Vacation Bible School, also known as VBS, is a great way for children to spend time on fun and enriching activities with friends while connecting with your church community. It’s essential to find ways to engage both children and their parents in the lead up to your VBS session to make them aware of the program and to recruit as many participants as possible.
When it comes to promoting your VBS, unique and eye-catching methods are always going to be more effective than doing the same thing every year. Here we look at 5 unique and interesting ways to promote your Vacation Bible School to get more families interested.
Interactive Invites
There’s nothing kids love more than something they can do, create, explore or express. Having an interactive invite, such as a color-in invite, craft invite or even a whole activity folder distributed before the school holidays is a great way to get kids interested. Having the interactive invite on the kitchen table being worked on by the child for a while is also an effective way to keep your Vacation Bible School in the minds of parents too. Giving a personalized, individual invite that children can get invested and involved in is a great way to begin promoting your Vacation Bible School.
Personalized T-shirts
Personalized embroidered T-shirts or screen printed T-shirts are an ideal way to promote your VBS. T-shirts can include your church’s name, the name of your individual VBS, or even the child’s name! Personalized T-shirts make a great gift for kids who are participating in your VBS, and they continue to promote your VBS as they wear the t-shirt throughout the following years. You can also personalize other items like caps, bags, or drink bottles, or rotate your choice of item through the years. A personalized item, especially a t-shirt worn by the children during the Vacation Bible School session, is a great way to not only promote your VBS but to create a sense of community among attendees.
VBS Taster Day
What better way to promote your VBS than to give parents and children a \’taste\’ of what spending time at VBS is like? A VBS taster could run at your church or a local school either in the beginning of the holidays or before school is out for the summer. Even if it only runs for an hour, a VBS taster is one of the best ways to advertise your VBS, as it gives parents and kids a real idea of what you do and how much fun they’ll have. Be sure to send everyone home with some sort of trinket that’s branded with the info for your VBS, whether it’s a key chain, a cool silicone bracelet, or one of those fidget spinners that are everywhere these days!
Get Social
Social media has changed our approach to marketing and promotion for all businesses, products and events, and your Vacation Bible School is no exception. Set up a Facebook page, Twitter, and an Instagram account for your VBS, and share content and pictures there from your previous sessions. It can also help to include reviews, testimonials, and photos from parents and children who attended your VBS before. Adding great stories along with engaging pictures is the perfect way to promote your VBS online – and these accounts are free!
Be At Local Events
Engaging with the community at local events is the ideal way to promote your VBS. This is a great opportunity to talk to local families, hand out flyers and invitations, and even set up a stall to give kids an idea of the kind of fun and activities you provide at your Vacation Bible School. Be visual, be expressive, and show what your program is all about to invite kids in. This is also a great opportunity to give away smaller personalized promotional items such as gift bags, activity books, pens/pencils, or drink bottles.
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