but for now they are in my top 3.
I used group a couple years ago, when they did avanlanche Ranch. It was the best!!! Everything is laid out and if you do not do anything else, each week on Thursday they have a closing assembly where salvation is brought out and it is awesome!!!!! Last year we used Lifeway and after Group it was a little lackluster.
I love Group’s VBS as well. Our church did Power Lab this past summer and the kids REALLY responded well. The volunteers liked the the fact that it was easy, yes, but they didn’t have to be experts to pull off their role either. Everyone felt uplifted– that was awesome.
My concern, as you mentioned in your review, is that everyone will be doing Crocodile Dock, especially in my area (west FL). After doing a Group VBS, I’m spoiled. The other VBSs simply don’t appeal to me. HELP! I’ll be praying A LOT about this one.
I was part of the field test for Group’s 2009 VBS. The music was great, the stories were great, and the curriculum will be as easy to use as ever!
I think I am more excited about this theme than I have been for the past few themse from Group.
Most “theologically liberal” churches use the church calendar/lectionary, so we get plenty of Old Testament. Also, most of what conservatives call “theologically liberal” aren’t even close to being liberal.
I am in charge of choosing our Churches VBS this year and am a little overwhelmed. So far Crocodile Dock and Gospel lights “Son Rock Kids camp look the best.” Has any one used gospel light before? What did you think? I sure wish the sample materials were more in detail for both. Is there another good one I am missing? Thanks
We have used Group VBS for several years! It is fun and easy and the kids love it. The problem with Group is, as you pointed out, its popularity. I wish there were more than the one comtemporary theme so that maybe some of the other churches in the area would have a different VBS!
We used Group VBS last year for the first time. Our church had always used the same publisher until I took over 2 yrs ago. Everyone loved it. One of our elderly members was so excited. He said it was the best VBS he had helped with in over 30 years. It was so easy to plan and lead, everything is laid out for you.
We are in a small town and another church uses Group also. We even have some children that come to both, including my children, but it doesn’t bother them. They actually were even more excited the second time around!
What’s with the dig on the theologically liberal? I’ve been told that I’m liberal, but was actually interested in this curriculum. I really like how they stay with one story instead of jumping around (Except for the jump to Jesus). Anyway, we can’t do this one because we did Moses the year before last (curriculum created by a parishioner). One thing that inevitably happens with the Bible character focus is that most or more often all of the characters are male. So now I’m thinking of Augsburg Fortress’ Discovery Canyon for this reason. Although I don’t really like the canyon theme, 3 out of 5 stories are about women (although the focus is really on Jesus in several of them). Two out of five days are OT so I guess the liberals aren’t totally against the OT.
We have used Group in the past as well, and we loved it! It is super easy to use and easy to adjust to your needs. The music is good, and I too love how they add praise songs. We used David C Cook last year, and we were very unhappy with it. Cook was missing things, that Group always has. And Chatter is ALWAYS a big hit, no matter the ages of kids!
I’m 99% sure we are heading with Group this year as well.
I’ve been reviewing VBS packages for the past couple of weeks and just stumbled across Group’s VBS package for this year. I like the theme very much. For 4 years running we used Gospel Light and then we last year we used Answers in Genesis which was great. But when looking at Gospel Light’s line up this year it looks like reruns, I even have some of the same posters left from the program with the safari animals from a few years back. I know that several of our kids in the church and our community know me as the “VBS Lady” and they expect something new and exciting each year to learn about GOD and HIS SON. I don’t want to serve leftovers so to speak. I’m pretty sure that this year our church may be transformed into a swamp with a Crock out front to greet all who enter. Isn’t it GREAT to Share GOD’s Word !!
I disagree with your assessment that theologically liberal churches are offended by the Old Testament stories. I am pastor of an ELCA church (Lutheran) and we are about as theologically liberal as you get. These Bible stories, of all I have reviewed in looking at current VBS curriculum, are the most appealing to me. Theologically liberal churches tend not to be Bible literalists and thus interpret the OT through the lens which all Scripture should be interpreted — John 3:16. Luther called this verse “the Gospel in miniature.” All of Scripture is sacred story. The OT provides some of the most fascinating, and grace-filled, episodes in God’s on-going relationship with people. The Social Gospel finds its roots in Old Testament justice (which is not eye for an eye, etc. but rather provide for the vulnerable among you so that all might enjoy God’s blessings — pretty liberal stuff.) Thanks for your opinons and assessments of the materials.
We used Group for 5 or 6 years before last year. I didn’t really like the science theme so we decided to use another theme. Well, when we ordered the other publishers theme I was disappointed in the music and the Bible stories. I loved the theme, Rainforest Adventure. It was easy to decorate. The children loved it. The Bible critters for the other company were a lot bigger than Groups. I had to come up with my own music because I didn’t like the music. The Bible Stories were ok but the guide was not as good as Group. Oh, and the children wanted to know were Chadder was.
