Special Needs VBS For Small Churches

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A Story Of One Small Church Impacting Their Community

Did you know that many families that have children with special needs do not attend church? They do not feel that their children are welcome, supported, or understood.

If you are looking to minister to these families because you have children with special needs in your small church or because you want to meet the need in your community, special education teacher and behavior analyst Holly, breaks down how her small church held successful VBS programs for local children with special needs.

Children with special needs should be welcomed and included at church and in children’s ministry activities.

Why Special Needs Families Don’t Attend Church

Many families of children with special needs do not attend church at all because …

Times of services aren’t compatible
Format of services aren’t compatible
Building access isn’t appropriate
People don’t understand their child’s needs
The church doesn’t make the effort to support their child

As the church, we can do better! As small churches, we have an advantage!

Small Church Support For Special Needs Families

Small churches can effectively support families of children with special needs by …

Developing close relationships with caregivers and children
Being flexible with ministry activities
Coming together to learn more about a child’s needs

Also, small churches can be more intimate environments to truly know and become a community for a family, become better informed about a child’s special needs, and work to make services and activities accessible for all.

How My Small Church Did A Special Needs VBS

My small church held two consecutive successful VBS programs for local children with special needs.

I have been a special education teacher for 15 years, and a Sunday school teacher at my small church (ages 3-6) and I wanted to be sure that our congregation welcomed children with special needs.

I was asked to speak to the VBS volunteers at a large local church about autism. That congregation had two children with autism who would be attending VBS and had shared that previously they had turned those children away because they did not know how to include them or support them.

This broke my heart. I wanted to be sure they got to attend VBS just like anyone else, too.

I decided to approach my small church leadership team about hosting a special needs VBS at our church.

There was only one other volunteer leader in our church who had experience with children with special needs! She happened to be a speech pathologist who worked in a school environment.

I shared my experience speaking to the VBS team at the other local church and shared my heart for our church to give the children with special needs in our community a safe and fun VBS experience.

Even though leaders were nervous because most had no experience or knowledge about the children we would be ministering to, the idea was unanimously approved by the team!

I advertised the first VBS as an autism-specific experience because that is what I knew was needed.

How I Prepared For An Autism-Specific VBS

To get ready for an autism VBS that summer, I did the following:

Developed a handout with information on autism that volunteers would need
Set two training sessions for volunteers (I fed them pizza after church for two afternoons)
Chose a curriculum that I could adapt for children with autism
Assigned jobs to volunteers
Developed a flyer and advertised it on social media
Developed a registration form with information such as age, allergies, potty training status, emergency information, etc.
Gathered materials and prepared the schedule

Training My Volunteers

To train my volunteers, I made a handout and fed them pizza while I led them in two learning sessions about autism.

I explained what autism is, what they needed to know about autism, what they might expect from children who came to our VBS, and our goals for the VBS. I stressed that we are not trying to cure or discipline any children, but just to make sure they are welcome and supported so they can learn about Jesus.

Choosing A Curriculum

I chose a curriculum that my church had already used since we had all materials. It was a science-based curriculum, which I knew would probably be of high interest to the children that came since many of my students with autism have loved science-based activities.

I read through the curriculum and made changes to it in order to best serve the children who would come.

For example, I shortened lengthy skits and teaching scripts, reworded things to be in more plain language, simplified games to make them easier and quicker to learn (or to accommodate coordination/balance issues), and added a time to present the gospel each night.

Assigning Jobs To Volunteers

I developed a schedule for each night of VBS and had volunteers choose what they were most interested in doing. I feel so blessed that everyone took care of their own task and I didn’t have to oversee much –– just be available for questions.

For example, the craft time volunteers found their own crafts that went with our curriculum and double-checked with me to be sure they would be appropriate.

The snack volunteers came up with cute snacks and double-checked with me about dietary restrictions.

Worship time volunteers and sound volunteers checked with me about lighting and volume.

Teachers worked with me on having sensory activities, short lessons, and hands-on learning activities ready to go.

Actors made sure they had all the materials for experiments and learned their own lines.

Our small church really came together to do this well!

Advertising & Registration

I made a simple flyer for our VBS and posted it on our church’s Facebook page. I also emailed flyers to local schools for them to share with their special education teachers.

Parents who wanted to register their child sent an email to an included email address and filled out a registration form. I wanted to know each child’s name, age, potty training status, allergies, and emergency contact. I also asked permission to take children to the restroom and assist them if needed.

Parents also signed a video/photo release to give permission for their child’s picture/video to be included on our church’s website or Facebook page.

These documents were simple and templates can be easily found on the internet or created with Microsoft Word.

Once children were registered, I printed out their forms and made sure volunteers had access in case any of them needed to make adjustments to their jobs (like not including dairy in snacks or being aware that a child had a sensitivity to bright lights).

Simultaneous Parent Ministry

Due to the fact that some of the children attending VBS did have allergies or medical issues that were disclosed, and that there were only two volunteers with prior experience with children on the autism spectrum, I decided for the first VBS to require that a parent or caregiver remain on campus during VBS as a safety precaution.

Most parents did not mind, although one parent did ask to remain in his vehicle.

My pastor’s wife volunteered to provide activities and ministry to the parents who stayed, and it was an overall success that included crafts, snacks, and conversation.

The next year we did special needs VBS, I felt more comfortable and did not require that parents remain on campus — it was optional.

We still had parents attend the parent ministry time and they enjoyed it!

Hosting Our Church Special Needs VBS

After weeks of preparation, it was time to welcome the children!

I couldn’t have asked for better attitudes from my fellow volunteers. Even more people than had originally signed up came to help, and we had more than enough volunteers to help do the fundamental tasks and also just to spend time and build relationships with the children that attended.

It was noisy and busy and we were all exhausted each night, but the children had so much fun and their parents were so grateful that they could come and have a safe and fun experience to learn about Jesus.

Volunteers came back with excellent attitudes and fresh energy each night!

For the first VBS, we did five nights. It seemed like toward the end of the week, the children were getting pretty tired. For the second VBS we did three nights, and that was the perfect amount of time for the children that came.

Our Leadership Loved The VBS

On the final night of our first special needs VBS, my leadership team met for a potluck and talked about the experience. Every single one of the leaders and every volunteer I spoke with wanted to do it again.

The team even encouraged me to continue developing and expanding our church’s special needs ministry.

The team members talked about all they learned about autism, how much they enjoyed getting to know the children who came, and how amazing it felt to go into the experience feeling like they knew nothing to now understanding how simple it was to just love on the kids and learn how to care for them.

Our VBS Results

Children that had attended VBS visited our church with their families!

Our volunteers were able to take care of their children because of what they learned in VBS. Our volunteers began inviting people in the community to our church because they felt more confident in being able to minister to children with autism and special needs!

The following year, a mom and her daughter, who has autism, were saved and baptized!

Your Small Church Can Host A Special Needs VBS

Your small church can host a special needs VBS experience!

Recruit volunteers.
Learn about the children you will be ministering to.
Choose a curriculum and use the parts that work for your kids. Lose the rest.
Make safety a priority.
Enjoy the children!
Love on the parents, too.
Make a plan to include them in regular church activities.

I wish you luck in planning and hosting your special needs VBS! If you want to chat more, find me in the Small Church Ministry Facebook community on Facebook!

Looking for a step-by-step to starting or restarting your children’s ministry?

Check out the Children’s Ministry Bundle For Small Churches!

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