Vacation Bible School Curriculum (VBS)
VBS used to be the programming anchor of children’s ministries across the country, but as our culture has changed, children’s ministries have had to adapt to the changing needs of the families we serve.
VBS might look different in your context, and choosing a curriculum might seem overwhelming. Some questions to ask:
- Have we prayed about VBS? Is this something the leadership of our church thinks we should do?
- Who is the audience we want to participate in VBS: church kids, community kids, or is there a specific group we are seeking to reach (refugee community, home-schoolers, neighborhood kids of our families)?
- When is the best time to have VBS? What time of the day? How many days? In the life of our church, is there a better week of summer that would draw families?
- How many volunteers can we recruit? What will our team look like?
- Is the curriculum word-based and relationally-driven?
It may seem obvious that you would begin with prayer, but it can be easy to get ahead of ourselves. Doing VBS is a commitment of time, energy, resources, and takes many volunteers. You shouldn’t commit to it unless you have the support of the leadership of your church and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If God is calling you to do VBS at your church, we recommend our Reach Out Adventures VBS Curriculum.
We like this curriculum because it makes VBS more manageable. This curriculum brings Scripture alive as each year you study different passages of Scripture in exciting ways. The fact that you cycle through the 4 themes in four years makes it fresh each year, but familiar when you do it again. Cycling through the themes also allows you to build a storehouse of resources for each of the themes: Olympics, mountain climbing, space, and the high seas. Reach Out Adventures takes children on a fun, gospel-centered adventure. Check it out with the links below.
Reachout Adventures ® (premium Vacation Bible school Material)
