Activity Ideas
Activities that help teach music to children can be broken down into different categories:
Living Music (showing melody, rhythm, beat, meter, mood)
Purposeful Movement to a Steady Beat
Gestures/Concrete Representation of Words
Written Words (Older Children)
Visual Intrigue
Spiritual Connection
Logical Conclusions/ Patterns (Older Children)
People Connections
Below you will find each of these categories with activity ideas associated that include explanations, benefits for this teaching style and some video examples (when available).
Mix and match ideas and use your own personal revelation to adapt these ideas for the children in your Primary.
Showing Melody
Showing Rhythm
Showing Beat
Showing Meter
Showing Mood
Living Music
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This activity works with children 3 to 7, and with children 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
At home, sing the song and tap the rhythm of the words with one hand. Sing the song again and tap only the steady beat with the other hand. See if you can tap the rhythm in one hand and the beat with the other hand at the same time while you sing.
Activity
Ask the children to tap the steady beat of the song with their hands onto their laps. Sing the song and tap the beat. Now ask the children to tap the rhythm of the words on their laps. I sometimes ask the younger children to clap the words of the song, capturing them as they come out of their mouth.
Split the room into two groups. Have someone lead one group in tapping the beat, and someone lead the other group in tapping the rhythm as you sing the song.
For older children, ask them if they can tap the beat with one hand, and tap the rhythm with the other hand as you sing the song.
Benefits of the Activity
Great for children who learn through musical and kinesthetic intelligence (see Chapter Five). Great for practicing steady beat with all of its benefits (see Chapter Ten). Great for fitting the rhythm of the words with the melody of the music to increase language skills (see Chapter Ten). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One).
Example Videos
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This activity is good for children ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Sing the song and clap the rhythm at the same time. See if you can clap the rhythm without singing.
Activity
Ask the children to tap the rhythm of the song on their palm as you all sing the song. When you have finished singing and tapping, tell the children you are going to give a signal like tapping the top of the piano, or ringing a small bell. When they hear the signal, instead of singing the song, they clap instead. When they hear the signal again, they quit clapping and sing instead.
Sing the song and give the signal, indicating that the children should clap. At the next end of phrase, give the signal to start singing once again. Alternate between singing and clapping the rhythm throughout the song.
When you have finished, ask the children if they can switch back and forth more quickly. Sing the song and give the signal halfway through the phrases.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). Great for audiation (See Chapter Two). Great for a review of a song the children already know. Good for those children who are kinesthetic, logic, or music intelligence learners.
Example Videos
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Beforehand Preparation
At the front of the room, post a series of X’s and rests in groups of 4 for 4/4 or in groups of 3 for 3/4 .
Activity
Ask the children to clap the pattern with you, making sure to be silent on the rests. Now sing the song WHILE clapping the pattern.
This is a great review activity requiring the adults and the children to clap a pattern at the same time they are singing the words, thus adding a new challenge to a song they already know.
Activity Extender
Divide the group in half. Choose one leader for each group to clap and rest on the pattern. Start one group, then 8 (or 6) beats later start the other group. You sing as they clap. Next time through, challenge them to sing as they do the clapping pattern.
Benefits of the Activity
Great for an added challenge and review of a song they already know. Great for purposeful movement to a steady beat. Great for active participation in the learning process.
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This activity requires a Hoberman ball or something like it.
This is a good review activity once the children are familiar with the song.
Activity
Show the ball to the children. Tell them to sing softly when the ball is small and get gradually louder as the ball gets bigger.
Sing the song and maneuver the ball as would best suit the louds and softs of the song you are singing.
Extender
You can allow one or two children to “run” the ball, but it does not increase the good dynamics of the song.
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This activity is good for both 8 to 11 year olds, and 3 to 7 year olds. The focus will be different for the two different groups of children.
Beforehand Preparation
Make a melody map. Instructions for how to make a melody map are included in Appendix C of the book "To Teach a Child a Song."
Activity
Post the posters for the melody map up at the front of the room. I do not put them in the right order. Ask the children, "What do you see? What do you notice?" Receive their answers. (They will often say things like, "I see colors." "I see circles (or squares)." "I see a car shape." "I see mountains.") Ask the children, "What do these shapes and maps have to do with this song?" Sing the song. Receive their answers. Ask appropriate questions like, "What does this color stand for?"
Example Video
Bar Graphs
Dot Graphs
A Childs Prayer- with shaker
Away in a Manger- Harmony
Line Graphs
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This activity is good for children from 3 to 7, and in a more advanced way for children 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Obtain enough wind wands for at least 1/3 of the children in your Primary. Ideas to make the wind wands in Appendix C.
Sing the song and come up with different patterns for the wind wand movement, usually in 4 to 8 beat segments.
The patterns for Younger Children should be simpler than that for Older Children.
For example:
Younger Children = Circle x 8 beats on one side, Switch to the other side and Circle 8x. Paint the Sky x 8, then paint the floor x 8. Repeat the Circle segment, then the Paint segment. Notice that you repeat the movement for 8 beats, then do the same thing on the other side (you'll see that in both segments).
Older Children = Circle x 4 Left, Circle x 4 Right, Snake on the Floor Left x 2, Snake on the Floor Right x 2, Over the Shoulder Left, Over the Shoulder Right. Paint the Sky x 2, Dot, Dot, Freeze (for 2 beats). Repeat the sequence. Notice that the movements come in 4 beat patterns, changing more quickly than they would for younger children.
Here are some of the idea movements for the wind wands:
Circle Left
Circle Right
Circle Up
Circle Down
Dots on the Floor
Figure 8 Front
Figure 8 Down
Figure 8 Up
Freeze
Over the Shoulder Left
Over the Shoulder Right
Paint the Sky
Paint the Floor
Snake on the Floor
Snake Up
Snake Down
Snap
Watch the video to see demonstrations of each of these ideas.
The Activity
Tell the children to watch your hands and to have their hands do what you are doing. (They will not have a wind wand, but you will be using one in order to demonstrate.) After you have demonstrated the pattern, ask the children to watch it again and tell you what your hand is doing (i.e., circle, circle, circle, circle, etc.). Note: for the older children it is helpful to write down simple symbols to help them remember the sequence such as a squiggle line with an arrow pointing to the left for Snake on the Floor Left, or a circle with x4 Left for Circle Left x4.
Ask the children if they would like a wind wand. Tell them there are 2 rules: 1. Move to a place in the room where their ribbons will not touch someone else. 2. If they use the wind wand inappropriately, I will take it. No questions asked. (Be sure you follow through with that in a kind way.)
Have four helpers help you pass out the wind wands. As they pass out the wind wands, begin practicing the pattern so that the children will be pulled straight into the activity. Once you have practiced the sequence once, repeat the sequence and begin to sing the song as you move to the pattern.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for crossing the midline and for practicing steady beat (See Chapter Ten). Good for logical, picture/spatial, and musical intelligences (See Chapter Five). Good for Whole to Part to Whole learning (See Chapter Nine). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One).
Example Video
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Beforehand Preparation
Gather tambourines, rhythm sticks, jingle bells, or other types of rhythm instruments, enough for each child in a group when you divide them into two or three groups.
Figure out a rhythm pattern for each of the three or four different instrument groups. I would keep the patterns fairly simple.
Activity
Model the pattern for each of the instruments. Divide the Primary children into their groups. Have each group do their pattern as a practice, Sing the song and have each group play their pattern at the same time. (I often put the groups in a different corner.) Freeze and have the groups switch to the next set of instruments. Sing the song again as the new groups play their new pattern. Children want a chance to play each of the instrument groups, so you will be doing this activity three or four times.
Benefit
This is an activity that makes the music come alive and gives lots of variety for experiencing the steady beat of the song.
Example Videos
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Beforehand Preparation
Gather enough rhythm sticks for each child to have two. Unsharpened pencils work well and are less noisy.
Because of the strong sound of the sticks, this activity is best for strong beat songs.
Decide a rhythm pattern that works well with the song. Younger children need a simple pattern.
Activity
Model the rhythm pattern for the children as you sing the song. Ask them to pretend to hold sticks and do it with you. Pass out the sticks and do the pattern as you sing the song.
Extender
Younger children – turn to the back or side and do the pattern as you sing.
Older children – add a more complex pattern. Sing and do the pattern.
Benefit
Purposeful movement to a steady beat is wonderful for a child’s development. This gives the children a chance to practice steady beat while hearing the song over and over again, yet being engaged in the learning process.
Example Video
4th Article of Faith, younger
4th Article of Faith, older
Families Can Be Together Forever
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Beforehand preparation
Obtain enough scarves for each of the children (or at least half). Figure out a pattern to the beat or meter of the song. I usually use a mixture of action word actions, figure 8”s, side circles, and overhead circles. Draw icons to represent those movements.
Activity
Display the icons in the front of the room. (Can be done without icons). Ask the children to pretend to hold a scarf and to follow your hands as you sing the song and model the actions.
Pass out the scarves. Sing the song and do the actions together.
Extender
Ask if there are any helpers that could come up to the front to help you do the actions as you sing. Sing the song and do the actions. Ask those children to find a friend and bring them up to the front to help show the actions.
Example Video
I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus, partner
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Beforehand Preparation
Listen to the song and “doodle” in the air as you listen. Find movements that fit the beat, the melody, or the rhythm of the song. Make a pattern that you write out in doodles large enough for the children to see it. The pattern should have something repeating about it if something in the song repeats.
Activity
Post the Squiggle Map at the front of the room. Ask the children “What do you see? What do you notice? What’s the same? What’s different?” Receive their answers.
Ask the children “What do these squiggles have to do with this song?” Sing the song and trace out the squiggles as you sing. Receive the children’s answers.
Ask the children to follow the squiggles with their pointer finger. (You can also use unsharpened pencils, finger lights, or glow sticks to trace the pattern in the air.) Sing the song and trace the squiggles.
Extender
Ask if there are any children that could come up and be your helpers to draw the song in the air. Sing the song while you and the helpers draw the squiggle map in the air.
You can also print out pictures or words that would be appropriate to place on the map in the place they come in the song. Have the children help you decide where to put the words or pictures so that it matches the song.
Example Video
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Beforehand Preparation
Sing the song and sway with your arms swinging in front of you back and forth. Decide when to call out Freeze at the phrases.
Activity
Ask the children to follow your hands. Point them to one side and swing your arms in front of you to point to the other side. Ask the children if their arms, hands, feet are just like yours.
Sing the song. Sway and freeze at the phrase. During a freeze, again ask the children if their hands, arms, and feet match yours. Continue singing as you sway and freeze.
Extender
Ask the children to face the back of the room. (You move to the back to be in front of the children.) Sing as you sway and freeze facing this new direction.
Benefit
This activity helps the children to feel the meter (groups of beats) in a song, to be actively engaged while they hear the song over and over, and to use their large motor movements during singing time.
Example Video
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This activity helps the children to sing the song both out loud and, in their head, (one of the strongest ways to memorize a song).
Beforehand Preparation
Bring a large pot with a lid that is easily removable. Bring a box and lid easily closed or opened. Bring a hotel bell or other rhythm instrument that can be struck to show in or out.
Activity
Ask the children to sing the song. When the lid is off the pot, they sing out loud. When the lid is one the pot, they sing the song in their head. Sing the song, taking it in and out at the phrase.
Extender
Sing the song, taking it in and out, but increasing the speed of putting the lid back on or off.
Ask a child to come and run the pot lid to have a sing out loud or in our heads.
Benefit
Audiation is like thinking in words in your head, only applied to music. You are “singing” the melody, the rhythm, and the words in your head instead of out loud. It is sometimes called “inner hearing”. It is the skill that Mozart had as he heard entire symphonies before writing them down. In a small way, we can help children to practice and hone that skill as we help them to hear the song in their head in small sections.
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This activity is good for both younger children, ages 3 to 7, and older children, ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Sing the song and move your hands away from you and back towards you like the waves of the sea. Note where the song has small waves and where the song might have larger waves.
Activity
Ask the children if they have been to the seashore. Tell them that when you watch the waves some of them are small (demonstrate with small in and out movements to a steady beat) and some of them are large, even crashing waves (demonstrate large in and out movements to a steady beat).
Ask the children to have their hands follow your hands. Sing the song and move your hands to the steady beat, responding to the rise and the fall of the music with smaller or larger movements.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for practicing nuances of the song, and for practicing steady beat (See Chapter Ten). Good for kinesthetic, and musical intelligences (See Chapter Five). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One).
Example Video
Purposeful Movement to a Steady Beat
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This activity works with children 3 to 7, and with children 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
At home, sing the song and tap the rhythm of the words with one hand. Sing the song again and tap only the steady beat with the other hand. See if you can tap the rhythm in one hand and the beat with the other hand at the same time while you sing.
Activity
Ask the children to tap the steady beat of the song with their hands onto their laps. Sing the song and tap the beat. Now ask the children to tap the rhythm of the words on their laps. I sometimes ask the younger children to clap the words of the song, capturing them as they come out of their mouth.
Split the room into two groups. Have someone lead one group in tapping the beat, and someone lead the other group in tapping the rhythm as you sing the song.
For older children, ask them if they can tap the beat with one hand, and tap the rhythm with the other hand as you sing the song.
Benefits of the Activity
Great for children who learn through musical and kinesthetic intelligence (see Chapter Five). Great for practicing steady beat with all of its benefits (see Chapter Ten). Great for fitting the rhythm of the words with the melody of the music to increase language skills (see Chapter Ten). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One).
Example Videos
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This activity is good for children 3 to 7, and for children 3 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Sing the song and figure out a pattern of body movements to go with the steady beat of the song. Group the movements into either four or three, according to the time signature of the song. For younger children an example of a four-beat pattern would be patsching four times on your lap, clapping four times, stomping with your feet four times, and swishing the palms of your hands back and forth four times. (A patsch is tapping the palms of your hands to your thighs.) Repeat this all through the song. For a three-beat pattern, just do three of each of these actions.
For older children, an example of a four-beat pattern would be patsch, patsch, clap, clap, stomp, stomp, snap, snap. Repeat this all through the song. An example of a three-beat pattern would be patsch, clap, clap, snap, clap, clap.
Activity
For younger children, ask the children to follow your hands. Do the rhythm pattern. Start singing the song as you do the pattern.
For older children, say, "Here is the pattern." Demonstrate the pattern and have them follow you. Complete the pattern once all the way through, then continue to do the pattern as you sing the song.
Extender Activity for Older Children
At the end of the song, ask for one of the children to come up and be your partner. Ask the other children to watch the new pattern. Demonstrate a Partner Body Rhythm Pattern a couple of times. Ask the children to find a partner. Lead them in doing the new partner pattern a couple of times, then begin to sing the song as they do the pattern with their partner. (See Partner Body Rhythm Patterns in this Appendix for ideas.)
Benefits of this Activity
Excellent practice for steady beat (See Chapter Ten for the benefits of steady beat). Good for children who learn through the People Sense, Kinesthetic, Logic, and Music Intelligences (See Chapter Five). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One).
Example Video
Follow the Prophet- chorus
I Know that My Savior Loves Me
I Know that My Savior Loves Me
I Know that My Savior Loves Me
I Love to See the Temple- younger
I Love to See the Temple- older
I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus- younger
I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus- Older
The Iron Rod- 3/4 verse
The Iron Rod- 4/4 chorus
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Beforehand Preparation
At the front of the room, post a series of X’s and rests in groups of 4 for 4/4 or in groups of 3 for 3/4 .
Activity
Ask the children to clap the pattern with you, making sure to be silent on the rests. Now sing the song WHILE clapping the pattern.
This is a great review activity requiring the adults and the children to clap a pattern at the same time they are singing the words, thus adding a new challenge to a song they already know.
Activity Extender
Divide the group in half. Choose one leader for each group to clap and rest on the pattern. Start one group, then 8 (or 6) beats later start the other group. You sing as they clap. Next time through, challenge them to sing as they do the clapping pattern.
Benefits of the Activity
Great for an added challenge and review of a song they already know. Great for purposeful movement to a steady beat. Great for active participation in the learning process.
Example Video
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Children love balloons. They are a soft sort of ball, and the color and shape are enticing to a child.
