Adapting Your VBS

Maybe you’ve heard some similar comments or made them yourself. VBS takes a lot of work. You need space and volunteers. For some churches, that’s a struggle—so much so that the lack of space, volunteers, time, or budget prevents them from hosting a VBS. But it doesn’t have to! Whatever situation your church is facing, consider adapting the VBS to fit your needs.

Make It a Three-Day VBS

If a five-day VBS is too much on your schedule or your volunteers, adapt and do a three-day VBS instead.

The Answers VBS program is laid out in a traditional five-day format. If a five-day VBS is too much on your schedule or your volunteers, adapt and do a three-day VBS instead. We recommend doing Day 1 teaching on the first day, a combination of Day 2 and Day 3 on the second day, and a combination of Day 4 and Day 5 on the last day.

Have Fewer Bible Teachers

Sometimes, the hardest volunteers to find are the main Bible teachers. What do you do if you don’t have enough volunteers for a Bible teacher in each classroom? Adapt.

Instead of each individual class having its own Bible teacher, find one or two main Bible teachers and have all of the classes rotate to the Bible teacher(s). Another idea is to keep your group together after the assembly time, and one or two people can teach the Bible lesson to the whole group. Then, groups can rotate through the different sites before returning to the closing assembly. We also provide a shortened one-person teaching lesson in the digital resources if your schedule doesn’t allow for a 40-minute Bible lesson or if you only have one person to teach.

Get Creative With Your Spaces

In all of my vacation Bible schools as a child, my class always had its own classroom each year—fully decorated, of course. But if your available space doesn’t allow that, adapt. Instead of each group having its own home-base classroom, arrange your schedule so that only a few fully decorated classrooms are needed, with groups rotating to that room at alternate times. This is easily doable if you have a few designated Bible teachers; classes rotate to the Bible classroom instead of having their own room.

What if I Don’t Want to Do Crafts? Or Add a Music Rotation? And What About Missions?

The wonderful thing about your Answers VBS kit is that it is chock-full of great ideas. Customize your program to fit your needs.

The wonderful thing about your Answers VBS kit is that it is chock-full of great ideas. Customize your program to fit your needs. If you want to do crafts and science, build that into your schedule. If you want to do a mission rotation instead of doing it during the assembly time, add it in. Not crazy about science? Just do the crafts. The one thing you won’t want to change is the message given throughout each area—be sure to stick to the teaching given in the curriculum.

Adapt Your Vbs to Fit Your Needs

Not all churches look the same or have the same resources or circumstances. So make your VBS program work for you! Here are a few adaptation ideas to get you thinking.

• Instead of a live drama, show the videos, do the three-person skits, prerecord the dramas to show, or leave the dramas out completely (there’s plenty of other material to fill your VBS time!).
• Choose a time frame that fits your needs. Three hours is typical, but two and a half hours works too. Just don’t skimp on Bible lesson time!
• Low or no budget? Consider joining with another church or partnering on purchases.
• Morning VBS, evening VBS, once a week through the summer, spring break, or fall break—pick when it works best for your members.
• Have a music rotation or teach the songs during the opening and closing ceremonies.
• Do the Mission Moment in the opening ceremony, closing ceremony, or as a separate rotation.
• Choose science and crafts, just crafts, just science, or a combination of the two.
• Combine snack time with recreation. Or don’t.
• Have a designated Bible time classroom that groups rotate into, or have each class with its own designated classroom. You could even teach Bible class outside if that’s what works best.

If you need to adapt your VBS to fit your needs, do so. The goal is to see boys and girls coming to your church so they can hear the truth of God’s Word and marvel at Jesus. And when it comes to VBS, sometimes you have to adapt.