Summer Fun, Vacation Bible School

Houston, TX (2009 ) - In the Houston area there are several Vacation Bible Schools (VBS). VBS is fun with a purpose. It can be free. The expense is t-shirt and other potential souveniers such as a music CD. VBS is for kids who have completed Kindergarten through 5th Grade. After 5th Grade students can become youth volunteers. Some churches have special events for older students.

Some VBS accepted preschoolers as young as 4 years old, but these are hard to find. If you are a member of a church, if you volunteer to serve at VBS, then you can get your younger children registered.

I highly recommend volunteering in crafts. The prep work is pretty intense, but all the hard stuff is done before VBS begins. If you are not in charge of crafts, you may only have one or two work days and that is all the prep you do. The week of VBS students come to you for about 20 minutes for their craft time. The rotation of students makes the time go by very fast. It is also just fun to meet all the kids and see all their special creations.

We have attended the MET (Metropolitan Baptist Church, http://www.themetonline.org/jonesroad , VBS is July 13-17, 2009). For the kids it is a blast; lots of energy and fun. For volunteers it is tough; high expectations with little to no staff support.

For the last two years we have attended Copperfield Church (http://www.copperfieldchurch.org/ , VBS is June 15-19). For kids it is a blast; lots of energy, fun and the "Shark" song. For volunteers it is fun; lots of staff support.

Houston has a strong Christian Radio Station, 89.3 KSBJ which has a calendar of community events and listings of VBS throughout the city. http://www.ksbj.org/events_list_category.php?category=bible

We just finished our first day at Copperfield VBS, and it was fun listening to the boys talk (I took 4 boys: a 5 year old and 3 - 4th Graders). The boys remember the story (Paul becomes a disciple) and were proud of their craft (a sun catcher). They enjoyed talking about the music the most. The sang the "Shark" song and said the most memoriable song verse was the "Boomerang Express" theme song.

VBS a cheap fun way to spend a summer day.