Harvest Festival VBS Promotion

[TrinityJen]

Harvest Festival VBS Promotion

I was wondering what everyone else was doing to promote VBS during this fall/harvest time? Our church is having our first Trunk or Treat night on Oct 29th. Luckily I am not in charge, but would like to promote VBS in some simple way. Any ideas on flyers? I like the invisible message idea, but I would also like an idea of something that could easily be handed out.

Any ideas on wording? Maybe somethign with the memory verse. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

[TrinityJen]

Other ideas for the 'Waiting' thread. Feel free to post anthign I missed.

Hi Everyone,

I am one of the VBS editors here at Gospel Light. As I am reading your posts about upcoming Harvest Festivals I am thinking your Harvest Festival might be a perfect time to promote SonForce Kids VBS 2007.

Here are three activity ideas to get your children excited about SonForce Kids VBS 2007:

Secret Message Writing

Before the event begins:
Use a white crayon to write “Come to SonForce Kids VBS on (add date)!” on copier paper. Make enough so that each child who wants to participate will have a message.
At the event:
Place prewritten messages on a table. Provide markers for children to color over the letters to reveal messages. Children take home messages.

Special Agent Obstacle Course
Before the event begins:
Collect 8 to 10 items needed for obstacle course (hula hoops, ropes, wading pool filled with a small amount of water, wooden boxes, refrigerator boxes, wooden board and two cinder blocks, gymnastic mats, table with blanket covering sides, etc.), masking tape or chalk, several small briefcases.
Other items needed: For each child who plays, a message saying, “Come to SonForce Kids VBS!” (Optional: Create message on your computer using cool graphics and fonts. Print out messages on 8 1/2 x 11-inch paper.)
Insert message into briefcase. Set up obstacle course in playing area. For example, set the board on the cinder blocks to make a balance beam. Fill wading pool with water to represent a river. Children can crawl under table to represent crawling through a cave. Use masking tape or chalk to mark a starting line at one end of playing area.
At the event:
Give each child who plays a briefcase with a preprinted message inside. Children run through the obstacle course while holding the briefcase. After completing course children open the briefcase to find the important message inside. Children take messages home. (Optional: Place a small prize for completing the course inside briefcase along with the message.)

Robo-Photo Stop
Before the event begins:
On a large piece of cardboard, paint a robot or two. Where the robot(s) face(s) would be, cut a hole(s).
At the event:
Use a digital camera to photograph children with their faces showing through hole(s). Print photos and place in a fun frame. (Hint: You can use a portable printer to print photos right on the spot! Frames can be purchased from a local store or you can make them ahead of time using poster board or card stock. Let your imagination run with this one!)

Hope these are helpful for you.

Becky Garcia
Associate Editor, VBS
Gospel Light

Hey Debi, Trunk or Treat is really popular around here. It is a safe way for our kids to "trick or treat". We have a family life center at our church. The booths and most all activities are inside the FLC. On one side of the FLC (outside) we have participating cars lined up, trunks facing the walkway. Some people go all out -- hooking lights into their car systems and hanging non-scary Halloween/fall decorations all over. Some cars don't decorate and only have candy to give. We have everything from sedans to SUVs to pick-up trucks decorated. People usually sit in lawn chairs beside their cars and hand out the candies. The kids love it -- they walk from car to car with their parents - or by themselves if they are older. It is all on the church property and there are lots of adults present. It can be as fancy or plain as you want it to be. It's a wonderful way for our older church members to participate and support the children's ministry without having to walk a lot or stand a lot. The cake walk has been handled several different ways. Numbers are put on the floor and when the music stops, a number is drawn from a hat and whoever is standing on that number wins something. Sometimes it is a non-food prize. Sometimes it's a bag of cookies or a cake or whatever. We normally ask the church members to donate either candy for the festival or a cake/cookies for the cake walk. We've even had adults participate in the cake walk -- especially if they see a specific cake they want!! ;) We also have a man in the church who brings his flat bed trailer and pulls it behind his tractor and gives people hay rides. The kids love that! We're a small country church. Our fall festival is more than just a children's activity -- it is a church-wide event! If you have any more questions, please feel free to e-mail me at clgyoung@yahoo.com. Hope this helps. Cyndi

[Josh1]

I don't know if this helps you out or not but in Joshua 1:9, it says "...do not be terrified..." Maybe you could relate that to the scary things of Halloween. That's the first thing that came to my mind.
God Bless,
Josh Trommer:rolleyes:

[NormaVK]

Our small town is having a costume party at the town hall. I am going to dress as a secret agent, wear a wig for a disguise, all black clothing, I made a badge with the logo and lettered "Secret Agent" on it. Today I bought a little radio about the size of a deck of cards at the Dollar Tree and will afix it on my shoulder and wear the ear plug like all secret agents do! I think I will make a little note with the SonForce Kids logo across the top and --on a mission for God--under the logo with dates for VBS next summer. Of course, I'll also give them some candy. Wish this was a church function and I might do something more elaborate, but maybe I will reach some children that we would otherwise miss with our invitations next summer. Norma

[iloveVBS]

I was searching for an evangelism tract to hand out trick-or-treaters this year and found these from the American Tract Society: Get a Clue - How Special Are You? Very cool! Could also be handed out at VBS! Link:

http://shop2.gospelcom.net/epages/atsdirect.storefront/4530453d010c61d9271d45579e7c0639/Product/View/21744