Can VBS be used in other formats?

The simple answer is yes! And doing it is simple, too. I saw a similar question to this posted on Ken Ham’s Facebook the other day, and I answered that I had used it in a children’s church format and it worked very well. I thought some of you might be interested in how I did it, so here are the details.

At my church we rotate teachers for children’s church (held during the morning worship service) and so I would typically have a six-week time period when it was my turn to teach. I taught mixed ages from four years old to second grade, so I chose to use the pre-primary or primary level of the AiG VBS. I usually had 6–10 kids for an hour (and no helper—just to emphasize how easy it is to do this!). I would spread the five days of VBS into five different Sundays with the sixth Sunday being a review time.

I usually didn’t do a lot of decorating outside of the memory verse and topic posters that are provided for the VBS. Since this was
for a small group of children and we were very limited on space and money this was the best option for us. I had the kids use their imagination when we trekked through the desert in Egypt File or floated in space for Operation Space (kids have great imaginations!).

Since I was on a tight budget and not that crafty, I would choose one or two of the “centers” (pre-primary) suggested for the teaching time and use those as an activity/craft time. If time allowed, we would also do the take-home papers provided with the VBS. I purchased a nice puppet and did the puppet shows myself, which were a huge hit. I’m not much of a puppeteer, but that didn’t matter to them. I used the Song Motion DVD for singing time. The kids still sing, “I’ve Got DNA!” Who knew that you could incorporate DNA into such a catchy tune!

I would always include a time of review that consisted of a series of questions about the topic for the day. We would use the game of “Mother May I?” and the children would work together as a team to answer the questions. If they answered it correctly, they got to move forward as a team, and if not then no moving. Learning and fun all packed into a simple game.

On the sixth Sunday (besides review) I typically showed a children’s AiG DVD like The Animal Kinds by Buddy Davis, and we would eat popcorn as we watched. Honestly, I’ve never seen children so excited about a curriculum. And I’ve never seen a curriculum so meaty in content, flexible in nature, and easy to do on a small budget.

This year my church decided to use the AiG VBS Gold Rush for the actual VBS program, so I get to see it done on a large scale. And while it is fun to put up all the decorations and do the crafts, snacks, and games as intended for the VBS, I will always hold dear in my heart those little gatherings on Sunday when we used our imaginations, worked simply, and learned about the truth and authority of God’s Word. I hope this helps any of you that are considering ways you can use our VBS programs in an atypical fashion.