Vacation Bible School Cookies: A History

I used to write a blog called Cute, Smart and Organized that was aimed at reminding you just how amazing you already are. The following is a post from that blog.
It's VBS week at our church right now, and my boys and I are having so much fun.
Yesterday, every kid there munched on a herd of cupcakes made to look like happy little cow faces, all lovingly made by one generous lady in our church.
It made me think about VBS snacks when I was a kid...
I call them "Vacation Bible School Cookies." Do you know what I'm talking about?
Funny little windmills, hard coconut bars and store-brand sandwich cookies that sweet Grandmamas would place on a white paper napkin beside a cup of red Kool-Aid in the fellowship hall. A much-appreciated feast in the middle of soap bar crafts and duck-duck-goose.
 
 
I've always loved Vacation Bible School.
I have so many happy memories of VBS weeks around our little town: games of tag outside the Church of Christ on sticky summer nights, Going on a Bear Hunt in music class at the Methodist Church, and bright mornings at First Baptist, making crafts with all my friends.
And always, those funny little cookies you didn't see anywhere else.
 
We live in the age of Pinterest and Martha Stewart now, though, and if you walk into VBS snack time today, things are just a little different.
Fellowship Halls everywhere are being transformed into tropical luaus, carnival midways and castles, and the sweet Grandmamas are carefully constructing elaborate snacks to match the theme of each day's lesson.
 
Snacks have changed, but one thing has stayed the same. At churches all over, dozens of adults have given up a week of their summer to organize games for rowdy fifth-grade boys, lead squealing girls through a Bible lesson, and hold a little one's hand on the way down to the fellowship hall.
 
My mama says that when she was a kid, Vacation Bible School went on all day for two weeks straight. Amazing. Today, we sculpt edible, colorful object lessons for 100 wiggly kids, all while avoiding peanuts, tree nuts and gluten. Incredible. Either way, it's an impressive show of love for the children around us.
 
Are you helping with Vacation Bible School this summer? Thanks for making sure our kiddos have lots of happy, and yummy, memories!
 
You are so Cute, Smart and Organized,
Ginny
P.S. Come visit us at VBS this week! We'll have plenty of cookies for you :)