We are back this year and I am very excited about using group again this year.
Well, this will be my first year for using Group. I am always the biggest fan of Gospel Light’s VBS but I didn’t care for the theme this year. Although, I do have it in my possession (Sonrock Kids Camp) and I am reviewing it, I can tell you it is very typical Gospel Light. Packed to the gills with everything you could want or need to run your VBS. I am just a little nervous about using Crocodile Dock this year, because Gospel Light has always been sooooooo great. My decision is based solely on theme……hope I don’t regret it.
Myself and another young lady are the new co-chairs of our churches VBS committee. We have both been involved with VBS in the past, but now getting the fun of picking, choosing and such for the 2009 year. We did Power Lab last year and the kids really loved it!! Now with us looking for the 2009 year we are choosing Crocodile Dock for a couple of reasons. 1. It has a good deal of the same kind of feel as Power Lab and that being said it is good to know that they are so very dedicated to being precise and helpful on how to make it a success. 2. Both of us are parents of 2 small children and having full time jobs as well, so the need for well planned and simple is definitely what we need. We are looking forward to getting involved with the forums to be able to make this year a success.
Nikki C., I’d be interested to hear what David C. Cook program you used…was it last year’s Cosmic City or an earlier program? I feel that the David C. Cook VBS curriculum offers practically everything Group offers (with the exception of Chadder). What did you feel was missing?
Also, David C. Cook’s curriculum has been focused entirely on God’s attributes and character for years now…the new program, Wildwood Forest, centers around the theme of God’s untamable and amazing nature!
We did group last year. It was fun and easy to decorate. While I like their themes and how easy the lessons are, I will say that they have gone to a mixed aged group for classes and that really didn’t work well for our church. Also, their DVD Cheddar theater was a bit to scary for our pre-schoolers, we choose to skip it all together.
One thing I really do like about Group is that they also have a Teen Lesson. It has to be purchased separately, but our VBS always includes a Teen class
We have found that the mixed age groups work really well because the kids aren’t as used to each other from school and Sunday school, so there is less “feeding off of each other” if/when they do get off track (which isn’t often with this curriculum – they REALLY engage). It is so wonderful to see the older children help the younger ones in crafts or for the rare case of missing Mama. I am usually a Crew Leader and I get to have both my children in my crew – I don’t have to choose or alternate years and it’s something we do together every year.
We did Gospel Light last year-”Amusement Park Theme” and it was AWESOME! I have used Group here and there, but my volunteers and teachers HATE the mixed age format of grouping the kids. I have taken the program and re-worked it a bit myself to fit our traditional same age groups. It takes a lot of time to do that. I wish they would develop the program so it can go both ways-as I feel Group has a strong program.
I am the VBS director and we are expanding from 3 weeks to 4 weeks this year.Each year I try to stay away from Groups themes.since we have used their material since Lava lava island. I don’t want to get in a rut, however , for me they just blow all the others out of the water. This year I’m using Croc and Rome for 2 weeks.
Our church used Group VBS last year as well. I have to say that Everyone took to it very well. All the kids loved it especially my 4 year old son. He loved Chadder. We are using the Crocodile Dock this year as well, and I am very excited about it. I can’t wait to get started.
I have always felt VBS should be a postive and upbeat experience for the children. Our VBS is very heavy on the preschool, Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade levels though we go to grade 5. I feel these scriptures are too powerful for these little ones to handle.
According to their info. the goal to show “God’s Loving Presence”,
but yet we are talking about plagues, boils infesting people and animals, gnats, and flies, and killing the first born child. Instead, I feel this program is scary, and inappropriate for ages 4-7. We tell them about all these “miracles” of God and then the last day the theme is “God cares for us”. I have no problem educating children about the OT-but it needs to be age appropriate-there were so many other ways this program could have gone and been successful as well.
The history of the Jews (without drama or visuals) are more statements of fact and history. I don’t think the kids would get scared. I did feel that the videos were not appropriate for a VBS that begins with preschool and goes to 5th grade. Energetic, yes. But one scene looked like the middle school kids singing the songs were in a nightclub setting. Sort of Hannah Montana like.
Nancy, I completely agree with you. We just finished Crocodile Dock tonight at a local church, where I attend MOPS. My children are 3, 4 and 6. Last night before bed, my oldest started talking about the Angel of Death, putting lamb’s blood on the door and killing newborn babies. She was very upset and unable to sleep. Had I known this would be taught to my young children, I would have never sent them. In my opinion, this material is not age appropriate for small children who cannot comprehend such material.
