Tips for Vacation Bible School

by Anthony Kummer| Print Print | Share/E-mail

Vacation Bible School
Are you in charge of Vacation Bible School? If so, this page will make your church VBS easier to plan. Every article listed below is full of practical help. You’ll even find independent reviews of popular VBS themes. Please leave a comment below if you find this resource helpful.

Planning Your Church VBS

Your first task is to make a plan. Read about my 9 easy steps for planning VBS for a simple how-to process. This will give you a big picture of all the important tasks. If you need more help, I recommend this website. It’s a little out of date, but has some helpful information.

Choosing The Right VBS Curriculum

The next major task is picking which theme you will use. I suggest you do this as soon as possible because many publishers give early-bird discounts. Choosing the right theme for your church can be complicated.  I’ve written an article to help you choose a VBS theme. Here are links to the popular publishers.

For more practical help, browse these article categories about vacation Bible school on our site: VBS 2008 | VBS 2009 | VBS 2010 | VBS Ideas

Vacation Bible School Budget

Many churches are concerned about tight budgets and this is affecting their summer Bible school programs. I’ve written an article with some practical ideas for doing VBS on a small budget.

Even More Practical Help

Here are a few more articles that might help you plan Vacation Bible School.

How was your VBS? Take this simple survey to let us know!

{ 11 trackbacks }

How To Do Vacation Bible School On A Tiny Budget
May 19, 2008 at 9:52 pm
How To Plan Vacation Bible School In 9 Simple Steps
May 20, 2008 at 7:28 am
Group 2008 Power Lab Vacation Bible School Thene - I love VBS
August 3, 2008 at 11:38 pm
LifeWay Outrigger Island VBS 2008 - My Review
August 3, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Vacation Bible School Crafts
August 3, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Crocodile Dock: Group's 2009 VBS Theme - Read my review
August 14, 2008 at 8:13 am
Most Popular Vacation Bible School Program
August 23, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Comparison Chart Of Vacation Bible School Programs | Children's Ministry Online
October 16, 2008 at 8:31 am
Answers In Genesis 2008 VBS Creation Theme Bible School | Children's Ministry Online
February 19, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Children's Ministry Matters: 68 Benefits of Kid's Ministry | Children's Ministry Online
March 10, 2009 at 10:57 am
Happy 2nd BLOG Birthday
June 6, 2009 at 11:28 pm

{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Lois Leister March 31, 2009 at 12:24 am

I have just discovered your website and have found it very informative. Do you have any ideas on how to locate “old” VBS materials. I have a great kit which our church bought and never used called Lighthouse Kids- Shining Gods Light, which I thought would be great to use on our N. Calif coastline this summer. However, I am unable to find any resources (additional product) for it. Any ideas? Thank you for your webpage

Reply

2 Tony Kummer March 31, 2009 at 12:31 am

Thanks for reading. I’ve heard you can find some old material on Ebay.com or directly from the publishers.

Reply

3 Tammie Kuhn April 18, 2009 at 9:16 pm

I hoping you can help me out. I viewed your site, but I didn’t see the theme I was hoping to find. I am looking for a VBS theme for Hawaii, Do you have material for this type of theme? I saw this theme last year in one of the VBS catelogs. My church did the Beach Party theme last year. We purchased a lot of material for the beach theme and we wanted to use some of the material again for this years theme. You’re help would be greatly appreciated.
Tammie Kuhn
VBS Director
Wacissa Penticostal Holiness Church
(850) 997-4577

Reply

4 Sharon Ford April 28, 2009 at 6:03 pm

I too am looking for additional materials for “Lighthouse Kids – Shining God’s Light” VBS. I just spoke with Cokesbury and they don’t keep VBS supplies around for that long. So, if any one has and old 2003 VBS materials (Lighthouse Kids) they would be willing to share, I would very much appreciate it. God be with you. Sharon.

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5 BarbaraHouston May 13, 2009 at 10:11 pm

Wow! What a useful website! Thank you for putting it together for us. Maybe you can give some help with my problem. I work in our church library. We are open during Bible school, supply story tellers and audio visual equipment and we kick off our summer reading program with
VBS using the same theme (or an adaptation of it.) I understand that many of my colleagues in other churches do the same. If would be so helpful if we could purchase a summer reading program kit with the same theme as VBS. It could even include a little booklet with insructions on how to do a summer reading program for those who haven’t tried it before. Just some bookmarks and themed paper that could be used for running off a reading log or summer reading club rules would be helpful. Posters would be fantastic. Do any of the vendors you list offer such a product. I know that two of them do not. Thanks for your help.

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6 Trevin Wax May 18, 2009 at 4:05 pm

Tony,

Have you seen Group’s theme this year on ROME: The Underground Church? We are doing it and I am in the role of the Apostle Paul. Just wondering what your overall thoughts were on the curriculum.

Reply

7 Tony Kummer May 18, 2009 at 6:31 pm

I didn’t take a very close look at it, but let me see if I can put together a post on it.

Reply

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