How to Teach Vacation Bible School

Agreeing to teach Vacation Bible School might incite enthusiasm at first, but as you begin the planning process, you could start feeling like you're in over your head. Striking the perfect balance between learning the Bible and having a good time can be tricky. After all, VBS was created to teach children about God, but how much work will they be able to tolerate during their summer vacation? It gets even more complicated when you begin to juggle different age groups. Luckily, Vacation Bible School can be organized into six main categories. If you tackle each section one at a time, planning will become a breeze.

Instructions

1. Choose a theme. Vacation Bible School generally lasts one week out of the summer, so you will want to make sure your time with the kids makes a difference. Sticking to one theme will make the week---and the lessons---a memorable experience. Some Vacation Bible Schools might choose two themes, a spiritual one and a fun one. For instance, your spiritual theme might be the fruits of the Spirit, and your fun theme might be farm life. Although these two themes can easily complement each other, the fun theme will make allowances for some activities that are more serious.

2. Plan your Bible lessons. These will be the backbone for your days at Vacation Bible School. The Bible lesson is the reason your church is holding VBS in the first place and the main reason parents are sending their kids to you. Each lesson should fall under your spiritual theme of the week, and each lesson should illustrate one easily understood and clearly communicated point. Repetition is crucial to learning, so choose a short phrase to repeat throughout each day. You could even encourage your students to memorize the phrase with you. Ideally, your key phrase will be a Bible verse. Your first lesson of the week should be the broadest with the most familiar concept, and each subsequent lesson should get deeper into the Scriptures.

3. Choose activities that complement your daily Bible lessons. Keep in mind that you you might need to choose different projects for different age groups. After reading the day's Bible story, you can let the kids create brown-paper-bag puppets of each Bible character, then ask them to re-enact the story as a puppet show. You could also bring in toy armor to dress everyone in "The Armor of God" while doing a lesson on Ephesians 6. Have each child create a shield out of cardboard and paper and color a personal crest.

4. Give kids some time to run around each day. Finding time to get outside and play some games is crucial to teaching VBS. This is where your fun theme can come into play. If your theme is farm life, organize a relay race that involves carrying produce and riding toy tractors. Since it's summertime, designate at least one day to be a "water day." Have the kids bring bathing suits and towels, and set out a water slide. You can easily make a water slide by placing a running hose on a regular slide. Get the kids involved in making water balloons for a game of water-day tag.

5. Pick four to six Bible songs to teach the children. These should be simple and repetitive songs that will be easy for children of all ages to learn within a week. The more hand motions, the better. Set aside a small amount of time each day to practice. An ideal spot in the schedule would be right after outside games and right before their parents pick them up. It will give the kids some time to calm down and focus before releasing them back to Mom and Dad. At the conclusion of your week teaching Vacation Bible School, invite the parents to a concert, featuring the children singing their new songs. This would also be an excellent time to set up everyone's projects and art work for an art show. Show the parents everything their children have learned and accomplished this week.

References

• DLTK: Bible Lesson Plans
• DLTK: Bible VBS Guide