See How One Church Did Spark Studios VBS

Are you wanting to do your own Spark Studios VBS but need some inspiration? I sat down with Charlotte Bailey from Pecan Acres Baptist Church in Vidor, Texas to hear more about how her church did Spark Studios and what inspired them. Keep reading for some advice, encouragement, and photos from Pecan Acres’ VBS. 

Q: Why did you choose Lifeway’s VBS?  

A: We use Lifeway every year because the curriculum is by far the most complete and user-friendly for our teachers and volunteers. 

Q: How did you and your team get ideas for your VBS decorations?  

A: Decorations came from a combination of resources, the Decorating Made Easy book (with some minor changes), a Pinterest board that I created as soon as the theme was announced, and ideas from the decorating crew. 

Q: How many kids attended your VBS?  

A: 81 kids, Babies through 12^th grade (Youth has Bible Study and helps with classes). 

Q: What did you like about this year’s theme?  

A: I liked the bright colors and diverse options to choose from. We focused on the artistic and musical themes.  

Q: What was your kids’ response to the theme?  

A: The kids really liked getting to be involved in creating their VBS shirts with splatter paint. We spent a few weeks with stations set up for them to use.  They also really like the giant pool noodle crayons and markers to pretend they were coloring the giant coloring book.   

Q: What do you think engaged them most?  

A: The biggest response was getting to see everyday items in larger-than-life size like the crayons, markers, and playdough containers.  

 

Q: What would you say to other churches who are having a hard time “seeing” this theme come to life? 

A: I’d say spend some time on social media, Facebook groups, Pinterest or Instagram to get inspiration from others. We are one of the first in our area to have VBS from February through March but there are people like me who love VBS and start as soon as the new theme is announced!  

Q: What are your plans for VBS Follow-up?  

A: We are having a VBS Celebration Sunday on March 27^th with lunch, bouncy houses, game and ice cream trucks. Each child took home a flyer inviting their whole family to attend.  All visitors were mailed a “Save the Date” postcard. 

Q: What did your volunteers think about the curriculum?  

A: As usual, they like that everything they needed was included in their packet and easy to use.  

Q: Why did you do your VBS so early in the year?  

A: We switched to an early VBS several years ago for a few reasons:  

• The majority of our teachers and volunteers work outside the home and the week-long summer VBS wasn’t something that most wanted to sign up to do 
• Having a week between classes gave them time to prepare for the next week without being stressed 
• Conflicts with vacations and extracurricular activities is no longer an issue 
• Our kids from split homes are able to attend more “days” of VBS 
• The kids use the week between to invite their friends 
• And for me personally it fits perfectly with the long winter gloomy days when there are few activities or holidays to draw kids and families to church (we had 3 kids saved during VBS and have a couple of new families who’ve started attending!)