16 Jan Knowledge – Brain Games – January 2017; Our Final Product

Life App: Knowledge—learning something new so you can be better at whatever you do.
Theme: Brain Games- Know More, Do More
Date: January 2017

I LOVE THIS SET!

Every week, when I walk into our elementary environment, I can’t help but smile because of how much I love the way this month’s set turned out. I am so very proud of our set design team. Each set they’ve created is amazing, but this one gets extra props because our set build was happening the week between Christmas and New Years, and we changed gears 4 days prior to construction. Read about that craziness here. Needless to say, I was extra grateful for their flexibility and continued genius!

Check out our finished product!

INTERACTIVE SETS ARE MY JAM!

I also LOVE when we can create a set that is interactive and builds each week with our theme, bottom lines, etc. This set does just that as we build the Scrabble board each week with a word or two from the bottom line. We also have used the various games around the stage in our openers. I love being able to use the pieces we create to further enhance the concepts we are teaching each week. I think it makes things fun and memorable. Plus, it gives the kids something to look forward to! You can see the difference between Week 1 and Week 2 below. This week we added the world FOLLOW… from our bottom line: Discovering what God says helps you FOLLOW Jesus. 

#setfail

If you ever do a Scrabble board in the future (or anything similar), it is important to sketch out the whole board and how the words will fit together for the entire month before you begin. You don’t want to leave that to chance as it could be quite frustrating from week to week. 

I am speaking from experience here. I sketched out our entire board but misplaced my sketch. So, last week I was scrambling to remember where each word I was adding belonged. I figured out a plan at rehearsal but realized once we were live that I was missing a letter from the tile holders. My plan was not the original and it threw everything off because I had only made certain letters, counting on the idea that there would be some words that built off the letters of existing words. So, when I was trying to spell the word GOD, I ended up not having the “D!” The kids helped me figure something out, but it was crazy in the moment as GOD was GO. 

Have you had things go awry with your set during a production? Share your best (or worst) story in the comments below.