|
|
|
Leadership Toolbox and Tips
Creative tools keep your VBS plans running as smoothly as a well-oiled gear in motion. Let's fill your tool box and get started!
Discover valuable tips for large or small programs, utilize the recruitment kit manual for innovative ways to recruit volunteers, and find helpful site-rotation tips, evaluation forms, and free downloads.
Can't find what you need? Click "Contact Us" up above and let us know what tools you require to create the very best VBS experience this summer.
Large and Small Group Tips
|
|
Gadget’s Garage now features two Starter Kits. You can select the original, jam-packed Starter Kit or the new Small VBS Starter Kit. This section provides you with suggestions for hosting your VBS program for a small VBS or a large VBS. To see what is included in each kit, read more about our Starter Kits.
Every congregation does Vacation Bible School in their own way, making adaptations for space, time, or volunteer talents. We encourage you to make Gadget’s Garage fit your place and people! You know what works best for your people and your setting.
Here are some more common ways people adapt the resources.
Leading a small VBS
Churches with 50 or fewer kids in their VBS love site rotation because they can put everyone together, activities work for all ages, and they don’t need a class and teacher for each age group.
And now, our new Small VBS Starter Kit provides resources for a VBS program with fewer kids, fewer volunteers, or limited space. Plan VBS your way with these flexible, valuable resources. Here are three options.
1. All together. Teach all kids in one large group, including preschoolers. Keep everyone together in one space or use different areas if you like. One or two people lead all activities and share the Leader Guide.
This option works best for twenty or fewer kids. It’s similar to the model used for many years in country schools.
2. Preschool & elementary groups. Provide separate groups and teachers for preschoolers and elementary kids. Get a Gizmo & Friends Preschool Leader Guide with Leader CD for the preschool teacher. (Because not every small VBS needs preschool leader resources, it’s not provided in the kit to keep costs down.)
This option works best for no more than thirty elementary kids and twenty preschoolers, unless you add more groups and leaders.
3. Same-age classes. Separate kids into same-age elementary classes led by one main teacher. You need a Small VBS Elementary Leader Guide (included in the Small VBS Starter Kit) with Leader CD for each teacher and group. Enrollment is limitless. If you need more than one CD or Leader Guide, order an extra one.
If you divide teaching responsibilities between several people, the regular Starter Kit is a better fit because it has separate Leader Guides for opening and closing, storytelling, Bible challenge, crafts, snacks, and games.
In a small VBS, you might keep everyone together in one space and not use different areas unless it helps with setup. Instead, bring leaders to the kids. Since each activity happens only once, leaders can do more than one task, especially if you have limited volunteers. One or two people can easily handle leading the whole program. Involve other adults and teens as small-group leaders, CD operators, music leaders, action demonstrators, snack makers, or crafts helpers. This on-the-job training may prepare them for a larger role next year.
Some people put preschoolers with older kids, especially if there are only a few children in each age group. These situations often work well because kids know each other from other settings. Older ones enjoy helping younger ones. Younger kids love the attention of older friends. Be intentional about having older kids serve as helpers and they’ll love it even more. If this sounds familiar, it’s probably because these methods were used for centuries in small rural schools.
In a program like this, your schedule might look like this.
Time
|
Site
|
9:00–9:25
|
Power Up! Opening
|
9:25–9:50
|
Transform Me! Bible Stories
|
9:50–10:15
|
Build-a-Bot Bible Challenge
|
10:15–10:40
|
Invent-a-Snack
|
10:40–11:05
|
Imagine That! Crafts
|
11:05–11:30
|
Gadget's Games
|
11:30–12:00
|
Eureka! Closing
|
Leading a large VBS
Gadget’s Garage easily accommodates 150 elementary children with five rotation sites. For more kids, add five more rotation sites for every 150 elementary children. Bring everyone together for Power Up! Opening and Eureka! Closing.
Gadget’s Garage math
This chart helps you determine how many G.A.D.G.E.T. Groups, Guides, etc. that you need.
