Vacation Bible School is a great tool to teach kids and reach your community. Planning a successful VBS takes persistence, planning and prayer. A little preparation goes a long way.
Here’s a simple timeline to follow to make sure you’re doing VBS right.
5 Months Out
Pick a theme that can support your biblical content, games, crafts, songs and decorations. It should be fun, memorable, and easy to share. Decide which bible stories you’ll use to teach the students. Do some games research because there are new, fun, and crazy games being developed every day. Confirm your budget with your church’s leadership team.
4 Months Out
Make a list of all supplies you’ll need to pull this off, and get it out to the people. Share your vision with key people who enjoy supporting the kid’s ministries. Enlist of support of local creatives for decoration and set design. Start thinking of your leadership team, and gather a prayer team of 3 people will will pray for the VBS weekly.
3 Months Out
Determine your projected number of students. Use this number to plan for teachers, snacks, and consumables then revisit your budget. Do a walk through of your facility to decide which rooms will be used for which activity. Recruit your teams. Establish a set up team, VBS team, and tear down/ clean up team. Different people will be drawn to different aspects of the event, and people’s schedules will dictate their involvement. Share any prayer needs with your prayer team.
2 Months out
Promote your VBS to your church and community. Use flyers, posters, and share images on social media accounts. Set a date for a volunteer meeting. Recruit campers and supporters. Make sure to leverage online communications.
1 Month Out
Set up social media page or hashtag for people to share their VBS pictures. Begin preregistration. Offer an early bird special to get a firm grasp on the numbers you can expect. Hold your volunteer meetings, and begin collecting donations of snacks and supplies. Order T-Shirts. Hold a prayer time with your volunteers inviting God to work in and through your camp, and invite your prayer team and let your people know that people have been praying for this VBS for months..
1 Week Out
Finalizer rosters. Distribute volunteer schedules. Check your supplies. Confirm with your volunteers. Make sure to have someone take quality pictures for current and future promotions.
We’re only about 3-4 months out from when you’ll likely be hosting your Vacation Bible School. Make sure to get to planning so it can be a big success!
Is there anything else you do to plan for VBS at your church?
