Roar VBS Prep Party
For the third year in a row, we had a VBS Prep Party to prepare for Roar VBS. This fun afternoon is a chance to get more families involved with VBS decorations and prep work. Read on to see just how much we accomplished in just two hours after church one Sunday! You can also read more about how I plan our VBS Prep Party each year.
Years ago (when I was a kid attending VBS and my parents were station leaders), most of the congregation would spend all day at church on the Sunday before VBS started. They would spend hours and hours transforming the entire church into the VBS theme. Over the years, involvement from kids and adults at our church has dropped. The lack of adult participation in decorating means that (in past years) the bulk of the decorating has fallen on a small group of dedicated volunteers, who are already overworked and unpaid (mainly, myself and my immediate family). For the last few years (starting with Maker Fun Factory VBS), I have planned a VBS Prep Party (aka work day) after church on a Sunday before VBS (ranging from 3 weeks to 3 months before VBS, depending on my personal schedule and how prepared I’ve been). For the VBS Prep Party. we provide lunch and invite families to stay after church from 12pm to 3pm to work on VBS prep/decorating projects. This has been a very successful VBS Prep event and it’s definitely something I plan to continue doing each year.
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Below is the list of projects we got completely finished during the Roar VBS Prep Party. I am always amazed at how much work a group of people can get done in such a short time! We advertised that the Roar VBS Prep Party would last from 12-3pm. Our team of volunteers actually had most of the projects finished by a little after 2pm, then they helped me clean up and we all got to leave by 3pm! We had about 20 people stay after church to help (ranging in age from 2 to 80ish years old). I’ll add links below for the projects that have step-by-step blog posts!
Roar VBS Prep Party Projects
3D Giraffe
Bible Buddies (laminating & hole punching)
Bible Verse Posters
Cross Ornaments (drilling holes in crosses)
Dyed Sheets for Stage Backdrop (adding safety pins to prep sheets for dyeing)
Paper Beads (cutting paper into triangle strips)
ROAR Tribal Printed Poster Board Letters
Tribal Printed Paper for Wall Decor
Roar VBS Prep Party Projects for Kids
There were supposed to be several families with elementary aged kids at the Roar VBS Prep Party, so I prepared a few projects that those kids could work on (with little to no help from adults). As it turned out, the only kids who stayed were toddler/preschool aged, so we pulled the decoupage safari animal supplies and just left out the coloring pages. It was helpful to have the coloring sheets to occupy the preschool kids. I also had a volunteer who stayed in the nursery to help with the 2-3 babies/toddlers (including my own).
Kid’s Project: Safari Animal Coloring Sheets
Kid’s Project: Bible Verse Coloring Sheets
Kid’s Project: Decoupage Safari Animals
Roar VBS Take Home Projects
I also prepare take home projects for people who would like to help with VBS, but aren’t able to stay for the VBS Prep Party. This year, I prepared about 12 bags with take home projects.
Advertising Bookmarks for Easter (cutting out and adding ribbon)
Bead Necklaces (cutting ribbon for necklaces)
Cross Ornaments (cutting ribbon to hang the ornaments)
Paper Chains
Wobble Eggs (hot gluing stones into Easter eggs & taping closed with electrical tape)
I am a long-time Vacation Bible School lover. I’ve lead in several capacities throughout the VBS world and am currently our church’s VBS director. It is a joy for me to be able to share VBS ideas and resources with others! Follow Borrowed Blessings to see more of our ideas and planning!