Paying for VBS?

I pay $25 per child for VBS. They feed them lunch in addition to the cost of activities and t-shirts so it seems reasonable to me to have a cost.

Here, there is usually a (very) small charge for VBS.

IF mine wanted to attend, even getting there late, I would sign him up.

Every VBS that is around us charges something. Actually, $15 is a bargain. Most will discount the fee for hardship cases though.

Our church started with a "love offering". Unfortunately, some people didn't think they needed to help so in the end you have to require. Our church stated charging a small fee. Ours was $10. I have helped VBS several years in a row because my kids were in it. I am a little taken aback by your attitude. You wanted FREE activities for the kids? Well, there aren't a lot of those nowadays. Churchs are hurting and they need help with funding VBS programs. We donated alot of the items for months prior to VBS to ensure we had enough supplies for everyone. I loved VBS and wish my kids were still little to participate. Oh, the sadness of kids growing up!

Also, I'm surprised that they are accomodating you with your time frame. Ours would have said "we would love for your kids to come but we start at 9, if they can't be here at that time, then this might not be the right program for them". Activities are closely timed and your kids are going to miss some of those.

In the end you have a choice. Pay the $15 per kid and let them have a great time at VBS or they just do the swimming lessons. Its a choice.

Wow - I'm shocked you're shocked. Why should it be free? Who is paying for all the items people have listed? I'm sure the $15 doesn't even cover all the costs associated with the session. We've always paid something for any kind of church programs and happily given they're WAY cheaper than other activities and I'm very grateful to the volunteers and in general people who donate to the church to subsidize these types of activities. If you think the time spent there is worthless and therefore should be free, then of course don't sign your kids up. I assume you're paying for the swimming lessons...

I think it's fine and actually good that they are charging for it.
And I think they are being very accommodating considering the fact that you are just now signing up AND your kids will be late every day (which can be distracting to the whole group.)
Too many people use VBS as free babysitting over the summer (my own mother did this, we didn't even go to church!)
And even though these things are usually run by volunteers they still need to cover the cost of supplies and snacks.
$15 per kid is a GREAT deal if you ask me, the one my kids attended was $60!

I've never heard of it, but I don't think there is anything wrong with it. I teach VBS for my church and we don't charge. A major issue is that people think VBS is just free childcare and drop their kids off when they want and pick them up when they want. So maybe that's why churches have started to charge.

Also, if your kids have to be late please don't send them. An hour is a lot of time missed. Not only will your kids miss out on cool/interesting things, it is quite the headache to try to get the late kids up to speed. That's not as fun for your kids and it's inconsiderate to the teachers and other students. Best wishes.

ETA: Well, the church isn't getting the shirts or supplies for free you know. They have to pay for things just like everyone else. Plus they are probably going to provide a meal or snacks.
I would absolutely sign my kids up even for a charge because I don't feel that Vacation Bible School deserves any less respect than any other school. My son attends a bi-annual church program (it's like VBS during the school year) that costs well over $15 and it's totally worth it. :)

ETA after you extended your SWH: I really hoped it was just a poor phrasing or mis-phrasing, but since you've written it again it seems that you are saying that your kids are already signed up for VBS at several other churches. If so, then you are not only a cheapskate for not wanting to pay the little 15 bucks, but you are also a greedy mooch just looking for free childcare to foist your kids upon. Your actions are pitiful and I do pity you and your children. If you are truly in need and not the moocher you appear, then contact some local charities or the welfare office to see if they can assist you with childcare cost or other needs you may have.

ABSOLUTELY, I pay for my kids to have a great 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. I have no problem paying my measly $10 per kid for those 5 days. I always give extra money for those that refuse or don't have the money to send their kids.

I pay a babysitter $10 an hour, this is way cheaper, so I am happy to pay.

Our church has a program called "Blast", it's just like VBS but it's during the school year. I always help with the program and shell out anywhere from $60-$100 of my own money to help with supplies. Nothing is free, God doesn't drop supplies down to the church.

