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Christian Education Commission |
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Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth |
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Sunday School Helps and Interesting Topics |
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Timely Tidbits |
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Whether choosing a pre-packaged curriculum or planning your own: 1. Start early and spread out the work 2. Decide what you want your VBS to accomplish A. Outreach to the community B. Opportunity for service/mission C. Evangelism to Christianity D. Teaching about a person – Jesus, Paul, Moses, 12 disciples, kids in the Bible E. Teaching about the church – History of the Episcopal church, the early church, liturgy, traditions, etc. F. Teaching about actions of a Christian – Prayer, sacraments, fruits of the Spirit 3. Review prepackaged VBS curriculum (sample kits available at the stores below) or begin looking for resources to create your own (around January) A. Cokesbury B. Mardels C. Lifeway, Family, or other Christian Bookstore D. Your local Catholic Bookstore E. Usually your church will be on a mailing list and you will receive preview information from all the publishers sometime in January. 4. Come up with a budget A. Ask for donations or loans (for reusable items) from your congregation -Money -Snack items -Craft items -Decorations -Costumes B. Write down on individual pieces of paper each item needed and the date you need it by. Announce during services and in the bulletin that there is a donation area where people can pick up a request page and take it with them. They just need to return the page stuck to the item they donated or loaned. This helps you know who to return borrowed items to and who to thank for their donations. 5. Decide on time frame for your event: day vs. evening 6. Decide on a date (Consider whether you want to overlap with other local churches or if you want to stagger your dates with them. Also consider other large events in your area that would affect attendance – Camp Crucis Events, Boy or Girl Scout Camp, holidays, when school lets out.) 7. Order your curriculum (buy more than you need and return what you don’t use) 8. Review the crafts in the curriculum or come up with your own because sometimes they can be: A. -Cheaper -More fun -Easier to pull off -Perennial favorites: Tie Dye Shirts Fuse Beads Model Magic Clay B. Oriental Trading Company has lots of Christian crafts for less than a dollar a piece. They are online and deliver lightning fast. Orientaltrading.com 9. Get a commitment from as many teachers and helpers as you can as soon as possible – it will determine how you group your classes. But be aware that early commitments can change. People change their minds, forget, or decide they want to do something else that week. 10. Set up workdays to begin decorating or preparing the VBS area and ask for volunteers. You’d be surprised about the hidden talent among your parishioners. 11. Begin advertising A. Newspaper B. Neighborhood Newsletters C. Church Bulletins D. Diocesan Newsletter E. Church Website F. Banner Outside of Church G. Local Schools, Preschools, Daycares H. Other Parishes I. Postcards to past attendees or to neighborhood children – zip code bomb J. Phone Calls K. Follow-up calls 12. Plan your part in the actual week of VBS – will you be the director only or will you also teach? 13. Create a schedule matrix – color code! See example. 14. Assign classes to teams – color code! All materials given to teachers and students can be color-coded to avoid confusion (simple colored paper folders or colored binders work great). These are the same colors you will use for names tags, banners and anything that identifies the team or team area. 15. Figure out what you are going to do for snack A. Beware of food allergies (During the week of VBS make sure that the teacher and all the snack staff have written notice of the food allergy and have been specially introduced to the child with the allergy so they can identify him/her in the crowd. The child should also have some kind of marker on their nametag.) B. Change portions for age groups (a few banana slices for preschoolers and a whole banana for a 5th grader). C. Get reliable kitchen help who will not eat all your snacks! 16. Put together a master class roll A. Organize one by last name and one by age B. Code your years by younger, middle, and older so you can move children if necessary (4-, 4*, 4+) C. Give each teacher an individual class roll D. Notate where kids came from – neighborhood, church family, other parishes – so you know how to advertise next year 17. Decorate the church 18. Communicate with teachers A. Give curriculum B. Answer questions and work out any problems C. Give supplies D. Give name tags E. Give room assignments 19. Purchase supplies or delegate 20. Pick an Outreach project and someone to head it up (sandwiches for the shelter) 21. Do you need a nursery? 22. Plan your end of the week program for kids and parents – this usually involves a performance of the songs the kids have learned during the week. We have a cake party afterwards. Some churches do this program at the end of the day on Friday, some make it a part of the Sunday service as a way to invite people to their parish for Sunday worship. 23. Plan a thank you luncheon for teachers and volunteers
Creating Your Own Curriculum 1. Follow the advice above with the exception of the curriculum 2. Pick a religious theme: i.e. prayer 3. Pick a fun theme: i.e. luau 4. Research resources -Mardel’s -Cokesbury -Lifeway, Family or other Christian Bookstore -Online search 5. Divide theme into 5 modules, one for each day 6. Pick relevant Bible stories for each day 7. Find daily scripture quotes -God’s Promises For You – this is a great book for many applications -Concordance 8. Put together teacher manuals 9. Select crafts 10. Select music -Simple hymns -Beloved favorites like Jesus Loves Me -Wee Sing -Renewal music -Be careful about copyrights
VBS Basic Facts:
· You never know how many kids you’ll have until Monday morning · Discipline: you only have a week to make an impression and you may never see this kid again. Redirect as much as possible. Difficult children can be used as helpers in younger classes. You have to find the right balance of tough and nice. · You will run out of something during the week, so pick an emergency runner. · Be prepared for the unexpected: from first aid kits to ant killer to rainy day recess plans to a substitute for a sick teacher. · Keep records of every VBS -So the next director has resources and doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel like you did. -So you can contact past attendees about the next year’s VBS -For your own sanity. I keep every year together in an enormous 3 ring binder marked “VBS Master Book”
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Be sure to check this section often as posted topics will change. Tidbits will generally relate to the current church season or important directing/teaching events in the Sunday school year. Previous postings will be archived at the bottom of the page. |
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VBS Checklist by Kristy Leaseburg |
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Christian Education Commission |
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Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth |
