My Heavenly Father Loves Me: Eraser Pass for Older children, 2nd verse

Eraser Pass

List these words up on the board. 

cheeks, eyes, forehead

color, tint, hue

ears, elbows, energy

tone, vibration, sound

soul, being, life

mind, hair, brain

feeling, lungs, heart

appreciate, gratitude, thank

artwork, creations, universe

part, included, member

God, Heavenly Father, Lord

The Rules

Tell the children that there are three rules to this game:

1.  Erase the words that are NOT in the song

2. Pass the eraser to someone who has not had a turn.  They will erase one word that is not in the song.

3. No talking

Tell the children you will be singing the song through 7 times.  Their job is to erase the words that are not in the song one by one while you are singing before you get through the song 7 times.

The Game

Hand the eraser to the first child with the instructions to erase one word that is not in the song.  Sing the 3rd verse of the song.  

Encourage the child to erase, then give the eraser to someone else in the room.

Continue singing the song again and again, and having the children pass the eraser until only the words that are in this verse are on the board.  (If a child accidentally erases a word that is in the song, just have a whiteboard marker or chalk handy to fill it back in and continue singing.)

Challenge the children to sing the song with you, BUT only sing the words that are on the song.

 Tell them you will be singing all of the other words.

Now switch!  They sing all the other words and you sing only the words on the board.

The Benefits

Because the words are often synonyms, seeing these words to decipher which one is in the song adds to the children's understanding of the song.

Because the children are engaged in the "puzzle" as they hear the song, the words slip into the back door of the minds in a pattern.

Because they have to sing only some of the words, they hear the other words with their "inside voice," one of the strongest ways to learn.