Here is last year's volunteer handbook. I am still working on this years. ALL Volunteers receive this at training, and we pretty much go through page by page. For crew leaders we do add a roster page on the back cover for them to keep track of who is there each day.

What theme or curriculum are you using this year? And if you chose "other" - let us know what in the comments!

Let's get ready for VBS 2026! Woop woop! First, what type of VBS are you hosting?

I made a couple comments during the zoom but thought I should mention one more thing that might be helpful. Have one door in and designate one as the exit door. Another way to help ensure that everyone exits out one door.. have tables that lead to your exit with all the kids' crafts and take-home items. We have volunteers that are craft runners that bring the crafts to these tables once the crew has completed that rotation. Before dismissal I will print a daily update, page and place it with each kid's craft. At dismissal direct them to the tables (each crew has a spot) to grab their kid's items. We use the path divider things (like you would see at an airport) to create the path out that leads right to the door.

Here are a few questions to help you think through your timing and schedule: - Go back to your goals and priorities for the event. Does your schedule support them? - What’s the most challenging part of your schedule (dismissal was a common answer on the call today!) and what can you do to improve it? - Which part of a VBS schedule do you think has the biggest impact on the overall experience and why? Does this part of the schedule need more time or intentionality? - What’s your method for keeping things on track/on schedule? Have you communicated this to your team and leads? - Is there any part of your schedule that needs simplifying? (maybe cutting or combining elements?)