Please read a few of the reasons below you should cover a balloon if you are going to use it in the Primary setting.
Beforehand Preparation
Blow up three to seven balloons inside their covers (depending on the size of your Primary). Practice the pattern of tap, tap, tap, clap for a 4/4 song, or tap, tap, clap for a 3/4
You can find patterns to sew your own covers or already sewn covers by googling covered balloon pattern.
Activity
Ask the children to follow your hands and demonstrate the pattern. Sing the song as you do the pattern. Show the children one of the covered balloons. Tell them that every time you clap it will be the signal to pass the balloon to the person next to you. Demonstrate with two teachers and a child that come up front with you.
Hand out the balloons to each row of children. Sing the song, do the pattern, and the children will be passing the balloons as you clap during the singing.
Benefits
This is a cooperative game that requires listening for the clap, and yet the brain is hearing the beat, rhythm, and melody of the song at the same time. It is good for visual and kinesthetic learning. The children love it.
Reasons to cover a balloon:
The loud pop of a balloon is very disturbing to those with OCD tendencies, Turret’s Syndrome, some with Autism, and other neurodivergent leanings. Avoid that by covering the balloon.
Children love to put things in their mouths. If a balloon pops while they have it up to their mouth, they might breathe in a part of the balloon, blocking their airway and suffocating them.
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Beforehand Preparation
Make four colorful papers that represent stomp. Do the same in a different color each for clap, snap, patsch, and forearm cross.
Activity
Put up the four papers for stomp. Ask the children to stomp four times.
Do the same for clap, then snap, then patsch, then forearm cross, keeping them in a row of four.
Now sing the song as you do each of these patterns.
Tell the children you are going to mix up the actions.
Do two of each.
Ask a class of children to come up and create a new pattern, keeping it to two rows of four things.
Benefit
Children are creative and love to create. Allowing them to create a pattern fuels this love. They are hearing the song and moving to the steady beat over and over again without realizing it as they engage in this activity.
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This activity is good for children ages 3 to 7. This activity works best with strong beats in four.
Beforehand Preparation
Sing the song and begin to march to the beat. Experiment with turning towards different directions at each phrase.
Activity
Ask the children to stand and begin to march like you. Sing the song, marching to the beat. Turn different directions at the phrases. Halfway through the song call out "Freeze!" Ask the children in a playful way if they are facing the exact same way that you are. Begin to march and sing once again.
Activity Extender
Sing the song a second time, but this time push your arms out in front of you mimicking a march. In addition to turning different directions, you can alternate pushing your hands out in front of you or pushing your hands up to the sky above your head. Have the children's hands follow your hands.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for practicing steady beat (See Chapter Ten). Great for learners that use kinesthetic intelligences to learn (See Chapter Five). Good for learning participation (See Chapter One).
Example Video
Follow the Prophet- Daniel
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Beforehand Preparation
Find small boxes, Number 10 cans with lids, or other things that could serve as quieter drums. You could also find something to use as drumsticks, like a spoon.
Create a pattern to the steady beat of the song that can be played on the “drums”.
Activity
Model the pattern on one of the drums. Ask some children to come up and be the drummers while the other children play the pattern on their lap.
Do the pattern and sing the song. Ask the children to choose a friend to take their place on the drums. Sing and do the pattern again.
Benefits
Purposeful movement to a steady beat is a wonderful way to help develop the executive function of the frontal lobe of the brain. Children love to be involved as they drum the rhythm paStand for the Rightttern as you sing. They hear the song again and again without recognizing it.
Example Videos
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Scroll below for Shaker Pass
Shaker Patterns
Beforehand preparation
Obtain enough egg shakers (or shakers of another kind) for the children. Make a rhythm pattern of shaking and tapping to use with shakers as the song is sung.
Activity
Model the rhythm pattern with the shaker. Ask the children to pretend to hold a shaker and do the pattern as you sing the song. Pass out the egg shakers and do the pattern as you sing the song.
Extender
Ask the children to turn towards the back wall and do the pattern again as you sing.
Combine the egg shaker with an unsharpened pencil to tap against the egg shaker. Shake, shake, tap, tap, tap or in 3, shake, shake, shake, tap, tap, tap.
