VBS Planning Calendar: 9 Steps to Success
If you’re in kidmin, Vacation Bible School can be one of the biggest events of the year. I know it has been for me. So much so that I’ve written more on this topic than just about anything else. It takes a lot of planning, organizing, recruiting, vision casting, prayer and so much more. I like to think of VBS as a microcosm of everything you do in kidmin, packed into one intense week.
Pulling off an effective VBS requires a solid plan. Over the years, I’ve developed a VBS to do list. Every year I copy the tasks, adjust according to my feedback from the previous year, and get started.
You can get my VBS to do list to plan your own incredible VBS here.
Even if you don’t get my to do list here is my basic outline for planning a successful VBS, that reaches your community, energizes your church, and sees kids saved.
1. Work Backwards
I talked specifically about this idea in this post and used VBS as an example. Here’s the general idea.
Just putting VBS on some week during the summer isn’t the end of planning. In fact, it’s the beginning. Once you put it on your calendar, start to work backwards. Think about all the things that have to happen to make your VBS all you want it to be.
When will you decorate? When will you recruit and train your volunteers? When will you open registration? When will you start to market? When will you pick a curriculum?
Answering these questions are your first steps to planning. You don’t need exact dates. Rough estimates will work. I like to put reminders on my calendar, so I don’t miss anything. Since I make these plans in October, I don’t know what April will hold. These plans are a gift to me in the future.
If you haven’t started yet, now is the time. I like the saying “the best time to plant a tree is 30 years ago. The second best time is now.”
2. Pick a curriculum
Like working backwards, I also wrote about picking a curriculum. You can read that here. I like to make this decision in January. There are a lot of different options out there. I suggest you pick one that matches your strategy, teaches the content you want, and follows a similar structure to previous years.
I see a lot of people focusing on themes when choosing their VBS. A great theme can definitely make the VBS a lot of fun. But I think making sure it matches the three things I listed earlier is far more important. Kids will have fun regardless. Pick (or make) a curriculum that serves your church and your people well.
3. Plan Marketing
My VBSs have always been outreach oriented. When I first started, I put out a few signs on some light poles around my church and prayed for people to show up. Since then, my methods have greatly improved. I write about marketing your VBS here.
One of the reasons I love picking a curriculum is that I don’t have to create all the graphics and print materials for the event. Once I get that starter kit, I start customizing all the graphics to fit my needs. At a minimum, you’ll need a webpage for online registration and a Facebook event.
Every ad piece needs pictures and graphics. But graphic editing takes time. A good graphics or web designer can throw something together in a day or so. But if you want excellence, they need a lot more time. Don’t wait until March or April to ask. By that time, they’ll be bogged down in Easter prep and not have time for you.
I found starting my marketing for VBS on Easter was best. To be ready for that, I commissioned all the media I need by the beginning of February. That gives the graphics/web person (that could be you!) plenty of time to put it all together before it goes live.
4. Buy Supplies
VBS Curriculum companies spend a lot of time and money to create a fun and exciting VBS every year. One of the things they do is source all the crafts, toys, posters, shirts and more that you need to pull off a great event. If you choose an older VBS you’re going to have to do this on your own.
Either way, you don’t want to wait until the week before to start shopping. I’ve been short more than once on a particular item because the curriculum company sold out.
Learn from my mistakes and order early. I suggest you place your order in late March or early April. That gives you enough time to correct any ordering mistakes and get the things you want.
This is most likely your biggest budget item so far. When I create my kidmin budget, I also include my VBS budget and share it with leadership. This way they have time to plan and/or adjust before you spend a lot of money.
You can read about how to create a VBS budget here.
5. Start Registration
I already mentioned this a little before, but I like to start registration on Easter Sunday. It’s most likely your biggest Sunday of the year with the most guests. This is your best time to tell them about what’s coming. As of this writing Easter is April 20, 2025. That’s pretty late, so your parents will definitely be thinking about their summer plans.
