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A Great Week for VBS: Friday Roundup!

Wow! What a week it has been. SO many churches host their summer VBS during this first week of June. We have been overwhelmed by the number of amazing photos of sets and kiddos, as well as the awesome stories of how God is working through VBS.

And we can’t forget that this Monday, we officially revealed the VBS 2014 theme, Agency D3: Discover. Decide. Defend. If you missed the big reveal, make sure to check out these posts:

What do you think of Agency D3 so far? What do you like about it? What do you think the biggest challenges will be?

We want to get a head start on helping make those challenges easier as we plan blog content and assess what types of additional tips and help to provide. Don’t hesitate to chime in!

Did you know that we released next year’s theme so early to give you the most possible time to prepare for next year? You asked for more time, and we listened!

We also know that for many of you, this week is just the beginning of VBS preparation. There are still lessons to be studied, decorations to be made, and volunteer meetings to be had. We’re still with you! Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to help make VBS 2013 the best one yet.

If you have feedback, photos, or just want to praise God for the work He’s doing through VBS, join us on Facebook.

Will be scouting yard sales & thrift shops this summer. Hope to make gadgets monthly this year. Can’t wait to see the new kit! It will be the briefcase for my ‘disguise’. Plan to check back often for ideas.

I think Agency D3 will be a fantastic VBS! A lot of people throw out old computers and computer monitors, so you can find a lot of free computer parts that you can make into high tech gadgets by just looking on the side of the street and asking church members to donate their old equipment. I’ve already gathered about three or four computer monitors for free!

We are gearing up for our Associational VBS Clinic we host every year and I usually use the desktop wallpapers to design posters to send to all our churches advertising the event, but I haven’t been able to find any larger-than-postage-stamp background images to use.

Also, I am VBS director for our Church and we have been so excited about this year’s theme…and then we saw the cost and I’m not going to lie…we are very disappointed with the cost for the starter kits. To get all the rotations for all the ages it’s $250!! (Nearly my entire budget) I know the individual leader kits are reasonably priced but when other programs are $100 cheaper and everything you need is in one bucket it’s hard to justify the added expense. I am thankful that there is a bookstore in our area that lets us open up the boxes and look at all the materials before we purchase them. Maybe we can piece together what we need and still do Agency D3.

Clip art can be found on the Decorating Made Easy CD-ROM attached to the inside front cover of the book. Free clip art is also available online at lifeway.com/vbs under the Downloads & Updates Tab.

The new starter kits are actually a cost saving for churches who need it all (all age groups, all rotations). In the past, if a church bought a Super Sampler and then all six leader packs, the final amount was $337.93. Unlike some publishers, everything in the Kids Starter Kit and Preschool Starter Kit can be purchased separately. If you only want one copy of every leader guide (including snack cards and recreation cards) for all ages and rotations from babies through grades six, the total is only $75.88.

The same applies to the Jump Start Kit for Directors. If you don’t want the extras in the attache case, you can purchase the Administrative Guide or the Decorating Made Easy for $9.99 each.

We really try to provide solutions that fit many needs. I hope this helps!