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A VBS Alternative For Community Outreach: Perfect For Small Churches
Are you looking for more ways to reach your community within your small church? Here’s how to get started and use an arts camp for outreach.
Low registration numbers. Exhausted volunteers. Our typical Vacation Bible School program just wasn’t impacting others the way we wanted it to.
So when it came time to plan our summer programming, I began praying about what we could offer.
Here’s what I realized:
Our community loved the arts.
We had a lot of local artists. And our kids enjoyed creating their own art projects each week in class.
I love art too. And I knew it to be a precious way I could connect with God and pray about whatever was weighing on my heart.
And so, the idea for an arts camp was born.
For more outreach ideas for kids, check out: 5 Children’s Outreach Ideas for a Small Church
Looking for a step-by-step guide to starting or restarting your children’s ministry?
Check out the Children’s Ministry Bundle For Small Churches!
The Big Idea: Using Arts For Kids In A Small Church
Many communities offer art camp programs for kids over the summer. What set ours apart was that we used it as a way to teach kids how to use art to worship God and connect with Him.
Opening & Closing Sessions
Our opening and closing sessions presented this big idea of art being a spiritual practice –– a way to meet with God. We also used this time to teach on whatever theme or Bible story we were using for the summer.
A Variety Of Arts Workshops: Sketching, Drama, Dance, & More!
Then, kids got to choose two different art workshops to participate in throughout the morning. These classes were taught by local art experts — some from the community and some from our church. Class sizes were limited to 12 students, so there would be personal interaction and instruction. It’s all about building relationships, after all!
We’ve offered workshops in a variety of creative arts, based on the experience and passion of our instructors. These included:
- Painting
- Mixed Media
- Culinary Arts
- Music
- Dance
- Woodshop
- Architecture
- Sketching
- Drama
- Hands-on Art
Need to restock your children’s ministry craft supplies? Take a look at the list below!
- 8 x 10 artist canvas
- Decoupage glue
- Foam brush
- Glitter
- Hot glue or craft glue
- Ribbon or Jute twine
- Acrylic paint and Paintbrushes
- Felt
- Sheets of 8 ½ x 11 White cardstock
- Wide popsicle sticks and standard Popsicle sticks
- Acrylic paint
- Brown craft gift bags
- Sharpie permanent markers
Goody Bags
We also love to bless our campers, and so each year, they get to take home a goody bag of art supplies to continue meeting with God through art on their own. Sometimes it’s a general bag filled with supplies or activities from each workshop we offered that summer, and sometimes they get special materials based on the workshops they signed up for.
Art Show
On the last day of camp, we offer an art show for families to see what their kids had learned or created. This gives us a chance to get to know families who do not attend our church.
Volunteers
Arts camp is very flexible on volunteers! You can get through with just a skeleton crew or have as many as are interested. Example volunteer roles include:
- Instructors
- Registration table
- Snack helpers (making/bringing snacks, passing out the snacks)
- Classroom helpers
- Decorate the spaces you’ll be using.
- Set up the art workshop rooms so they are ready each week.
- Buy art materials that will be needed.
- Put goody bags together.
- Administration helpers (collect registration forms, create name tags, keep track of budget, creating signs, etc.)
I definitely encourage having a classroom helper in each room you might have an instructor from the community. This helper knows the building and can point people where they need to go, and they can also take charge of making sure church rules and policies are being followed as far as bathroom breaks or discipline issues. You don’t want your community instructors having to deal with that!
Plus, older students can serve as helpers in the classrooms! Sometimes they are able to do the art project too, or they get to take it home to do on their own.
An Example: Never Stop Praising Camp Theme
Theme Decoration On A Budget
The first year we offered this, our theme was Never Stop Praising (based on Hebrews 13:15 NIRV), and we decorated simply with colorful paper plates taped to the wall — some in the shape of music notes, some as if they were in a paint palette, others as if they were balloons. We also had some drawings from the kids up on the wall and streamers hanging from the ceiling.
Instructors From The Community
Some of our instructors came from the community. One was a Musikgarten teacher who taught some of her classes in our office building, so we had a great relationship with her. The other one was a local dance instructor many in our church already knew and loved.
Two more of our instructors came from our church and volunteered as instructors, teaching workshops in mixed media and culinary arts. The kids enjoyed getting to know them in this way!
Workshops In Music & Arts
We limited registration to 24 campers, again, so that kids could have personal interaction with their instructors and get to know them.
Music and art were offered in the first workshop spot, as these were ways kids could use their body in their art and worship. Then mixed media and culinary art were options for the second workshop. All workshops were limited to 12 campers each.
(There are times we’ve had three workshop options in the same time slot, in which case, the class size was limited to 8 campers.)
