Publicity Pointers

• Bible school leaders should let the community know about the upcoming Power Lab VBS by organizing a science fair-themed registration day. While parents fill out registration forms and ask questions, kids can try hands-on science experiments with the help of church volunteers. If you have the budget, you can draw more people with snacks, a bounce house for the children and a free drawing for a CD of VBS songs.
  
  

Decoration Ideas

• Gathering science-related decorations isn't as difficult -- or expensive -- as it seems, because you can transform ordinary items into laboratory objects. For example, pouring colored water into clear jars, vases, bowls and hurricanes makes chemical-filled beakers. Silver space blankets, available online, make eye-catching wall coverings, and pool noodles serve as a larger-than-life DNA chain. Stringing together multi-colored balloons will make giant molecules.
  
  

Recruiting Volunteers

• While everyone at VBS can have a job, you need several outgoing people who can capture the attention of a large group of kids. Dramatic flair is imperative for the Faith Fusion Finale leaders, who conduct large-scale science experiments, and Bible Blast leaders, who act out Bible stories. Artistic people can draw life-sized replicas of the special Power Lab characters, called Bible Buddies, and a group of artists can paint a laboratory wall mural on butcher paper.
  
  

Station Supplies

• The seven stations in the Power Lab curriculum include games, crafts and snacks. Station supplies consist primarily of household items, but you'll need a few not-so-common objects that the congregation can donate or let you borrow. You can hold a donation drive the month before VBS, with a sign-up sheet for parishioners to designate items they want to donate and a large bin where people can deposit their donations. Donors should mark items that they want returned to them afterward.
  
  

Help Finding the Curriculum

• Group Publishing no longer sells Power Lab products, such as workbooks and music CDs, but VBS directors who've already done Power Lab may let you purchase or borrow their used resources. You can cast a larger net by posting free online ads or searching VBS forums, and Christian bookstores sometimes have Power Lab items in stock. If not, the store might hold a VBS networking event where you can meet people from other churches.