Change the egg shaker to a different hand and do the pattern.
Benefit
Movement to the beat is a powerful way to help the brain organize itself. Every child gets to actively participate in learning the song by moving to the pattern as the song is sung, helping them to better sense the beat of the song.
Shaker Pass Older Children
Beforehand Preparation
Decide a simple shake and pass pattern for the song, for example… shake, shake, pass, pick up 4/4, shake, pass, pick up 3/4.
Decide a “first step” pattern that does not have a pass, pick up, for example… shake, shake, freeze on left leg, freeze on right leg.
Practice singing the song and doing the “first step” pattern, then the passing pattern.
Activity
Model the “first step” pattern for the children once or twice. Ask them to pretend to do hold an egg shaker while they do the pattern with you as you sing the song.
Pass out the egg shakers. Do the “first step” pattern as you sing the song.
Now tell the children you are going to add a challenge. Ask a child to come up and be your partner. Sit on the floor. Do the pass pattern as you sing the song.
Ask the children to find a friend and do the pass pattern as you sing the song.
Extender
Tell the children you are going to add a new challenge. Ask the children to get in groups of four (having the teachers help to make sure everyone has a group… it can and should include teachers). Ask the children to do the pass pattern with the group. Make sure everyone is passing to the same side and picking up from the other side. Sing the song and do the pass pattern.
Benefit
Purposeful movement to a steady beat is a great way for the children to learn the beat of the song while hearing the rhythm of the words and melody. Asking the older children to interact and cooperate with others as they do the activity is a challenge well suited to their developmental level. It brings excitement to the activity for the children.
Example Videos
3rd Article of Faith- Younger
3rd Article of Faith- Older
I Am a Child of God- Younger
I Am a Child of God- Older
I Love to See the Temple- Pencil
I Pray in Faith - sticks
I Will Follow God’s Plan for Me
Search, Ponder & Pray- Younger
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Guiros are a type of rhythm instrument often used for upbeat, syncopated folk songs.
Beforehand preparation
Obtain enough small spiral notebooks and unsharpened pencils for each child. Figure out a rhythm pattern to “play” on the notebook using a combination of swipes along the metal spiral of the notebook and taps on the cover of the notebook with the pencil end. An example would be swipe, swipe, tap, tap, tap and freeze. Practice the rhythm pattern as you sing the song.
Activity
Tell the children you have a rhythm pattern for them. Ask them to pretend they are holding a notebook and pencil and copy your movements. Sing the song and do the rhythm pattern as the children follow along. Pass out the notebooks and pencils to the children. Sing the song and do the rhythm pattern together.
Extender
For younger children, ask them to turn to the back of the room to sing and do the pattern again.
For older children, ask them to switch and put the pencil and notebook in a different hand. Do the pattern as you sing again.
For both, ask the children if there are three or four helpers that could come up to the front and help you do the pattern. Sing the song and do the pattern with the helpers. Ask them to choose a friend to come up and help them. Sing the song and do the pattern again.
Benefit
Purposeful movement to a steady beat helps the children to internalize the beat of the song while they hear the song over and over. The variety and newness of the sound of the pencil as it runs over the metal spirals increases intrigue and engagement in the activity. And the children like the feel of it!
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Beforehand preparation
Obtain jingle bells for each child. Create a rhythm pattern using the jingle bells to the song. Practice singing the song and doing the rhythm.
Activity
Tell the children you have a rhythm pattern for them. Ask them to pretend they are holding some jingle bells and copy your movements. Sing the song and do the rhythm pattern as the children follow along. Pass out the jingle bells to the children. Sing the song and do the rhythm pattern together.
Extender
For younger children, ask them to turn to the back of the room to sing and do the pattern again.
For older children, ask them to switch and put the pencil and notebook in a different hand. Do the pattern as you sing again.
For both, ask the children if there are three or four helpers that could come up to the front and help you do the pattern. Sing the song and do the pattern with the helpers. Ask them to choose a friend to come up and help them. Sing the song and do the pattern again.
Benefit
Purposeful movement to a steady beat helps the children to internalize the beat of the song while they hear the song over and over. The variety and newness of the sound of the jingle bells increases intrigue and engagement in the activity.
