Canyon Decorating Tips

The Discovery Canyon Director Guide is filled with decorating tips. Here are just a few decorating ideas to bring your Canyon to life!

How to turn your church into Discovery Canyon

Convert your church to a Canyon from the riverbed to the sky. Artwork for activity site backdrops are ready to trace and paint. All it takes is a few extra hands and a little creativity! Don’t forget to include:

• A clear blue sky with a big, bright sun

• Canyon pathways and trails

• Canyon caverns and walls

• A riverbed and waterfall

• All of the canyon critters

Build a Waterfall

Make a waterfall on a pillar by taping long pieces of blue fabric near the top and letting it “pool” on the floor. Add strips of blue party streamers and white fabric batting at the top for extra effect. Or lean a ladder against a wall or in the corner of a room and cascade translucent streamers down the ladder rungs. Stack mashed-in cardboard boxes on the side to form the canyon walls.

Canyon Walls
Wide expanses of torn strips of yellow, brown, orange, and purple roll paper will create the look of the canyon layers and plateau vistas.

Rocks and Boulders
 Yes, you can use real rocks, but even easier—wad up brown paper grocery bags, or mound paper-stuffed garbage bags spray-painted to look like rocks. Create boulders by painting and stacking cardboard boxes. For more realistic-looking boulders, use chicken wire, paper mâche, and paint. Or drape crates with natural colored fabric. Add a bit of greenery or dried weeds for a natural effect.

Create a Cozy Cavern
Start with a large cardboard appliance box set on its side, or cut out a cardboard arch to define a cave opening into a small room or closet. Complete the cozy feeling with a low ceiling of draping fabric and twinkly lights.

Canyon Pathways and Trails
Any church hallway can be turned into a trail with signposts, rock cairns, cut-out paper footprints along the path, and decorative brush. Add blue fabric or blue cellophane along one hallway floor to suggest a riverbed and have the kids jump from paper rock to rock!

Go Simple or Over-the-Rim!
Keep things simple by picking one or two things and let the decorations grow from there. Or, if time allows or the creative spirit moves you, go over the rim and transform every nook and cranny into something canyon-related. Kids will respond to the time and effort you put into this part of VBS.