Share Your Ideas and Win a VBS 2012 Super Sampler
We are now less than three weeks away from one of the biggest VBS weeks of the summer. We would like to know the creative ways you are using to invite the UNCHURCHED families of your community to attend your VBS. Just reply with the details to this post by Saturday, May 21. We will choose our favorite idea and award the winner a VBS 2012 Super Sampler. Let the competition begin!
We’re having a “Rally at the Park” the Friday before our VBS starts in our town’s largest park. Our youth band will be playing a few VBS songs as well as some of their own favorite worship songs. We’re giving out free hot dogs,having a few games(we might try OMC…don’t know yet) and will try to register kids for VBS.
Our VBS is after our towns 4th of July parade…we decorage a float and pass out flyers during the parade. We mail info packets, & postcards to our previous participants. OUR VBS IS FREE and we offer a free dinner during the VBS week to all participants & their parents and volunteers.
I learned a hard lesson last year when we tried to register kids for VBS at our annual clothing give-a-way. Unchurched people don’t know what Vacation Bible School is…let alone know what “V” “B” “S” stands for.
Our church literally goes out into the neighborhoods in the area of our church and hand out little cards that we can hang on their mailboxes. It shows that we actually care about them to where we’re willing to go out to them to talk to them about what we’re doing rather than having them come to us. It’s how a lot of people get interested because they see that we really and truly care about them.
Our church made 4×4 easel type signs from plywood and have placed them in church members yards around the community. We are also advertising in a local publication.
Each year we enter a VBS float in our community parade. We get as many workers, children, and parents as we can to walk alongside the float and pass out flyers and candy. Last year all the kids wore cowboy hats and bandannas, and this year they wore Statue of Liberty foam crowns.
South Florida is a mission field! We have an incredible opportunity to reach the lost. Because we are such a large community, we have to be creative in reaching a large number of people effectively and efficiently.
This year, our church held it’s first “Family Movie Night”. We invited the families who attend our 5-day a week preschool and our church members invited their friends. At the event, we played one of the VBS advertisement videos and handed out flyers & registrations.
We placed an adverstisement in our community’s monthly newsletter. We also targeted a large apartment complex across the street from a local elementary/middle/high school by placing an ad in their brand-new resident newsletter. Those 2 advertisements have reached 5000 homes!
We are not stopping there, though. We created a door hanger that advertises the Big Apple Adventure on one side and In Transit (Youth VBS) on the other side. We plan on canvassing 4 local communities. We have already completed 1 entire area and are working on the other 3. These door hangers and flyers are being placed in local businesses, too. We have placed flyers in a local pizza restaurant and a martial arts studio. Both door hangers and flyers boldly state that our VBS is FREE!
We also have a facebook page for both BAA and In Transit. (MSBC Big Apple Adventure VBS 2011 and MSBC In Transit Youth VBS2011). Kids and adults can share this page with their friends.
Our church is not only praying for our VBS, but for all VBS’ happening across the country, especially those in the tornado and flood area! May God bless all of you!
Our church has a van/bus ministry. A few years ago, some members of our church asked if we could pick up their son at his daycare and bring him to VBS on the bus. The next day some of his friends wanted to come….. We ended up bringing 30 children from that daycare. We get permission slips signed by the parents. Most of them come to our family night and we get to meet the parents then. We have had some families join our church because of this outreach.
My son made a VBS “taxi” and drives it around town advertising our VBS dates. This past weekend, he had it in our local parade playing the VBS music over the PA system. We had other folks from kids through adults handing out our VBS dates on ribbons and bookmarks as well as candy. We plan to loan the taxi out to 4 other churches to advertise for their VBS this summer. If you are close to Mt. Washington, KY and have a July VBS, let us know if you’d like to use it as well!
I would love to jump on the wave of reality shows. Maybe we do our spin on American Idol or maybe just a music/rock -n- roll theme. I would not mind seeing a super hero theme and maybe change our faviorite bible stories into modern super hero’s. No matter what is picked I’m sure it will be a wonderfull success.
Davietta Akers
We have a prayer walk and deliver invitations all over town about a month before VBS begins. About 2 weeks before, we have a registration “party” with inflatable playgrounds, popcorn, slushies or drinks, cotton candy, etc. to get them excited about coming to VBS. This gives us an opportunity to get them pre-registered and talk to parents/guardians about their church home. If they don’t have a church home, they are invited to be a part of our church family. Happy VBSing to all!!!
Here is what our church has done before!(Note: we don’t know what we are doing for VBS 2011)
We have had a VBS Parade
We have had 2 types(of vbs parades):
1. All the cars went together(like in a parade) and were all decorated, usually with posters talking about the vbs. we would meet at the entrance to the community that our church ministered to. There we would decorate the cars. One year, my mom decorated my dads truck with american flags (That was Ramblin’ Roadtrip. That was actually the day she was teaching, which was day 1 Washington D.C.)We would go around the neighboorhood handing out flyers, try to register up kids (Although we wouldn’t get many signed up.)And put up doorhangers, if needed. Here’s the fun part: We would hand out snowcones!!!
2. This version was much simpler. We would have a few cars going out, mostly going one(car) in a certain area, telling people about VBS.
