VBS - It’s Countdown Time!
{ May 27th, 2008 }
By Patricia Meyers
How many more days to VBS? How well is that number displayed? Is everyone excited?
Here are some thoughts about last minute details:
Prayer
Have you scheduled prayer partners leading up to and during your event? Don’t forget this important step. VBS is a lot of work, a ton of planning, and a load of fun; but it is first and foremost an outreach. Prayer affects impact.
Many churches schedule people to pray during VBS. It is a wonderful ministry for some folks in your church that might be unable to work with the children or for those that are housebound. Tell them how important this aspect of the ministry is. And don’t forget to give them feedback on the success of your VBS.
Bigger Crowds than Expected
What will you do if your promotional campaigns work extremely well and you are met with many new faces on day one? What will you do regarding crafts and snacks and chairs and prizes? Make a plan now. Be prepared for some extras, but you do not have to over-extend your budget now; just having a plan and knowing who will jump in and take care of those items if it is needed is all you need for now.
Final Schedule Review
The schedule can make or break your VBS. Starting with the oldest age group and working down to the youngest (one bracket at a time), mentally walk through the kids’ schedule.
When a schedule isn’t well planned and reviewed, the last activity of the day may suffer, and you will have a worker somewhere that gets unnecessarily offended because their time was eaten up.
Here are a few questions to ask as you go through the schedule. The stuff that gets missed here turns into stress for your core team. Eliminate as much as you can ahead of time (it’s a nice thing to do)
- How much time is allotted for each segment? How much time is allocated for moves in between segments? Is that enough time? Too much? Too little?
- Is there a bathroom break built into the schedule?
- Do the teachers know (for sure) how much time they have for each segment? Do they know how you feel about abiding by their time allotment and how it will affect the day if they go over?
- Do the workers know where the kids go when they are done with their segment and how the kids will get to the next location? Never assume they know – actually, assume they don’t and be extra clear.
- Does everyone know where supplies are kept?
- Does everyone know where the first aid kits are?
- Does everyone know who is responsible for snacks from preparation to serving to clean up?
- What do you have planned for the kids as they come in each day? We have covered this before, but it is critical. If you lose control at this moment, it might be very difficult to retrieve. Be extremely prepared.
Double checking the schedule flow will give you peace. Peace is a great thing to have; priceless really. It will free you up to enjoy and bless the children and workers during VBS.
Enjoy! Have the best VBS ever!
May 28th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
[...] Patricia Meyers wrote some last minute tips for VBS [...]
June 24th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
[...] Patricia Meyers wrote some last minute tips for VBS [...]