A VBS flyer is read by parents planning a week of summer for their kids. It gets pinned on library and grocery store boards, sent home in folders, shared in neighborhood Facebook groups, and staked by the church driveway as a yard sign. Here you'll find the checklist parents need, wording for Vacation Bible School and its volunteer and reminder flyers, theme ideas that don't borrow a published program's art, ways to get flyers to families, and sizes. Sunday services, potlucks and holiday events are covered on the church flyer ideas page.
What to put on a VBS flyer
Parents scan for dates and ages first. List everything below, and size it in this order:
- The words Vacation Bible School. Spell it out once. Neighbors who don't attend church may not know what VBS means.
- The theme. Your own ("Whale Song Week") or the name of the program you bought.
- Ages or grades. "Ages 4 through completed 5th grade" is clearer in June than "K to 5".
- The dates, with weekdays. "Monday, June 21 through Friday, June 25."
- The daily hours. "9 AM to 12 PM each day" or "5:30 to 8 PM with dinner".
- The church name, address and check-in door. "Check in at the gym entrance" saves a crowd at the front doors.
- The cost. "Free" in large type, or "$10 per child, $25 per family".
- How to register, and by when. A short web address, a QR code and a deadline with its weekday.
- Food. Snacks daily, or a family dinner for evening VBS. Add "Tell us about allergies when you register."
- A closing program or family night. Parents plan to come to that one.
- One volunteer line. "Teens and adults: volunteer with us."
- A contact. Who parents should call or email with questions.
VBS flyer ideas and wording
Each VBS needs more than one flyer. These VBS flyer examples cover the main ones, with fictional details to replace.
Morning VBS
- Headlines: "Vacation Bible School: Whale Song Week", "VBS Is Coming", "A Week of Summer Fun at Wendlow"
- Supporting line: "Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 12 PM. Bible stories, crafts, games, music and snacks."
- Call to action: "Free. Register by Friday, June 11."
Evening VBS with dinner
- Headlines: "Evening VBS: Night Sky Mission", "VBS After Work"
- Supporting line: "Family dinner at 5:30, VBS until 8 PM. Parents, stay for a class of your own."
- Call to action: "$10 per child, $25 per family. Register by Thursday, July 1."
Registration reminder
- Headlines: "Last Call for VBS", "Only 20 Spots Left"
- Supporting line: "Registration closes Friday, June 4. VBS starts Monday, June 7."
- Call to action: "Scan to register in two minutes."
Only print a spot count you'll keep up to date; a number that's a week old confuses parents.
Volunteer recruitment
- Headlines: "Volunteers Needed for VBS", "Be the Reason a Kid Loves VBS"
- Supporting line: "Teens 13 and up and adults. Crafts, snacks, music, games and check-in."
- Call to action: "Training Saturday, May 15 at 10 AM. Sign up at the welcome desk."
Family night or closing program
- Headlines: "VBS Family Night", "Come See What We Learned"
- Supporting line: "Songs from the week, a slideshow and ice cream for everyone."
- Call to action: "Friday at 6:30 PM. Bring the grandparents."
Middle and high schoolers who have aged out of VBS can help run it. Their own lock-ins, retreats and conferences are covered in the youth conference flyer ideas.
VBS theme ideas that don't borrow a published program
Published VBS programs come with their own theme names and artwork. If you're writing your own week, pick a theme a child can picture, and describe original characters rather than ones from shows or films.
| Theme | Headline | Picture to describe | Colors and Pictures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean | "Whale Song Week" | An original cartoon whale, a red submarine, seahorses | Vibrant, Illustration |
| Space | "Night Sky Mission" | A rocket, planets, kids in simple white space suits | Dark, Illustration |
| Jungle | "Canopy Climb" | Big leaves, a rope bridge, an original cartoon parrot | Vibrant, Geometric |
| Camping | "Firefly Campout" | Tents, a campfire, fireflies at dusk | Dark, Illustration |
| Farm | "Red Barn Week" | A red barn, sunflowers, a friendly goat | Light, Illustration |
| Mountains | "Pine Trail Week" | Trail signs, pine trees, a sunrise over peaks | Pastel, Illustration |
| Building | "Hard Hat Week" | Hard hats, blocks and a crane, Matthew 7:24 | Vibrant, Geometric |
If you bought a published program, use the promotional files that came with it and follow its usage rules, rather than asking an AI tool to redraw its characters. If you write your own theme, search the name with the word VBS before you print, and pick another if a published program already uses it.
VBS flyer design tips
Put the dates and ages in the top half. A parent passing a grocery store board may not step closer, so "June 21 to 25, ages 4 to 5th grade" has to be readable from a few steps back.