BTW it is a pain if kids are late. For example if we are working on a craft that needs time to dry, your kids won't dry.

Some charge and some don't. $15 seem like an awfully good deal. You seem pretty irritated about them not being happy about your kids coming late, and the fact that there is a cost. If you don't agree with it, sign your kids up somwhere else.

Most churches are running on a tight budget, just like everybody else. Our church always charged $10, but if there were a financial need, there were families who would help pay for others. (Most churches around here do charge a minimal fee. It's crazy to me how many people use the free programs as dumping grounds for their kids. There are VBS "hoppers" who take their kids each week to the cheapest (or free) VBS they can find. It's 15 hours of freedom for the parents if they're not helping. And it really can overcrowd a program if lots of people are doing that.

The $10 didn't even begin to cover the costs of the snacks, curriculum, crafts and use of the church (we used tons of water, air conditioning, electricity, etc., and needed extra janitors to clean up at the end).

I think you're getting a bargain. However, I wouldn't send my kids to VBS if they were going to be an hour late. I would find something else for them to do, or look for another VBS at a different time or on different days.

I don't see the problem with that. 5 years ago things were quite different. I know at my church, we are having to charge $10. We have never charged in the history of the church. There simply isn't money coming in right now, and we can't make it appear. Church's don't get paid, they only have what the congregation can afford to give. In most places, that's not much. Would you rather VBS be free, or that money going to people who need food, shelter, medical care, financial help, etc?? Church's are really suffering, and $15 is kind of silly to be shocked about. If you don't want to pay, find a free one!!!

Please stop and think: What does VBS cost the church to run? There's the cost of craft materials -- times however many kids are coming (that was about 90 in the last VBS we attended, so multiply everything by 90!). The cost of snack and drink if that's provided. The cost of keeping the lights and AC turned on (yes, that is a very real cost!). The cost of materials such as storybooks and other aids to teaching. And many VBSes use packaged curriculm they purchase from Christian book and curriculum companies (please don't knock buying curriculum -- not all churches have enough super-volunteers to actually create an entire VBS curriculum from scratch).

Some large churches that can budget VBS as outreach ministries do it for free. That's wonderful. Others cannot handle that and charge -- but believe me they charge as little as they can. They are not making a profit off this, just covering costs so they can still do this for kids and families.

If you are seeking only free activities, try your local libraries for story times and kids' craft activities and even guests (our library has kids' authors come, or people from animal shelters who bring animals, etc.). Try your community center or your city or county's parks and recreation department events calendar for the summer (our town sponsors free kids' movies outdoors on Friday nights and has an "open morning" where kids can ride scooters etc. in the gym when it's too hot out to be outside). And so on. But I hope you'll see why some churches do indeed charge a very small fee for VBS. I think $15 for -- what? Three hours a day for a week? -- is a huge bargain for you, frankly.

As for the late entry -- I'm surprised they said yes to that. If it's a two or three hour VBS period, your kids would miss a huge chunk of it and would not gain as much from the programming as they would if they were there the whole time. Many VBSes build up over the week, with kids learning parts for a closing play on the last day or other things that make it a cumulative experience over the week.

Yes, the ones around us charge too. I think it's fairly normal. A lot of the charge goes toward the materials, etc. and I think a lot of does have to do with people not using it as a "free" drop off zone for their kids as Cupcake suggested. I understand you weren't doing that, but I don't see anything wrong with charging a small amount. Churches can't run for free. I have no problem paying, especially if it was my own church. My church is kinda small so we don't have our own program and I am sending my daughter to the church where she goes to preschool, but I still know the money is going to a good cause!

Hi, Mom:

You haven't been back since 5 years ago?
Why?
Just want to know.
D.

Is it $15/day? Or $15/week? If it is for the week that is pretty darned inexpensive. If you are looking for something free why not ask if you can make arrangements in trade for your volunteer time at the camp. Just a thought.