Last Year, we had (instead of a VBS parade)we had a Pre-registration party. We got a bounce house for the little kids to play on. We gave out free popcorn, cotton candy, and, yes , snowcones! (I geuss it’s a little tradition at our church.) We also had a registration table for the people who came up!
No matter what we did, we usually got ready for vbs that day (VBS was usually the next day anyway). We decorated and put the finishing touches on everything. One year (Arctic Edge) we ate lunch, so it was convient to those who would stay and work on the decorating.
I Just forgot to say that a few cars did go out last year to tell about vbs during the pre-registration party
>>We have several “Yard Sales” in the spring to raise money for camp. We play VBS music, register people, and give out FREE Admission VBS Tickets with information. >>We also have a Benevolence Ministry that serves our community, so we have registration cards and give out the FREE Admission VBS Information Tickets.
>>Some of our kids pass out FREE Admission VBS Tickets at the ball field and places they go.
>>Small VBS posters are made and available for people to place in our vehicle windows when we park our cars at games, while shopping, at work, school functions, etc.
We loved the frisbee idea so we got some red frisbees with VBS & church information on them. We are getting together with our dogs and walking the neighborhood while passing out the frisbees. We also plan to pass them out in the park closest to the church.
We are having a Preview Event two weeks before our actual VBS. We are inviting families in our neighborhood, and I am sending out invitations to the kids who came last to to Saddle Ridge Ranch.
We are also going to be a site where kids can get lunches this summer. We have invited them to come to VBS then eat a free lunch after VBS.
This year we are having our family night on the Sunday after VBS. Inviting everyone to come bake and have their parents experience VBS Worship time with their kids, enjoy a New York inspired meal and then have opportunity to participate in their favorite VBS recreation.
Hopefully these ideas combined will help us reach more unchurched kids and their families.
Our church members pass out cards with VBS information at their workplaces, daycares, baseball fields, etc. We use the Lifeway invitation postcards We have an Easter Egg Hunt and cookout the Saturday before Easter which also serves as our Pre-Registration and kick-off event. The kids are always excited to know the theme and hear the songs before VBS! We advertise in the local newspapers, hang signs and flyers, and just good old-fashioned word of mouth! We love VBS!
This year we have bought a Big Apple costume and we are going to the city street festival with youth in the suit, directing folks to our tent where we will be giving away slices of apple in a clear baggie, with dips of their choice, the Big Apple Adventure Summer Camp information on a sticker, registering people there for the FREE camp, and also handing out water.
Our big kick this year in our area is summer camps, so we are offering VBS as a summer camp. We will be wearing the Lifeway t-shirts for the ones that want it to be VBS and promoting it as a camp for those outside of church.
We also are handing out summer camp flyers at all of the baseball fields in our area by our apple costume with apple slices.
ast year we had over 400, this year we are praying for over 600!
We have, of course, been lifting up our VBS to the Lord – praying for an outstanding turn-out. Our youth class will pass out door hangers throughout the community, targeting prospects. Flyer will be posted at community stores and we will “advertise” in the Baptist Message and posted on our church sign. We are having a VBS Registeration Blow Out the Saturday before VBS starts. As the children arrive they will be directed to a Big Apple Craft Station where they will make Big Apple crafts slanted at familarizing them with the VBS Motto & Scripture. The children will get to register for a door prize (lots of summer toys and a few VBS leftovers and everyone will take home a prize). They can pick up a Big Apple Snack Pack (ziplock bag of Apple Jacks labeled with a New York badge sticker) to enjoy at the event or take home. Later we will have a jumper & slide, New York style pizza or a New York hotdog cart. There will be a “Graffiti Board” for those attending to wrtie messages. All children attending will go home a Big Apple Goody Bags (NY shaped rubber bands, stickers, candy, a VBS bookmark, Family Nite invite and more). We have about 100 children attend VBS every year and hope for more this time. We are very excited to be “visiting” the Big Apple this year.
300 to 400 cars in our parking lot and the elementary school.
It’s awards ceremony time. So…………..we put VBS flyers on all the windshields!!!Too cool. Registration on line picks up each time we do it. Kidzville news goes to over 5,000 elementary school students through our local news paper…..so we advertise our VBS in it!!!!
Our in house VBS shirts are ready 1 month prior to VBS. So we wear them to advertise our VBS!!!!! Too cool.
We have a wonderfully artistic lady in our church who has made a coloring book of about 30 pages for each of the last 3 VBS themes which we distribute at local kids events along with a box of crayons and an invitation to join us for VBS.
Pacaya volcano is in Guatemala. so maybe it will take place in Guatemala.
We start VBS this next week June 12 and I am so excited! We are having our Family day as if you were at Coney Island in NYC, with carnival games and a jump-a-round too. I love getting to meet the families on the last day too. It’s going to be a great week!!
I’m really hoping the 2012 Theme will be something with our National Parks or Mounuments. Mount Rushmore, The Great Lakes, Hawaii and Pearl Harbor. Americana, maybe celebrating our history. Or the family time spent on vacation to Parks every year. Celbrating America and the family, that would be good.
Looks to me like we are heading north to Mount Rushmore….or in my case…..south to Mount Rushmore….!