OK, here are my answers based on past HolyLand experiences:From the video I see a few crafts and food places in the marketplace. How are these tied into the theme for the day or are they just fun things to do that are from that time period?
If we need several stations will they be different activities for each day? Example if they go to _____ station on day 1, will they not go back on day 2 because it has the same activity or will there be a new thing to do?
The whole structure of the HolyLand series is quite different than any other VBS. So "families/tribes" (about 10 plus one leader and an assistant) travel in groups together to the marketplace. These do not actually have to be real families, but are what we call groups of participants, regardless of their age.
There is an opening worship time and then a time for families to meet together. Then the families are put into four groups (same each day). One group goes to the synagogue/census taker/lesson and another goes to games. The other two groups go to the marketplace.
In the marketplace, there are usually 8-10 shops. The shops will have the same activity each day. Some members from each family might help make bread. It is not necessary that all the tribe stay together in one shop. Sometimes children might want to do the same activity more than once (farmer's market or herb shop) or they might never get to another shop throughout the week. Some activities such as the weaving, may take more than one day. I have found that kids LOVE the freedom of getting to choose and everyone loves the freedom of a slower pace. Because the shops are sort of set up to face one another, the tribe leaders and shop keepers all sort of keep an eye out for the kids. When I was a tribe leader I just kept taking a little mental head count.
How many total different crafts will there be for the week?
I'm not sure, but generally there are about a dozen possible shops.
How many people are in the family and does the whole family go to the same place in the marketplace? If so how does this help with the needs of different ages, if not who is in charge of the kids at the time. I know that in the Power lab and other VBS of Group that Preschoolers are not doing all the same things the "big kids" are because of meeting the developmental needs of the young children.
All ages are together in the marketplace. Again each tribe may have adults PLUS a tribe leader and assistant leader. At the Galilee Field Test, I had a set of parents and a grandparent in addition to myself. At a Bethlehem Village I helped with, I had a teen helper. At Galilee this summer, we had smaller kids and smaller tribes and I was the only helper. But each shop also has one or two folks in it, so they help as well. That's alot of adults keeping watch over the kids!
If the kids or family gets to choose a place in the market place how long do they stay in one place and could there going to be too many people at one place?
They can stay for the whole time for a day or move around. At Galilee, we had one little boy who just floated his boat the whole time! He loved doing that. Some kids loved taking their time making jewelry, others moved around like crazy and did several crafts.
Also the songs are great- I even woke up the other night with the "Hello" song in my mind. But is there song learning time other than the worship time.
Not really, but you could easily make that a shop for kids who enjoy singing and dancing. We've always had the music playing during the marketplace so they are learning there as well. I'm amazed at how well the kids pick up the songs by the end of the week!
We also have a kick off night in the local park. How can we incorporate the theme of Day one in the park? We have our VBS at night too so we feed the kids first, how could this fit in with the theme?
I think you could have lots of fun in the park playing a few of the games, singing the songs, etc. It would introduce things without giving too much away.. As far as the dinners, just serve them Italian every night! LOL Pizza, spaghetti, etc.