Every year, your church plans a few outreach events. You may volunteer at the local homeless shelter, feed the hungry, or work to stop sex trafficking in your area. You might also plan a vacation bible school. If you do, your goal is to offer a great resource for the community.
Vacation bible schools never charge any fees or admission, and they’re a great resource for parents, since they can send their kids to a one-week day camp without paying a fee. Your VBS is a great chance to show love to the community and lend a hand to working moms and dads. For success with this year’s VBS, consider the following tips.
Pick a Fun Theme
If you want the kids in your neighborhood to show up for VBS, you should pick a fun theme. You could go with something classic like, The Old West or Knights and Castles. However, you might do better with something more modern, like Zombie Apocalypse Bootcamp. Plenty of crazy, fun ideas exist to choose from, so work with your planning team to brainstorm the best idea.
Advertise
Once you know your theme, it’s time to get the word out! Your VBS won’t do the community much good unless the kids can attend, so start advertising early. You can mail postcards, put up flyers, or even advertise at other community events. It’s best to avoid going door to door or using other pushy tactics like making phone calls. Instead, get the community’s interest with simple methods.
Plan Activities
Your VBS may run for five weekdays, from morning to noon. During that time, you’ll need to plan different activities for every age group. Should you have storytime down in the air-conditioned Sunday school room? Outdoor games in the parking lot? If you split the kids up by age group, you’ll need to schedule separate groups at separate times, so make sure to plan your activities ahead of time.
Don’t Get Pushy
If there’s a fault from which VBS’s suffer, it’s a pushy message. Remember, you’re here to show love to kids; don’t make their conversion an agenda. Parents will hear about pushy tactics afterwards, and it could give your church a bad name. It could also convince parents to never visit your Sunday morning service. You want to be a good neighbor, not to create converts to Christianity. If kids or their parents feel connected to your message, they’ll come on their own.
Build Towards a Final Event
One of your VBS goals is to keep kids coming every day of the week. Your goal is outreach to the community, and kids will have a more concrete experience if they stick with the VBS. Plan a fun event for the final day, with activities, ice cream, a bounce house, and more. Get ball pit balls from GetTrampoline and contact clowns in Queens for an end of week performance.
