Come Follow Me: Egg Shakers for Younger

Egg Shakers and Children... now that's a delightful combination!  

And younger children love the egg shakers.  How do you use them for a gentle hymn like Come Follow Me?

Here's an idea:

Ask the children: Can your hands follow my hands?  

Put your hand up, then down, then behind your back, then up again to get the children moving with you.  

Then go into the tap and shake pattern below as you sing.

Tap and Shake, Shake

You will be holding an egg, but the children will not (yet).  

Sing the song as you tap the egg on your leg, then shake it twice. (Tap, shake, shake.)  Repeat that 4 times.  

Now tap the egg on your shoulder, and shake it twice. (Tap, shake, shake.) Repeat that 4 times.  

Tap the egg on your calf, and shake it twice.  Repeat that 4 times.  

Tap the egg on your cheek, and shake it twice.  Repeat that 4 times.  

The children will be following your movement.

Ask the children: Would you like to hold an egg shaker as we sing the song again?  Pass out the egg shakers to each child.  (If you don't have enough, give them to half of the room.  Sing the song again and have them give their egg to someone who hasn't yet had a turn with the egg.)

Repeat the actions as you sing the song with the children following you, tapping and shaking their eggs. 

What the children don't know is that they are experiencing the gentle beat of this song in a hands-on way.  They are focused on following you with different locations for the egg shakers.  Meanwhile, the words of the song are gently making their way into the backdoor of the children's minds.  The gentleness of the shaking which you model gives the children a physical way to experience the mood of the song.  And.... the children like using the eggs!