Even though we had enough kids from the church to fill the program, about half were unable to attend due to vacations or other plans. So we ended up with about 12 campers from church and 12 campers from the community.
Snack Break & Story Time
We took a break between the two workshops to let kids grab a snack and go to the bathroom. Since the library was practically across the street, we were able to have a children’s librarian come over and read a story related to our theme while the kids ate their snack. This was a fun way to tie in community connections!
Goody Bags
Our goody bags consisted of things like blank sheet music for kids to write their own music, a maraca, simple mixed media supplies, a sketch book, a healthy eating guide, and a CD with worship music (we took advantage of a good deal from Seeds Family Worship). Plus, one of our church members wrote each camper’s name in calligraphy for their goody bag, which was an extra special touch!
A Camp That Works With Any Budget
You can make arts camp work for many different budgets. Ours was definitely an outreach program, and we were able to put money toward it to pay instructors and get materials for the goody bags. Many in our congregation donated to help cover costs for arts camp. Some donated money, while others donated snacks. We asked for a $20 registration fee, more to have a commitment from the campers to actually show up than anything else.
Our Weekly Arts Camp Schedule
We met for four Saturday mornings in July. Yes, kids actually got up and were excited to come in the morning! The last week, we added on the art show as soon as camp was over.
8:45-9:00 am: Drop Off
9:00-9:15 am: Gather/Scripture
9:15-10:05am: Workshop 1
10:05-10:25 am: Snack/Story
10:25am-11:15am: Workshop 2
11:15-11:30 am: Reflection Time/Closing
11:30-11:45 am: Pick Up
Getting Started With An Arts Camp
If you believe arts camp could be a good fit for your church and community, here are some questions to ask to help you get started creating your own arts camp.
Need to restock your children’s ministry craft supplies? Take a look at the list below!
- 8 x 10 artist canvas
- Decoupage glue
- Foam brush
- Glitter
- Hot glue or craft glue
- Ribbon or Jute twine
- Acrylic paint and Paintbrushes
- Felt
- Sheets of 8 ½ x 11 White cardstock
- Wide popsicle sticks and standard Popsicle sticks
- Acrylic paint
- Brown craft gift bags
- Sharpie permanent markers
Who can serve as your art workshop instructors?
These can be people from your church (ideal, I think, if you want to use this as an outreach and help others get to know those in your church) or artists in your community (a fun way to get to know others in your town).
These instructors not only need to know their craft but need to be good with kids! And ideally, they should be Christians, as well, who can demonstrate how they use their own art to engage with God.
Who will serve as your director?
This person will be leading the opening and closing sessions and be responsible for the teaching portion of the arts camp. Often it involves telling a Bible story and helping kids relate to the message that art can be used as a way to connect with God. This is probably you if you’re reading this 😊. But it should definitely be someone from your church.
What format will work best for your church and community?
The first three years I led this, we did it on Saturday mornings in July. This got us away from competing with day camps and some sports practices and games. This summer, with a shorter time to plan for it, less availability of our volunteers, and being at a different church, we are testing this out as a one-day event. Another option would be to do it on weeknights throughout the week.
Similarly, the actual scheduling of the workshops can vary too. In our case, campers get to choose between two or three workshops during the first slot, and then choose between two or three different workshops during the second slot. For example, for the first workshop, they choose between music and dance, and then for the second one, they choose between culinary arts, mixed media, or hands-on art.
An alternative would be to offer the same workshops both times and simply have kids switch, so they attend either music or dance the first time, and then they attend the other the second time.
What age group do you want to focus on?
We generally focus on elementary students, but realize there is a wide gap in capability as far as what kindergartners can do compared to fifth graders! Have extra helpers for the younger campers, or split classrooms by age so instructors can teach accordingly.
Other questions include:
- Do you want them to pay a registration fee or not?
- Are you going to offer a goody bag or not?
- Do you want to allow community artists to offer a coupon or something about what they offer?
- What will your theme be for the summer?
- What is your budget for this event? Might there be a couple of people from your congregation who could help “sponsor” the event?
- Is your pastor/board supportive of this idea?
- How will you accept registrations — paper or online form?
As always, be conscious of allergies if offering snacks and be sure to have parents fill out any waivers or release forms upon sign-ups. 😉
If you want to hash out any ideas or details, I’m happy to chat! You can email me or find me at www.lovedoesthat.org.
Remember, there is no one right way to do it. Cater it to your church’s design and gifts, and focus on loving those kids and introducing them to Jesus!
Looking for a step-by-step guide to starting or restarting your children’s ministry?
Check out the Children’s Ministry Bundle For Small Churches!
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