From an international point of view –
I run a Holiday club for around 150 kids. Group stuff translates excellently for us. Stuff like the Toybox website is still pretty useless for us due to the date formats etc. Although, I did email Group about some stuff on there and they had it changed within days. Avalanche Ranch was phenomenal – with PowerLab not far behind. The only thing I am quite annoyed about is that the Powerlab resources have been taken off the website already. Because of postage costs to the UK, Group material costs us a lot of money and we have to buy it between several churches. Therefore some of those churches have still to run the club and now will have to do so without some things such as extra clip art available online.
But hey – this stuff is first rate. Absolutely to the point and great for churched and unchurched kids
We are presently using Crocodile Dock for our weekly lower school chapel. We have adapted it so that our 8th grade students are the chapel leaders. They have created characters that present the “Skeeter” portion of the script and then we divide up the rest of the material to present the Bible story. It has enough material that 15 students can participate and “act” out their parts. The music is lively and the kids love to sing and dance. Our students look forward to the time that they can be a part of this chapel. Group’s format is the easiest for us to adapt to this type of use and we appreciate how easy it is for the kids to understand.
We have used Group for years. We like the format and the themes are usually good. We usually have 300 children for our VBS and it works well with our volunteers. My only criticism is the gimicky and expensive nature that group VBS is becoming. Bible buddies, bracelets, mission craft, etc. I feel that Group has lost touch with the fact that many churches are on a tight budget. Also, now we are in some difficult economic times. We have modified over the years. We come up with our own crafts that are much more affordable. They are more “craft” in natures and so much toy oriented. We have found ways to effectively do VBS with out the bracelets and the gimicky things. Our give aways this year is a nylon napsack with the imprint of an alligator, VBS 2009, and our church name that came out to be less $$ per child than the bible buddies. We love Group VBS, but we hope they reevaluate their prices and be more sensitive to give options for churches that have small budgets.
We just did our Crocodile Dock VBS last week.
I was the Bible Bayou person.God moved & we got 5 kids
giving their lives to Jesus & 1 filled with the Holy Spirit.That happened on Day 4 “God gives new life” recounts the death and resurrection of Jesus.
This is my second Group VBS that I am part of & I must say,Crocodile Dock is the best for me.
Thank you so much for sharing. Hearing about God’s work is always encouraging for me!
We are a small church and we have been using Group for a number of years. The mixing of the age groups works really well for us. Some of our older children serve as the crew leaders and the younger children look up them and are asking, when I grow up will I get to be a leader. Our church does not give us a budget, but personally I too feel that we were spending too much money on gimmicks and crafts, so this year, we are using Crocodile Dock, but we are going to have one craft that we will work on every day and then take home the last day of VBS, instead of making all those little things that fall apart before we go to the finale assembly. Our children love the VBS designed by Group – they love the music – the opening assemblies, the Spotlight drama, the games, they are very engaged in the interactive Bible lessons and they always look forward to Chaddar.
We live on a US military base overseas. Before last year, we had done a combined Christian VBS and it was Group’s programs (2004-2007). My kids loved it every year. Doing the combined (all Christian denominations) VBS showed our children, who live together, go to school together, and see each other at the Chapel every Sunday (even though we attend our own denominational services) see that we are all Christians. Last year, the decision was made to do separate Catholic and Protestant VBS curriculums during two different weeks. Many children attended both. Many of the volunteers were the same both weeks. Neither curriculum was Group’s. My children were disappointed in both curriculum’s and were overjoyed when we arrived at my Mom’s and the church near her was using the Group curriculum. It was my nephew’s third VBS week last summer – and we were able to extend my niece’s stay so she could attend. They all loved it. This year, we are happy to be doing Group again this year. My twelve year old son had basically said that if they didn’t choose Group, he didn’t want to go. Next year he will be old enough to start volunteering. A mixed denominational group may seem odd to some, but most families take vacation very soon after school ends, VBS is always the next week and last year some families shortened trips to visit Grandparents to stay for the second week, while others just skipped VBS. We will be back to our prior high attendance this year.
I’m in the process of teaching this material for out VBS. I highly recommend it to any church who care about the spiritual condition of their children. It was a pure delight for me to see “the lights come on” for the kids when they make the connection between the passover lambs blood on the door posts…and Jesus the Lamb of God. Truly the death angel passes over because of the blood! These kids have learned something that they will hopefully never forget this week. They have been so responsive and into the lessons. Teaching this VBS is one of the most important things I’ve ever done in my life.
We are in the process of using Crocodile Dock in our church for VBS and I think that it is awesome! The music is uplifting, the lessons have been great and the kids love it. We have completed three nights and it has truly been a blessing.