We participated in VBS last summer and I couldn't believe that it was free. I volunteered as a counselor which made me feel better about both my kids going for free, to a church we don't even attend. It was a 1/2 day program where they did a fun craft everyday, games, sang songs and were provided with juice and a healthy snack. I thought it was great. I would still sign my kids up for a 15.00 fee, especially if they get a t-shirt. I think they get a lot out of it.

I would expect to pay something (and do). Not a lot - I'm sure it's all run by volunteers. But they have to buy all the stuff for the crafts, shirts, food, etc. I think ours is $20 for the week. I never thought twice about it - any kind of camp costs $ to run.

It was norm here when my daughter was young and participated in VBS. she's 17.5 now and has not participated in years but when she did, I always had a fee.

I understand it was for supplies, t-shirt. Etc

This does not surprise me.

The church we attend where my son will be going to VBS this year for the first time is free and always has been( i went when i was a kid to the same church and that was 15 years ago). never heard of paying for VBS

I've never heard of a church charging for VBS. The ones our kids (and when I was younger, I) attended, were all free.

That is really cheap.

Here in my city, VBS is only for 1 week and is about $25 per kid. And is half days.
Then there are full summer programs for kids, held at churches. Those run about $150 per kid. It includes the supplies for activities etc.

There are a few other "free" VBS for kids, but it runs only 1 week.

If you are dropping off your kids late, then you have to accept that and how the program is run. They cannot change their activities for a couple of kids that come in late. So I can understand how they did not know how to answer you or gave you the runaround to your question about your kids being late everyday, and per their activities.
They should not be signed up for swimming class, which starts at 9:00, if your kids are arriving late.

And yes, in my city, LOTS of families sign up their kids for VBS because, it is not expensive (compared to other summer programs) and working families need someplace for their kids to go.

An alternative would be City & County run summer programs.

At one church's summer program I know of, which my daughter attended a couple of years ago... they NO longer have their summer program anymore. Because, they cannot afford it.
Every organization, has budget concerns.

It is free, but they offer us to buy the Tshirt for 15 dollars.

First off how much are they charging? The VBS at my kids school charge. I paid forty for 2 children and it is half day. They need to pay for the food, supplies, t-shirts ect. Another VBS we sign them up for is free, donations accepted, that one is all day and they even provide lunch. So I guess each one is different.

i might pay 10 if it included a shirt. ours is free and i've never heard of a church charging although mine spends thousands on vbs each year. they even pay for the 5th graders to go to ocean breeze the last day. we do buy our own shirts for $6 and a cd of the songs for $3 but we don't have to do that to attend. there are so many churches that do vbs why not search the web for another in your area that either does a different time or week so that your kids get the full benefit anyway. for our vbs the first hour is action pact with the most entertainment and if they missed that they would most likely be upset for the rest of it. good luck.

Yes churches here charge a fee for VBS. ALl the adults are volunteers. They buy a lot of materials and even a program. There is usually not a charge for volunteer's children.

This year our church is charging $30 per child for the week. Ends up being only $2 per hour! It's still cheaper than camp, and all the teachers and assistants volunteer. The costs help cover materials and props for the week. They're not trying to make a profit, so I wouldn't expect it to be free. They do have a "scholarship" program for families who can't afford to pay. Good luck, and have a great summer.
=)

Our church does VBS every year. They hold it at the community center in town and its open to all kids ages prek- end of 8th grade... not just kids that go to their church. Normally there is about 100 kids that attend and they bring in kids that are the youth counselors from a church in Chicago that our pastors brother is the pastor to. Our church pays for the travel and lodging expenses.

Every one of them get a shirt every year, they do an activity every day that is a craft, a physical activity, Bible study and they serve snacks. On the last day they do a huge ice cream social open to the town so the kids can show what they learned that week. The kids go M-F for 2 hours a night.

Our church doesn't charge a dime for any of it. We live in a small town, but they put out donation boxes around town the prior week to VBS and have a special fund at church that you can donate to all year long.

