A five-or 10-day school-type daily program for children conducted as an evangelistic enterprise under the supervision of the Sabbath school during the summer vacation period. The program is centered on Bible lessons and Bible stories, quizzes, gospel songs, supervised games, arts, and handicrafts and is conducted for children from 4 to 12 years of age.
A few schools were held by Seventh-day Adventist churches in the late 1940s. The Autumn Council of 1953 recommended that the Sabbath School, Educational, and Missionary Volunteer departments collaborate in preparing lesson material, teaching aids, craft and game instruction, and a program for 10 weekday mornings. These were published and first made available to the field in the vacation season of 1955.
The Sabbath School Advisory Committee of 1958 recommended conference financial assistance up to 50 percent of the cost of lesson materials and craft supplies purchased through the Book and Bible Houses.
Enrollment in Vacation Bible Schools has steadily increased. In 1960, 62,728 children were enrolled. By 1970 the number increased to 178,596. Ten years later there were 260,347 children involved. This number increased to 383,935 in 1992. It is estimated that more than 65 percent of these are guests of Sabbath school members. About two thirds of the schools are conducted outside the North American Division. Facts reveal that in specific instances Vacation Bible Schools and effective follow-up provided a certain climate to gain decisions for Christ and church membership when other methods had failed. In 1989, 7,608 baptisms were reported that resulted from Vacation Bible School evangelism.
In 1974 a motion picture film entitled VBS Is Its Own Reward was produced, giving the philosophy of VBS. In 1987 and 1988 a set of three 22-minute videos was prepared by the Church Ministries Department, which explained the VBS program and materials needed.
Vacation Bible School materials are available for a three-year cycle for children in three divisions: kindergarten, primary, and junior. They are written for five days, and have materials so they can be expanded to 10. These materials include a Vacation Bible School Manual , Program Helps , Teacher’s Guides , take-home materials, and a variety of theme devices, nature materials, illustrated music, health aids, advertising aids, and other miscellaneous supplies.