My church is having out last night of crocodile dock tomorrow night. Our kids LOVED IT! I was a crew leader so I got to watch the kids get all excited every night. Even the kids that had gone to over churches for the same themed VBS still loved it for the second (and in one case THIRD) time. I thought the curriculum was easy for the kids to understand but also a valuble lesson! FEAR NOT!
We have used Group for the last few years and before that many years of lifeway and even Gospel light. The thing about group is the way they present the Bible stories, if done properly they are unforgettable. It is great when they can remember the stories even the next year. I love the Bible points, I don’t care much for their crafts, kind of costly for small churches.
Crafts are easier to come up with, than creative Bible story telling ,at least for me.
OK, I’m shocked. My niece and nephew are attending Crocodile Dock and they had juice-filled gummy bears to represent boils! The various plagues were represented by tasty snacks! Of course the kids love snacks, but doesn’t anyone else see a disconnect here? I mean, should we roast marshmallows over a campfire to teach kids about hell? This stuff is not funny, it’s very serious. You can’t say boils are terrible and then hand them the gummy bears–you are messing with their minds. God forbid we should have a plague of boils in this country and those kids will remember the gummy bears at VBS. They will feel that the church was trivializing the horror of the plagues and they’ll be very angry.
My children attended Crocodile Dock VBS at our neighbors’ church and LOVED it. They were so excited to do the same theme at our own church’s VBS. My children loved it the second time around, as well, because each church has a slightly different style – one church had used live actors, the other used puppets; crafts were different, etc. All the children absolutely loved the music and enjoyed the lessons. They were sad when VBS ended.
I am using Group’s VBS this week and I love it. I happen to be the Director and teacher of three of the stations. This is our second year to use Group, and I have to say that it is by far the easiest and best for our church. We have a congregation of many elderly and ill adults who want to help but can’t so, about 5 of us get together and pull this off. We also have a couple of teenage girls lead the songs – I had a blast just watching them. Last night one of the dads came to just see what this Vacation Bible School was all about for his kids and got so caught up in it that he stayed the whole time. We was so excited that he can’t wait to come back tonight. I just hope his girls are that excited.
Summer is almost over, so don’t know if my review is of value as most have made their VBS selections now. I loved Group’s VBS theme (though bayou and ALLIGATORS are a better match – not crocodiles). Our church looked awesome, and the VBS characters (firefly, etc.) were very cute.
I was so excited I could hardly wait to take a 7 1/2 yr. old family member who was visiting our home during the week of VBS. However, the passover story went over the edge. The darkness, mention of animal sacrifice, blood, angel of death, and killing of firstborn traumatized her. There was mention during the sound effects of fathers crying from the loss of their children. This was followed by a snack of ritz crackers covered with pizza sause and shredded cheese. The children were told that the pizza sauce represented the blood of the passover. At this point, my visiting child began to cry as never before. We had to take her home – ultimately back to her own home with her parents. It was heartbreaking to see her so upset. I hope Group thinks more about the sensitivities of young children before writing their scripts next year.
I have directed VBS in three churches over 15 years and used several differenct curriculums. We used Group the last 6 years but because we have a large number of preschool age children and non-church families, we thought the Exodus passages were too much for the context. We chose to go with Gospel Light (which I had hoped to do for some time) and did Amusement Park from 2008. The kids LOVED it and I had no problems not having Chadder for the older kids. Gospel Light is Christ centered and Biblically based. A bonus for small budgets is that Gospel Light has last year’s materials available at big discounts–and were not out of anything. So, we spent half as much money! I will admit the decorating is easier with Group–but only if you’re not artistic like me. And while Group’s music DVD is usually better, Gospel Light’s songs go with the stories so the kids learn the stories when they memorize the songs–my kids are still singing about the 10 men who were changed when they called on Jesus’ name (the Lepers). We had to make some changes, but not because the curriculum was lacking but because we had used Group for so long and had a routine. I’ll probably use the 2009 Gospel Light for 2010–this year’s budget is even tighter with the economy as it is.
@ Kellie, I’m glad other churches are also using older curriculum. We also did SonWorld and loved it. i had the same issues as you did, like the music!! This year we partnered with a church who did Crocodile Dock and we will be doing it in 2010. I just wanted to say thanks for sharing. We have a very small budget and always being the “new” VBS curriculum is not possible. Church sharing is also helpful!
Due to our financial situation, we have decided to do an “old” VBS. We are planning to due Crocodile Dock in 2010. I thought we had all of the curriculum, but after checking closer today, I am missing a lot of the stations information. If you would have any that you could give us, or that I could purchase from you, please let me know. We are in Harrisburg PA. Group is no longer selling Crocodile Dock.
Patty,
You might be able to find it used from different placed online. Try the Kidology.org or Group’s forums.