5 Can’t-Miss Success Tips for Vacation Bible School
It doesn’t matter which VBS curriculum you use, with our top 5 VBS success tips, you’ll run your program more smoothly, publicize your church in your community, and interest the kids so completely that they’ll want vacation Bible school to last all summer.
1. Targeting Prospective Kids
Kids love mail! So mail invitations directly to kids. You can get a specific mailing list of residents in your community who have vacation-Bible-school-aged children. All you have to do is specify the age ranges you’d like to reach and the zip codes in your area.
2. Vacation Bible School Shirts
And kids love T-shirts! They not only look wonderful when kids perform in them at the closing program or open house, but they’re also terrific publicity tools for your church. An ideal VBS T-shirt has the vacation Bible school logo on the front, and the name and picture of your church on the back.
Get kids’ sizes when they register for VBS so you can order the shirts in advance. Also, order an estimated number of T-shirts for children who’ll register at the door.
3. Souvenir Photos
Decorate a corner of your church in the motif of your theme. Designate an official photographer and give him or her an instant-print camera with lots of film. During the week, have your photographer take each child’s picture at the decorated area and write the child’s name on his or her photo.
Photocopy your VBS logo onto card stock, then tape the photo to the card. On the last day of vacation Bible school, distribute the souvenir photos to kids. This is a wonderful reminder of VBS.
4. Teenage Guides
Teenagers make wonderful helpers. The connection children make with teenage helpers is sometimes the main reason kids want to return the next year. One or two teenagers assigned to each group of children can make the VBS experience a very personal one for kids. Teenagers are helpful in keeping the children focused during the opening and closing portions of VBS each day, as well as taking the kids to their assigned locations in an orderly manner.
Appoint a teenager or adult to register new kids and take attendance each day. The registrar gathers important information on each child, such as address, phone number, grade in school, parents’ first and last names, church affiliation, and how kids heard about VBS. This is valuable information for follow-up contact with children and parents.
Looking for even more great ideas for vacation Bible school? Check out all our VBS posts.
© Group Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. No unauthorized use or duplication permitted.
