Preflight Planning

Refer to the below outline to plan ahead for your vacation Bible school.

Five Months Before

Pray! Prayer is not preparation for your work, it is your work! Be faithful to pray before, during, and after your VBS.
Print six copies of the Countdown Calendar (Director’s Resource CD-ROM). Fill in the month and days accordingly. Use these calendars to keep your VBS preparation under control.
Meet with your pastor to decide goals, format, dates, times, and budget. Mark the dates on the church’s master calendar.
First-year directors meet with directors from previous years for advice and tips on running a VBS.
Begin to assemble your leadership team, starting with a prayer coordinator, a publicity coordinator, and an assistant director. Give them copies of the following from the Director’s Guide:
- Prayer Coordinator: page 16
- Publicity Coordinator: Section 5
- Assistant Director: Order another Director’s Guide.
Plan next month’s initial staff meeting with your leadership team, and notify them of the date. Items to be covered include praying together, announcing the theme, laying out job specifics, brainstorming, and setting deadlines for all preparations.

Four Months Before

Continue to pray.
Meet with the publicity coordinator and decide on a publicity plan with specific tasks and target dates. Order and prepare publicity materials. See the Resource Catalog.
Meet with the prayer coordinator and begin to enlist the prayer support of your church family.
Recruit the rest of the leadership team. This includes any or all of the coordinators listed in Section 4.
Conduct the initial staff meeting with the leadership team. Distribute copies of the countdown calendars and the appropriate manuals to crew members.
Announce the date and time of VBS in your church bulletin or newsletter with inserts. Send Reserve the Date postcards to all church children and VBS attendees from last year.
Determine the projected number of children.

Three Months Before

Continue to pray.
Determine the number of Cadet Crews needed.
Order teacher guides and resources, student pages, outdoor banner, and other supplementary supplies. See Resource Catalog.
Make an announcement in church to share the theme and get everyone enthused and ready to pitch in for this year’s VBS. Submit the volunteer recruitment form for placement in the church bulletin or newsletter. See the Director’s Resource CD-ROM for a volunteer registration form.
Plan next month’s Instructors Workshop for the flight instructors. Notify the teaching team of the date with the printable postcards on the Director’s Resource CD-ROM. See page 53 of the Director’s Guide.
Begin to execute the publicity plan.
Check with all members of the leadership team to assess their progress and encourage them.
Assemble the rest of your crew.
Make sure the craft, snack, and game coordinators have their supply lists ready to share with the church family within the next month.
Plan the missions project. See the Assembly Guide for possibilities.
Decide on registration plans, and prepare child registration forms for next month’s preregistration. See Director’s Resource CD-ROM for forms.

Two Months Before

Continue to pray.
Conduct the Instructor Workshop.
Identify staffing holes in the VBS crew, and recruit the remaining staff.
Plan the Crew Workshop, which will be held next month. Announce the date(s) and time(s) of the workshop in your church bulletin or newsletter. See p. 55 of the Director’s Guide. Order one Helper Handbook for each volunteer, or make copies of necessary pages yourself and assemble into packets.
Set up an information center (VBS Command Center) and make an announcement about needed craft, snack, and game supplies, props, costumes, and decorations. Set up well-labeled donation boxes to collect supplies. See page 39 of the Director’s Guide.
Begin preregistering children.
Check with all members of the leadership team to assess progress and encourage them.
Organize the contests and gather the necessary supplies. See the Assembly Guide for specifics.
Order Turbo Tunes music CDs (leader pack or student CDs) and Turbo Tunes Songbooks so children can begin learning the songs.
Order T-shirts or make your own with iron-on transfers.
Order nametags (nametags or buttons), or make your own.

