28 Oct Wisdom – Cache In On Wisdom – November 2013 – Part 1: Our Plan

Life App: Wisdom – finding out what you should do and doing it.
Theme: Treasure Hunt – Cache in on Wisdom
Date: November, 2013

First Thoughts

During our initial brainstorm session, a few thoughts were tossed out that never really took flight. They weren’t bad thoughts, we just got to our current plan before really exploring them and we liked our current plan better. I’ve included them here in the hopes that they might help any of you who are still in the planning stages for your November environment. Maybe something will spark an idea for you. Also be sure to check out the comment section of November’s Collaboration Post for ideas other leaders have shared about what they are creating for their Wisdom environments. Here are a couple of things we considered:

• An oversized GPS map that would take up most of the backdrop of our stage. Various “cache” locations would be visible on the map and utilized throughout the month as the host and kids geo-cached for wisdom (i.e. X-marks that reveal the 4 elements the host will be geocaching for each week, the memory verse, bottom lines, etc.)
• Landscape pieces from previous sets we created- i.e… large waves from our Trust Set to represent oceans on one side of the stage and mountain ranges from our Base Camp set to represent land on the other. We’d create an actual terrain type of feel across the backdrop and place X-marks for various things the host would geo-cache for. 

Where We Landed

One of our favorite things to do when creating our backdrops is to mimic images from the 252 Basics Large Group Visuals. The graphics are always so fun, colorful, and vibrant. When we can incorporate them into our set, it ties everything together and can make a great statement about what we are trying to teach all month.

Most months we’ll use the theme graphic as our main slide in the large group production. If we do this, we’ll use the Life App graphic as part of our set. Some months we’ll do the opposite.

Graphic Hodge Podge

This month is a big gamble as I’ve sort of designed our backdrop (on my own-uh oh!) from various pieces of all of this month’s Large Group Graphics! It’s still in process, but I’ve included some photos and notes about what we’ve done and where we are heading.

• We chose four of the most vibrant colors from the graphics and painted insulation foam panels in a pattern across the stage. We thought about painting sections across the entire backdrop, similar to the Life App graphic, but we knew that would be time consuming. Instead, we painted each panel one color and continued the pattern across the stage. Once we’re done with the graphics on each panel, we’ll create sections with white tape across the entire backdrop.
• We used a projector to project images from all of the graphics (bottom line slides, etc.) onto various panels. You can see this process in the gallery below. The photo of the hand holding a GPS is an example of the projected image and the close up of the boards show the graphics that were traced with pencil (look closely).
• We’ll paint the graphics white or black to match the graphics.
• We’ll section off the entire backdrop with white duct tape.

Bottom Line Cache!

One last thing we’ll add to our set is our “bottom line cache.”

• We’ll use craft foam core to create four “caches” that will house the bottom line for each week. For each cache, we’ll place two foam core boards one on top of the other. The bottom line for that week, will be glued to the bottom one and the top board will cover it and be hinged to the bottom board by taping it across the top. We’ll put an X- mark on top of each top board made from white duct tape. Each week, the host will geocache for the bottom line is his/her closer. The clue will be a smaller version of what he/she geocached for earlier in the script (i.e. Bible token, etc.). That will be visible somewhere on the top foam core board (near the X mark) and when the host finds the proper week, he’ll lift that top board and reveal the bottom line each week.

How about you? How are your Wisdom sets coming?

We’d love to see photos. Share them here!