Pre-Youth Orientation

Does your church host VBS every summer? And do you promote sixth-graders into your youth group at the end of each summer? Then take both of these ideas and form a healthy transition for you incoming youth group members from sixth grade. Talk with your senior pastor and VBS workers, and explain that you would like to “pull” the sixth-graders out of normal VBS activities and do something special for them during the same time they would normally be in VBS. Make it a “Pre-Youth Camp,” or something similar. Get to know the new kids. Reach out to the fringe kids who thought they were just showing up for simple VBS for a week. Share basic Bible studies with them in the fun ways you do in the youth group. Introduce them to all of the games, songs, and traditions that the youth group is so familiar with. This way, when they become official youth group members, they will have had a fun and memorable experience with peers and not feel so intimidated at their first event/activity.