VBS planning timeline
Undated: pick your VBS date for real dates · 5 days · 24-week plan
Put the week on the church calendar and check it against camps, holidays and local school dates before anyone books a vacation.
Get your core people in one room to agree on who VBS is for, the times, and a budget range.
Decide how many kids you can realistically serve and what you can spend, so every later decision has a limit.
Compare two or three options against your budget, ages and number of days, then commit so ordering and decorating can start.
Name a registration lead, a volunteer lead and a supplies and decor lead, and give each of them this timeline.
Order early enough to look through everything and replace a wrong or missing box without panic.
Work out crew leaders, station leaders, check-in, snack and floaters from your headcount before you ask anyone.
Ask people personally for a specific role and day. An announcement from the front fills gaps, not the whole team.
Follow your church's child-safety policy, and start now because checks for new volunteers can take weeks.
Crew leaders decide how many kids you can take, so lock them in before registration opens.
Collect each child's age or grade, allergies and medical notes, guardians, and who may pick them up.
Put the dates and registration link in the bulletin, on social media, and in front of families who don't attend yet.
Set a cap that matches your confirmed crew leaders, and decide what happens when you reach it.
If sign-ups are outrunning your leaders, recruit more or close registration before you are over ratio.
Match each station to a room or outdoor space, with a rain plan for anything outside.
List what each station needs per day, check what you already own, and ask the congregation for the rest.
Decide crews, stations, station length and moving time, then print a copy for every leader.
Pick a set-up day, recruit people for it, and decide what goes up where.
Make sure every station has a leader on every day, and write down who fills in when someone is out.
Walk through safety rules, check-in and pickup, the rotation, and what to do when a child is missing or hurt.
Group kids by age or grade, keep requested friends together where you can, and balance crew sizes.
Send each volunteer their days, arrival time, station or crew, and who to call if they are running late.
Give each crew leader a list with allergies and pickup contacts, and keep a master copy at check-in.
Set up stations, signs and check-in, then walk the rotation route once with a watch.
Meet 30 minutes before the first check-in to pray, share changes and answer last questions.
Ten minutes after pickup: what went wrong, what to change tomorrow, and who needs a thank-you.
Send personal thank-yous that mention specific moments, before the week fades.
Contact families who don't attend your church with a thank-you and an invitation to what comes next.
Write down what to repeat, change and drop while it is fresh, and save it where next year's team will find it.
Total what you spent against the budget, label what is reusable, and store it with an inventory.
