Trek Through the Tundra with Wilderness and Outdoor Items Perfect for Enhancing VBS Programs.

Create Excitement with Flyers Announcing Your VBS Theme

One of the best ways to create excitement for an upcoming event, in this case your summer VBS program, is with a fun theme announcement. This could be a fun video to play before or after services, a facebook post, a creative skit, or it could be as simple as a fun flyer to hand out to members and post around the church. Our different designer papers would be perfect for creating something to hand out to church members letting them know that your congregation is partaking in the tundra adventure of True North VBS this year. Our Liquid Designer Paper with it’s different shades of blue around the border would be a great way to tie in the theme representing the rivers and other bodies of water in Alaska. Or play into those forest vibes with our Camo designer paper to reflect the wilderness that kids will be exploring to learn about Jesus' faithful and trusting friendship. These spectacular flyers that you create can then be hung on bulletin boards, given out after services, Sunday School or religious education classes, posted around the church and more. Let kids know that they’re welcome to join you on this fun and unique adventure to celebrate God’s love.

Our paper is high quality and is compatible with both laser and inkjet printers. You could also make it a fun project for the kids in Sunday school or religious education classes. Once the theme is announced have them design their own flyers for around the church. They could use notepads or art supplies like markers and pencils to make their own creations. There are so many possibilities!

Use Notepads to create Nametags for the Groups or Signs with Daily Lessons

While it’s fun to come together with everyone at the start and end of each VBS day, usually with fun songs and stories to tie up the day’s activities, an important part of the VBS experience is breaking up into smaller groups, or crews for the True North program, and going around to the different stations for the themed activites. The crews are usually pretty small- one or two leaders and no more than a dozen kids depending on how many kids your church has participating and how many volunteers you have helping. With that many people your crews need a way to stand out from each other! That is where our notepads would be the perfect addition to your VBS activities for making fun, unique name tags to set everyone apart. Not only would it help the crew leaders keep track of the kids in their crew but it can also be a great souvenir for the kids to keep as part of their VBS memories. With a variety of notepads that reflect nature and the great outdoors you can easily assign a notepad to each group and create name badges for them to wear. With a collection of notepads that contain a bear, moose, eagle, cabin, campers and other themed shapes there’s something for every crew! And with 50 sheets per notepad that have the design on all of the sheets it’s definitely a VBS friendly quantity.

Another fun thing you can do with notepads is to create different signs, like creating a reminder of all of the daily lessons that kids will learn throughout the week. With a week long VBS experience, it can be a helpful reminder for kids to look at the sign and see that on Day three we learned that "when we feel powerless, we can trust Jesus". You could use notepads to make signs throughout your church leading each group to where the activities are going to be held, such as this way to Imagination Station or trek this way to Glacier Games.There is so much that you could do to tie in that Alaskan True North theme and enhance your VBS decorations!

Make Memories and Create a Keepsake to Cherish for Years to Come with a Memory Book

One of the best parts of Summer for a child can be their vacation bible school experience. The fun of going to your church, hanging out with friends, and immersing yourself in the daily stories and lessons about God’s love. From the crafting projects and sports activities, to the songs and even the daily themed snacks, these can all be important memories for a child. So a fun way to tie everything together and let kids remember their time at VBS would be to create a VBS memory book. This can be done in many different ways.

One example of how you could do this would be to create a shaped memory book that kids can decorate and add all of their fond VBS memories to. First, craft a book using paper, string and a thicker paper for the front and back cover, such as construction paper or cardstock. Then glue a notepad shape to the front. A fun design for this would be our Camper Girl or Camper Boy notepad. Then just cut around the front cover shape after assembling the book and voila you have a shaped book that is perfect for jotting down the daily themes, activities, songs sang, memorable moments and more. You could even have all of your crew members sign a page in each other’s books so they have a record of who was part of their crew for the week. Kids can also personalize their book further by adding their own flair through color and embellishments. A keepsake that they can treasure for years to come!

Creating Enjoyment for Younger Kids During the VBS program

When you think of the typical VBS experience you are thinking about the program designed for elementary aged kids. But what about those that are a little younger, the preschool aged kids? After meeting with the full group for the beginning and sometimes ending stations, they usually experience a modified program. But there are some fun activities that you can do with this age group that can really add to their enjoyment of VBS. One thing you could do is teach the bible story in a unique way by making stick puppets and telling the story through a puppet theatre.You could even decorate the theatre backdrop with notepads and cut-outs to really set the scene. This would be a fun activity that the little ones are sure to love!

Other Creative Ways to Enhance the VBS Experience

Program leaders and directors can be as creative as they want when it comes to adding finishing touches and enhancing the VBS experience for kids. Looking to add vibrant colors and unique shapes to backdrops or other decorations, simply add some cut-outs or notepads. Add vibrant green paper or foam evergreen trees around the halls of the church to make it seem like the kids are really traveling through the wilderness. Pick an indvidual notepad, such as a moose, and create a pathway down the hall for kids to follow to each activity. Every station could be a different animal, for example follow the bears to Tundra Treats or follow the Eagle to Wild Bible Adventures. You could also string a bunch of different notepads together to create a wilderness themed garland to hang from the ceiling to add to your themed decoratons. Speaking of Tundra Treats, you can use a themed notepad as a label to announce what snacks are being provided that day.

These are just some ways that our Outdoor and Camping items can be incorporated into your VBS program. However, the sky really is the limit; all it takes is some imagination and a creative shape! With our proudly Made in the USA products, we are committed to creating high quality items that can be used and enjoyed by all ages for crafting, decorating and creative play. So bookmark these ideas, explore our website and outdoor collection and see how our items can be a positive addition to your VBS toolkit.