Use one set of original characters. Describe them in the prompt ("an original cartoon whale with a striped scarf") and reuse that description on every flyer for the week, so the reminder and the volunteer call look like the same week.
Keep bright colors off the text. Yellow and light green make good backgrounds for VBS art but poor text colors on white. Ask for dark navy or black text for the dates and times.
Give registration its own corner. Keep the QR square, the short web address and the deadline together, so a parent who wants to sign up finds all three in one place.
Print two half-page flyers per sheet for take-home folders. A half sheet fits a child's folder or backpack pocket and uses half the paper.
Getting VBS flyers to families
Beyond the church lobby, the flyers reach families through community boards, library and pool bulletin boards, neighborhood Facebook groups, and schools. School districts set their own rules for community flyers. Some use Peachjar, a digital flyer service: an organization uploads the flyer, picks the districts, and pays a per-school fee, and the district reviews and approves it before it goes to parents' inboxes and the school's online flyer board.
Keep your VBS registration list, because the same families may want to hear about your next kids' event. The back-to-school flyer ideas cover backpack giveaways and back-to-school bashes that follow in August.
VBS flyer sizes and printing
VBS flyers range from a folder-sized half sheet to a poster by the driveway:
| Where parents see it | Print size | Ideal pixels (300 DPI) | Flyer Maker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kids' take-home folders | Half sheet, 5.5 x 8.5 in | 1650 x 2550 | Tall, 2K |
| Library, grocery and church boards | Letter, 8.5 x 11 in | 2550 x 3300 | Tall, 4K |
| Driveway sign or entrance poster | 18 x 24 in | 5400 x 7200 | Tall, 4K |
| Neighborhood Facebook groups, Instagram | Screen only | Not needed | Portrait |
For the driveway poster, the 4K Tall file (2480 x 3312 px) gives roughly 138 PPI at 18 x 24, and its 3:4 shape matches that sheet. That is just under the 150 dpi minimum on Vistaprint's poster page. 4OVER4 notes that a print seen from farther away needs fewer dots per inch, so the sign works best read from the street or a passing car. On a half sheet the same shape runs out of width first, so it leaves a strip just over an inch deep at the bottom to trim or use for a handwritten room number; the 2K file comes to about 280 pixels per inch there. For printing, choose 2K or 4K. For postcard reminders or tabloid posters, see the flyer size guide; bilingual layouts are covered in the Spanish flyer tips.
A VBS flyer template you can reuse
The most useful VBS flyer template is the description you type, because every flyer after the first reuses it. Keep the theme, the character description and the colors the same, and change only the headline and details. Two more to adapt:
Last Call for VBS: Pine Trail Week. Registration closes Friday, June 4. VBS runs Monday, June 7 through Thursday, June 10, 9 AM to 12:30 PM, at Quillridge Church, 1200 Summit Road. Ages 5 through completed 4th grade. Free, snacks included. Register at quillridgevbs.example.com or call 555-0127. Pastel mountain illustration with pine trees and trail signs, a large LAST CALL headline and the closing date in bold.VBS Family Night at Fennick Church, 510 Cypress Lane. Friday, July 30 at 6:30 PM in the sanctuary. Songs from the week, a slideshow of VBS photos, and an ice cream social on the lawn after. Free, and grandparents, siblings and neighbors are welcome. Bring the whole family. Questions: vbsteam@example.com. Jungle green and orange geometric leaf shapes, warm and friendly, with the date and time in large type.How to make a VBS flyer in Flyer Maker
- In Flyer Maker, write the week into "Describe your flyer". The words Vacation Bible School, the theme, ages or grades, dates with weekdays, daily hours, church name and address, the cost, food, and the registration link and deadline.
- Describe your original characters and colors, and save that description for the reminder and volunteer flyers.
- Select a Size. Tall for printing, Portrait for Facebook and Instagram.
- Open More options. Printed copies need 2K or 4K Quality. Choose Playful style and Illustration pictures for a kids' look, and keep Flyer type on Event (or Announcement for a volunteer call). Type the church office phone in Contact info.
- Turn on "Leave a blank square for your QR code" if registration is online.
- Tap "Create flyer"; your VBS flyer is ready in about 30 seconds.
- Double-check every weekday and date, the hours, the ages, the price and the deadline, and remove any extra slogan. Ask for a single fix, such as "move the closing program to 11 AM", in "Want to change something?" under the flyer (currently 60 credits, 70 for 2K, 90 for 4K); for the reminder or volunteer flyer, edit the saved description instead. Then paste in your real QR code and scan it with two phones.