Magic Crayon: Younger. Using it to review (or learn) I Know That My Savior Loves Me and He Sent His Son

What if you could have a crayon that drew with your favorite color and even added sparkles into that?

What if your magic crayon could change colors when you held it up, looked at it intently, and said, "poof?"  

This is the kind of magic and wonder that surrounds the children when you use the activity Magic Crayon with younger children.

"I have a magic crayon," I tell the younger children. I pretend to take it out of my pretend pocket and hold it up in the air.  

"I'm going to decide what color it is.  Poof!" I pretend to throw glitter at my pretend crayon as I make that sound.  

"Can you take out your magic crayon?  Decide what color yours will be.  Mine is yellow."  

I hold up the crayon and begin to draw to the beat of the song while I sing the song.  At the end of the first phrase, I call out, "Freeze!"

"What color was your crayon?"  I take the children's answers.  

"I’m going to change my crayon color to red and blue stripes.  Can you change your color?" We again draw in the with our pretend crayons and I sing the second phrase of the song. After a bit, we stop to let the children tell me what color their crayon was this time before singing again.

Sometimes the children sing along, and sometimes they are too entranced with their magic crayons and the drawing motions.  I try to draw circles in the air on one side of my body, then circles in the air on the other side of my body (crossing the midline). I will then draw squiggly lines from one side of my body to the other side, up high by my head and down low by my knees.  

I make my drawing motions match to the beat of the song.  This is an activity that works well with gentle songs.

Every so often, usually at the end of a phrase, I will stop singing, call out freeze, and ask the children what color their crayon was.

This brings order to the activity, allows the children to express their individual preferences, and starts us all moving together again.  Sometimes I will direct the children to draw a particular object like a sun, or a river (if it has to do with the song). Often the drawing motions are in figure eights across the body (and back) to the steady beat (a very strong movement used in the Brain Gym method to help the brain read better).

The feeling in the room is one of gentle movement to the beat of the song, and wonder mixed with pretend.  Magic Crayon is indeed magical.

This is an activity that could be used with both He Sent His Son and I Know That My Father Loves Me this year.