One Month Before

Continue to pray.
Meet with the pastor and plan the dedication service. Apprise him of the VBS progress.
Conduct the Crew Workshop.
Check with all members of the leadership team to encourage them and to make sure they are on schedule with their particular responsibilities.
Decide on Cadet Crew names (see page 12 of the Director’s Guide for possibilities) and begin to assign children to crews. See the Director’s Resource CD-ROM for a printable Cadet Crew Roster.
Check on the craft, snack, and other donations. Purchase additional supplies as needed.
Put a banner or sign up in front of the church.
Plan the Cadet Closing Program (see the Assembly Guide) and follow-up efforts (see page 77 of the Director’s Guide).
Implement safety and emergency plans. See page 46 of the Director’s Guide.
Plan the Gospel Workshop and inform everyone of the date with the printable postcard found on the Director’s Resource CD-ROM. See page 55 of the Director’s Guide.
Check the sample caretaker’s handbook on the Director’s Resource CD-ROM, and write up your own version.

Two Weeks Before

Continue to pray.
Assess preregistration. Assign new registrants to Cadet Crews.
Write names on nametags for children and staff. Begin sorting nametags into bags for each Cadet Crew.
Update the bulletin insert with last-minute supplies that are still needed.
Organize supply bins for Cadet Crew leaders. See page 26 of the Director’s Guide.
Check on the teachers’ progress and see if they have questions or need supplies.
Make copies of the caretaker’s handbook, one per child.
Determine the other forms and fliers you need, and begin to customize and copy.
Order Launch into God’s Word, one per child. (Flight Instructors can give these to Juniors and Primaries during the lesson on Day 05.)
Order additional student guides and other supplies if necessary.
Order staff appreciation certificates, visitor appreciation certificates, and certificates of completion.

One Week Before

Continue to pray.
Conduct the Gospel Workshop.
Dedicate the VBS crew during the church service prior to beginning VBS.
Host a “decorating day” (see page 40 of the Director’s Guide) to decorate and set up your facility. Check with the church staff to find out if certain areas need to be untouched until after the last church service prior to the beginning of VBS.
Ensure all positions have been filled.
Check with all members of the leadership team to find out any last-minute needs.
Continue to update the crew lists.
Ensure that the first-aid kits are replenished and safety and emergency plans are ready.

One Day Before

Continue to pray. Have a prayer walk around the inside and outside of the building with members of your church family. Pray over every area.
Finish decorating the church, including the set for the drama.
Set up all areas with necessary supplies and signage.
Ensure all Cadet Crew leaders have bags and up-to-date crew lists. Crew leaders should walk through the schedule to prepare for tomorrow.

During VBS

Continue to pray.
Faithfully and enthusiastically greet, encourage, and love the VBS crew and children.
Be available to answer questions, troubleshoot, and help as needed.
Daily pray with the crew before VBS begins.
Daily update the crew on changes.
Daily update the Cadet Crew lists, reflecting new children who have joined.
Arrange for substitutes as necessary.
Ensure that contact information is complete for each child and records are faithfully kept.
On the first day, send home a caretaker handbook with each child.
Make final preparations for the Cadet Closing Program. Send home invitation postcards midweek.
Purchase additional supplies as needs arise.
Meet with children who make decisions for Christ.
Distribute certificates of completion, Launch into God’s Word Bible studies, and any other take-home goodies to Cadet Crew leaders. They can organize them and give them to cadets the last day of VBS. (Or give the Launch into God’s Word Bible studies to Flight Instructors to distribute to Juniors and Primaries during Day 05.)
Decide how to show your VBS crew members how much they are appreciated.
Make sure Decision Cards are filled out, collected, and recorded for follow-up efforts. See Director’s Resource CD-ROM for Decision Cards.
Encourage all crew members to clean their areas before leaving the last day. Label empty plastic bins (e.g., pens, unused adhesive bandages, unused nametags). Place the bins on tables so workers can sort remaining supplies into the appropriate bins.

After VBS

Continue to pray for the follow-up efforts.
Hold a leadership debriefing session to evaluate how things went. Write recommendations for next year’s VBS.
Execute your plan to show VBS crew members your appreciation. Pass out staff appreciation certificates.
Report to your church family with thanksgiving on the wonderful ways God worked through this year’s VBS.
Finalize all records and file accordingly.
Oversee the follow-up plans. See Section 7.
Complete and send the director’s evaluation form to Answers in Genesis. See the Director’s Resource CD-ROM.