I used to work for a church and we always charged for vbs... However, if there were families in need, they were always given a "scholarship". I think it was 20 for one and less for a family. Every church in our area had the same policy. The children were also given a great snack every day. If charging for a summer camp vbs is not common in your area, i would suggest shopping around for another one. We had some kids go to ours that we refered to as vbs hoppers. The parents to them to a different one each week. I would personally pay for the services if it was in my budget to do so, but every church where i am from charges a similar fee. If i could go elswhere for the same quality fun for less, that might alter my decision.

Fyi- one church in our area had charged 75 per child ... and got close to 200 participants! That is one i would definitely pass on.

I believe it is normal to charge. The VBS at our church asks for $15 0r $20 I can't remember exactly for buying snacks, or you can sign up to bring certain snacks. All the other churches in our area charge something too. But if you think about it, they have to pay for all the VBS curriculum, so it makes since for them to charge something. Any other camp you would most likely pay for, so I don't so anything wrong with charging for VBS.

there are free ones?
khairete
S.

Rachel:

Our church usually charges $15 to $30 for each child depending upon what they are doing...it covers the T-Shirt, some snacks and activities.

IF it was a church i believed in and knew that my kids were going to enjoy themselves? Yes. I would still pay. I figure if they have any $$$ leftover - they can use it for the "slush fund" to help someone who might need it.

our church asks for 15 dollars per kid but then again they provide dinner and shirts and crafts and other fun stuff.
The times are hard and it is for churches too.. why should they be covering all the costs for ur kids to have fun

Not all but many churches are in such budget crunches that they have to charge for things they haven't charged for in the past. It's like just about every other organization or business in the country. Five years ago - well, it was different. Five years from now, it may be different again.

I can assure you they're not making any profit on the deal, and they'd rather not charge for anything if they could get away with it.

The VBS at my church is still basically free, but there's a charge for the optional t-shirt and the optional music CD (so kids can hear some of the songs in advance). I buy the shirts for my grandchildren; however, when my children were small I would not have had the extra money and they would have (and sometimes did) go without them. Happily, there was no pressure to purchase - it was just an option.

At most VBSs, the program is structured so that the best learning comes from having your children there for the whole time. However, it doesn't always happen. You probably didn't get a real run-around; somebody probably had to ask someone else about it.

My DD went to one with a friend and it was $25.00, for one week of half days. I felt it was absolutely reasonable. They put on a very, very good program, with music, crafts, snacks, and a lot of fun activities. She got a T-shirt, as well as a music CD. Compared to all of the other camps and summer activities, VBS was the least expensive of all.

Yes, there is a fee in our community, which is waived if a family cannot pay it.

Our church has a VBS fee of $15 per child or a family fee of $40 for 3 or more children. My daughter has always attended VBS and we've always paid the fee knowing it went towards the supplies, snack, etc. We don't get a t-shirt though =( Our church also opens up VBS to the entire community but the non-members pay a slightly higher fee per child.

My church has one next week from like 8:30 to 12:30 and they charge $55 for early sign ups and $65 for late sign ups. I think it's ridiculous. One year they made my kids pertisipate because the daycare that went to was at the church and they charged us like $10 on top of what we paid the daycare and we did't get to choose what they signed up for or anything the next year they made it optional and my kids didn't go. When my son was in 5th grade my mom paid for him to go but my youngest will not go this year. He's going to my friends churchs that it was $4 for the shirt that was optional. I don't think you should have to be made to pay that is supposed to be a ministry to the community. I try to find at least one for him to go to if I can but I don't want to pay for anything more than the shirt.

It's definately not the norm but once in a while I've seen it with all our moving around. I don't pay for VBS, ever. There's plenty of churches around town that offer VBS at one date or another where most kids can go 2 or 3 times over the summer to different churches. I understand about the kids coming in an hour late. I wouldn't agree with it if I were the church because they'll be missing out on a lot of info and disrupting when they come in trying to catch up. I'd find another church even if you have to drive further.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

My kids have never gone to VBS, my church doesn't have it. But we went to multiple church VBS's every summer when I was a kid and I know my mom never paid anything (we couldn't have afforded it). My church is all about free meals and helping the less fortunate, so I would be shocked if anyone would ever have to pay for VBS there, but then, maybe that's why they don't do it, because of the expense?

