Summer Snack for All Ages: Sandy Cups

In this summer snack, kids enjoy a “desert” snack as they discover that God is with us everywhere.

Bible Story: Joseph is imprisoned. (Genesis 39–40)

Bible Verse: “For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

Bible Point: God is with you everywhere.

Consider This

The Midianite merchants took Joseph about 300 miles from Dothan to Egypt. There, it’s unlikely that Joseph knew the Egyptian customs and language.

Genesis 39 details Joseph’s 11 years as a slave. The phrase “The Lord was with Joseph” appears four times in this chapter. You’ll also read “The Lord gave him success…” and “[The Lord] showed him kindness and granted him favor.” Not an expected theme about such a hard chapter in Joseph’s life.

Note that Joseph’s coat—used as evidence of his “death” staged by his brothers—was now used as evidence against him by Potiphar’s wife.

Why It Matters

Joseph’s circumstances changed wildly throughout his life. Kids experience a life filled with changes, too. The U.S. Census Department estimates that the average person moves around 11 times in a lifetime! So it’s likely that the kids at your church understand the discomfort of a new neighborhood or a new school. And it’s easy to feel disconnected from God on a busy playing field, alone at night, or in the midst of a thunderstorm. Yet, just as God was faithfully beside Joseph in each situation, kids need to know that God will be with them everywhere they go. God’s faithful goodness goes with us!

Summer Snack

Supplies:

• Bible
• instant chocolate pudding cups (1 per person) *
• graham cracker crumbs (2 tablespoons per person)—one 13.5-ounce box is enough for roughly 13 portions *
• small pretzel sticks (4 per person) *
• gummy worms (1 per person)
• disposable spoons (1 per person)
• disposable bowls
• napkins
• hand wipes

Tips *

Gluten-free and dairy-free options for many snack ingredients are readily available at grocery stores. Use these ingredients or substitute with your own ideas.

Easy Prep

Before kids arrive, crush graham crackers into crumbs. Separate graham cracker crumbs, pretzel sticks, and gummy worms into bowls.

Sandy Cups

Give each child a hand wipe to clean their hands. Then distribute spoons and napkins to each person.

Give each person a cup of chocolate pudding. Have everyone take a spoonful of pudding off the top of the cup and eat it.

Say: In the desert, we might see things like sand, cactus, shrubs, old sticks, and maybe even snakes! Let’s build our own deserts inside these cups.

Have each child sprinkle two spoonfuls of graham cracker crumbs on top of the pudding. Then they can arrange four pretzels and one gummy worm in the “sand.”

Now let’s add some old branches and a snake to our desert scene. Have kids each stick four pretzels and one gummy worm into the “sand.”

The desert you just made reminds us that even when we feel all alone, God always sticks with us. God’s love is sweet when life feels hard or dry. God is with you everywhere! Joshua 1:9 tells us, “For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” God never leaves you. Sweet!

As kids eat, have them answer this fun, friendship-building question:

• What’s one place you’d like to go?

This fun summer snack is adapted from one of Group’s previous VBS programs. Still considering hosting VBS this summer? It’s not too late! Check out Group’s VBS programs: Scuba, Hometown Nazareth, and Outback Rock. For even more snack ideas, check out these posts!

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