How to Design a Vacation Bible School Curriculum

by Anna Winden

Overview

Vacation Bible Schools (VBS) are an excellent way to reach out to your community while providing a solid spiritual backbone for youths. There are many ways a VBS can be organized and its curriculum can be adapted to many different forms. Choosing the right design for your curriculum is vital to a successful VBS and requires careful consideration and planning.

Step 1

Enlist volunteers or workers. Form a small committee of people to help develop the actual backbone of the curriculum to allow for different perspectives and ideas to be expressed.
Step 2

Determine your time frame and age group. Your curriculum will be based around how much time you have and to what age group you are catering. Elementary school students will need different materials than teens and young adults.
Step 3

Write out your mission or purpose. This will be what you center your curriculum around. For example, if your goal is to simply teach about the Bible, then write this. If you have other goals such as evangelism or outreaching to the community, then include this as well.
Step 4

Choose what parts of the Bible to focus on based on your mission, time frame and age groups. You may want to structure your curriculum around one particular book of the Bible, studying it in depth. Write out a time line of what you plan to accomplish and when.
Step 5

Arrange activities such as field trips, picnics or even attending lectures or a certain theater. Use these things to create a fun environment and reinforce your chosen focus in the Bible.
Step 6

Establish staff rotations and down time. If you have an intensive curriculum, this allows for one person to rest and recover while another steps in for a while. For a more casual, backyard VBS, set up dates for each volunteer to take the lead and rotate from there.

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Bible Writing materials (optional) Computer (optional)
Bible
Writing materials (optional)
Computer (optional)
There are multiple types of VBSs for you to consider. You may try a music camp, Saturday or Sunday meet-ups or simple backyard Bible schools. Get your community involved. Ask opinions on what others feel should be included and be responsive to these ideas. State clearly any volunteer or worker roles so there is no misunderstanding.
There are multiple types of VBSs for you to consider. You may try a music camp, Saturday or Sunday meet-ups or simple backyard Bible schools.
Get your community involved. Ask opinions on what others feel should be included and be responsive to these ideas.
State clearly any volunteer or worker roles so there is no misunderstanding.

References & Resources