All VBS' our kids have gone to in Fairfax Co. have costed $$.

we gladly pay the 35$ each kid fee- it covers supplies, food, shirts, cd's and it's so inexpensive for 5 days!

I haven't checked into VBS, I always assumed there was a charge for all of them. Maybe VBS isn't full time, I'm not sure. I have my son going to the boys and girls club. Its $85 per week plus extra for their field trips. Its so worth it to me tho because he's so active, he just can't sit home like my daughter can. Anyway, I hope you get some answers, I'd be curious too. Good luck!

I have never had to pay for VBS... but this year my kids old preK was charging. I was SOOOO upset; I can't afford for them to go this summer :(

HOWEVER, one of my 6 year old's classmates invited both my daughters to go to HER VBS, and that's free. Everything happens for a reason! So now they get to go, and I couldn't be happier!

Check your local library's bulletin board; I bet you can find a free VBS in your area :)

The VBS is free in my town, but you do have to pay $10 for the T shirts, and all kids have to have a T shirt. 5 days, 9-12 am. So if your kids are an hour late they are missing out on a third of the stuff.
I would not be in shock to pay $15, I would gladly pay it.
My sister in law works, and signs her kids up to every VBS during the summer, they are in one every single week, it is very cheap childcare! then they get picked up in her lunch time and taken to the YMCA summer program!

We have never HAD to pay. There is an optional charge for a t-shirt. Meaning, everyone usually buys the t-shirt and wears it every day during VBS, but you don't have to get one. For $5.00 each (I think...it could be $10 for the T-shirt)

It is for 3 hours and they provide a dinner for all kids and parents. Meals are make by volunteers, it is free dinner all week! (GREAT when you have four kids:) :) ) They also do activities and crafts and lots of dancing and singing.

It is always a good time. We have fun.

My area/city is starting to charge.
Most are moving to evening times as well because they didn't have enough volunteers to run it during the day.

The church we belong to does not charge yet and they are trying veryhard to keep it free because even though the members are all well off from the suburbs the actual church is in the inner city and surrounded by many many poor minorities. That being said the church members are not giving as they used too, many diying off, many bearing the financial crunch of the rescession, so this year our big closing even might cost a bit and that might mean some kids can't participate in the big party at the end, usually held at a zoo, or amusement park or water slide place.

so no don't be shocked, but also don't feel bad because i was shocked too when i first hear of it. honsestly the library and the YMCA are your best bet for cheap entertainment. but please do consider some other church's vbs programs, it is truly a lovely lovely opportunity for your kids. But probably one held at a different time so it doesnt' conflict with swim.

We have to pay $15 for a family. There are a lot of activities that cost money that they have to purchase so I assumed that is what the fee went for.

I have never heard of charging for VBS. My kids used to go to church camp and there was a fee for that. VBS was 3 hours a day and church camp was in the mountains for a week.

The VBS program at our non-denominational Christian church is free and always has been. It's open to ALL children in the community (or anyone who just wants to come). It's a formal program that is purchased as a package. It runs for 5 nights and includes age-appropriate activities, games, crafts, snacks/drinks and a really nicely produced skit at the end of each evening. Our youth group puts on the skit that leaves the kids wanting to know what's going to happen the next night, so they come back (and hopefully bring a friend). We expect somewhere around 50 kids for our program.

All the $$ that is needed to run VBS (materials, craft supplies, etc.) is budgeted from our yearly church budget. The full cost of running the church is covered by the donations/tithes of the church members. (paying the full-time pastor, paying utilities/upkeep, maintaining the building and grounds, insurance, etc.) Our church only has about 100 total members.