1 G.A.D.G.E.T. Group = 1 Group Guide and up to 6 elementary kids
5 G.A.D.G.E.T. Groups = 1 Rotation Group with 5 Group Guides & 30 kids
5 Rotation Groups = 150 kids & 25 Group Guides at 5 rotation sites
Kids
|
G.A.D.G.E.T
Groups
|
Guides
|
Rotation
Groups
|
Rotation
Sites
|
1–30
|
1–5
|
1–5
|
1
|
1–5
|
31–150
|
6–25
|
6–25
|
2–5
|
2–5
|
151–300
|
26–50
|
26–50
|
6–10
|
6–10
|
301–450
|
51–75
|
51–75
|
11–15
|
11–15
|
451–600
|
76–100
|
76–100
|
16–20
|
16–20
|
601+
|
101+
|
101+
|
21+
|
21+
|
Separate fifth & sixth graders
If you think your fifth and sixth graders wouldn’t benefit from the elementary program, separate them into their own Bible study group.
Use the Wired! Youth Bible Study Guides and Wired! Youth Leader Guide. These resources feature inductive Bible studies, open-ended questions, and experiential activities that work with youth of different ages and interests. The Wired! Youth Leader Guide has additional ideas or mission and service projects.
Bring this group into opening and closing; decide if you will have them do crafts, snack, and games.
Add or remove sites
Some VBS Directors adjust rotation schedules to make a music site or other activities. Others take away sites because they have less time, especially in evening programs. Feel free to make adjustments to meet your program’s needs.
To add a site without removing others, simply add twenty minutes for the site and five minutes for rotating. To take away a site, simply delete twenty-five minutes from your schedule.
Use special drama opportunities
Drama is a fun and effective way to reach kids with the Gospel. Gadget’s Garage uses creative drama at Transform Me! Bible Stories because it’s the most important part of VBS, the place where kids interact most directly with the Bible. Use your best drama volunteers at this site so these presentations sparkle.
Kids also meet Gadget and his robot, Gizmo, in the skits at openings and closings each day. The Skit DVD comes in the Starter Kit or you can purchase it separately. If you want to have live skits with Gadget and Gizmo, purchase the Skit Scripts as a download.
Add youth & adult programs
Sponsor an adult Bible study with the Plug In! Adult Bible Study and a Youth Bible Study using the Wired! Youth Bible Study at the same time as programs for children to encourage the whole family to attend together. Some churches invite retirees to a Bible class during VBS week. Others use the youth and adult materials for Sunday morning classes or special events during summer months. They report great benefits from having the whole church study the same Bible stories at the same time.
Using other schedules: evenings, 1 day, multiple weeks
Adjust Gadget’s Garage to fit your schedule. If you do an evening program, consider including meals and adult Bible study options. Include all groups in openings and closings. Cut time at snack or game sites.
If you do a one-day VBS, pick stories and activities to fit your time. Because Gadget’s Garage includes the Gospel in every lesson, you can pick any lesson with the confidence that kids will hear about Jesus and His love for them. If you do an all-day program, choose two or more stories and extend craft, music, or game time. Consider adding a rest period after lunch where you read one or more children’s books aloud.
If you lead one-hour sessions over several weeks, you can use one lesson for two or more sessions. Choose two or three sites for each day. For example, lead Power Up! Opening, Transform Me! Bible Stories, and Imagine That! Crafts one week, then Build-a-Bot Bible Challenge, Gadget’s Games, and Eureka! Closing next time.
Use outdoor settings
Consider these tips for VBS outdoor opportunities.
• Move activity areas away from busy streets and make use of natural sound and safety barriers, such as hedges, fences, and trees. String cord between trees or plastic cones to define space and keep kids within acceptable boundaries.
• Keep rotation sites in close proximity to each other to eliminate excessive travel time.
• Use shaded areas and limit kids’ time in direct sunlight. Self-standing patio covers or tarps strung between trees provide shade without the heat of tents.
• Use extension cords for CD players and other AV equipment. Think through how to show and use the Skit DVD and PowerPoint resources, especially in bright lighting. One alternative is to use a large tent with the sides pulled up for air circulation.
• Avoid concrete areas, especially for games.
• Because grass may be wet from dew, rain, or sprinklers, provide linoleum or carpet squares for seating. Local flooring stores often are willing to donate discontinued squares.
• Provide containers for leaders to carry their materials.
• Set up tables for craft assembly. Adjust table height down if kids sit on the ground.
|
|
| |
|
|