You want your VBS to be on their radar. So, as parents pick up their kids, give everyone a take-home paper with an ad for VBS and a link to sign up. The following week, I start my marketing campaign with emails, social media ads, and signs. You’ll see a bump that first week, with steady trickle until the week before. Then it explodes. Having your registration open early keeps the event in front of your people for a long time.
I talk more about promoting your summer events here.
6. Volunteer Training
The main thing that makes your VBS great is your volunteers. They can make or break you. Because I usually did my VBS around Father’s Day, I put my first volunteer training meeting around Mother’s Day. My training meetings are mandatory, but I provide 3 of them at various times leading up to VBS.
My biggest one is a Sunday after church. I provide lunch and childcare. It’s a longer training meeting because we’re eating, but it’s the first true kickoff to VBS season. I try to get as many potential volunteers to this meeting as possible. (Thus, bribing them with food and childcare.)
But not everyone can attend this meeting. So, I also plan two others. These don’t have food or childcare and they’re shorter. But they’re still strategic.
My second meeting is Wednesday after service. This is where I get my youth to volunteer. I hold it in the youth room for an extra push.
My final one has moved around over the years. I used to do it before our Sunday night service, but churches don’t do those anymore. Other times, I’ve put it before a Wednesday night service or during one of my work nights.
By the time the third meeting rolls around, I know how many volunteers I still need. I can ask my pastor to make a final plea from the stage. Meanwhile, I start calling previous volunteers who haven’t said yes… yet.
You can read more about holding great volunteer training meetings here.
7. Decorate
One of the biggest parts of VBS in my experience has been decorating. My first VBS we hand painted 80 Styrofoam beakers with four different colors of paint. It…took…days.
Since then, I’ve streamlined the process. I have two volunteer work weeks where we decorate. The first is 6 weeks before VBS and the second is the week before. I know 6 weeks sounds like a long way out. And it is. So, I added two things that make a big difference.
First, the work week starts the Monday after my first big volunteer training meeting. People will be excited about VBS and want to help. This keeps the energy going as they start to see everything come together.
Second, I require my volunteers to pick two days to help decorate. We decorate on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at night for the two weeks. Then one final workday, the Saturday morning before. My volunteers have 7 days to pick out 2. Not everyone does it, but most do. And as the wise man once said, “many hands make the work go faster.”
8. Launch
If you’ve stuck with me this long, thanks so much. We’re now back at the very beginning. We picked the dates for VBS, and we’ve finally made it here. By this time in my planning process, just about everything is marked off my list.
But there is still more to do. I create a Monday to do list and put everything left to do on it. Since I’ve always done VBS at night, I have about 10 hours to get ready. And I work hard for those 10 hours. It’s not unusual to have over 25,000 steps that day. That’s around 13 miles!
When you launch your VBS, be prepared for problems. I always say the first day of VBS is a trainwreck. The good thing is you can adjust, and momentum takes you through rest of the week. By the time you get it all figured out, it’s time to clean everything up. But that’s the way it goes.
9. Follow Up
Just because the event is over, doesn’t mean you’re done. The first few days after your VBS are crucial to getting families to come back. I wrote about the things I do to follow up with my guests here. In the least, you need to send home a postcard to every family who attended. I like to add a personal note from each kid’s small group leader.
Not everyone who attended your VBS is a viable lead to come back. Some already attend your church, while others attend another church. But the ones who don’t attend any church? That’s who you should focus your time and energy on. I write more about it in this post.
Now that you’re done, take some time to celebrate with your team and gather some feedback. I always do an after action report and file it away from next year. An unevaluated experience is a wasted experience. I talk more about these meetings in this post.
I love VBS. It’s the biggest event of the year and one of the hardest weeks on the calendar for kidmin. But you reached out to your community and energized your church. Most importantly, you'll have to opportunity to teach hundreds of kids about Jesus. It’s a win-win.
If you’d like more help with VBS planning, pick up my VBS To Do List below.
Planning VBS can be overwhelming. Make it easy with my VBS To-Do List! It's the tool I use to plan my own VBS every year, and it will give you everything you need, no matter what curriculum you choose. Get yours today and simplify your VBS planning!