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Example Video
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This activity is good for children ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Using a pair of Maori Sticks (see Appendix C for ideas of how to make Maori Sticks), sing the song and tap a four-beat pattern. Some examples would be tap, tap, click click, or tap, knock, tap, click. (A tap is hitting the end of the stick on the floor. A click is hitting the two Maori Sticks together. A knock is hitting the opposite end of the Maori Stick on the floor.)
The next pattern to figure out is a passing pattern. Sing the song and figure out an eight-beat pattern that includes passing and picking up. An example would be tap, tap, click, click, pass-----, pick up-----. (The pass and pick up both take up two beats.)
Activity
Ask for 15 children to sit in a circle on the floor. Tell them you are going to play a game with Maori Sticks. Warn them: "If you do something inappropriate with the sticks, I take them. No questions asked." (You need to be willing to follow through with that.) Pass out two sticks to every child. Show the pattern, starting with the four-beat pattern. Ask the children to copy the pattern. Say, "Freeze!" Show the eight-beat pattern and ask the children to copy the pattern. (Be clear about which way to pass the sticks.) Be sure to give the pattern in the same tempo as the song you are going to sing. (You want them to be the same speed.)
Once they have successfully passed the sticks in the pattern two times, sing the song to the beat as they do the pattern and pass the sticks.
Activity Extender
If the whole group is really good at passing the sticks in the pattern, you can again say freeze and add in some flipping of the sticks into the pattern (demonstrated in the video).
Benefits of this Activity
Great for crossing the midline and for practicing steady beat (See Chapter Ten). Good for people interaction, logical, and musical intelligences (See Chapter Five). Good for Whole to Part to Whole learning (See Chapter Nine). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One).
Example Video
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Beforehand preparation
Obtain enough cups for each child in your Primary. Figure out a pattern that matches the beat of the song you will be teaching. Remember that younger children need to do the same movement in the same place for about 4 to 8 beats before switching. In contrast, older children need a more complicated movement.
Some movements you might want to consider are tapping the top of the cup upside down on your lap perhaps only once or twice, in one place then another, then tapping the bottom of the cup with the palm of your hand once or twice. You can also turn the cup over.
Activity
Ask the children “Can your hands follow my hands pretending to hold a cup?” Do the pattern and sing the song. (You are modeling what you want the children to do first.) Now pass out the cups to the children and sing the song again, doing the pattern.
Extender
For younger children, ask them to do the pattern as you sing the song again, but this time facing the back or the side.
For older children, have them partner up and do the pattern facing each other. You can also consider having them exchange cups as part of the pattern.
Benefit
The different sounds of the top of the cup and the bottom of the cup are intriguing and fun to work with as the children do the pattern. Movement to a steady beat and the challenge of doing the pattern engage the children in the learning process, gives them experience with the beat (that the words ride on), and allows them to hear the song over and over again while concentrating on something else.
Example Video
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Beforehand preparation
Obtain cheap paper plates (2 for each child). Decide on a pattern to the beat for the song you will be teaching. Some motions you might want to consider are hitting the plates together like a cymbal crash, swishing the plates to the side, up above, and below, hitting the plates on your lap like a drum roll, or crossing to tap each shoulder with one of the plates.
Activity
Ask the children to pretend they are holding plates and to have their hands follow your hands. Do the pattern and sing the song as a model to the children. Pass out the paper plates. Sing the song again and do the pattern.
Extender
Younger children – have them do the same pattern facing the back or the side.
Older children – add a more complicated pattern or add in a partner pattern where they tap paper plates at some point with their partner.
Benefit
Different movements to the steady beat while singing the song give the children a chance to experience the beat and hear the song over and over again while being engaged in the learning process. Children enjoy working with the paper plates.
Example Video
Book of Mormon Stories, Samuel
Families Can Be Together Forever
If I Listen with My Heart (children)
Search, Ponder, and Pray- younger, with shaker
Search, Ponder, and Pray- older
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This activity works well with younger children to help them feel the beat.
Beforehand
Plan some arm swings and “freezes” to the beat of the song you want to teach. I recommend the freezes come at the end of the phrases.
Activity
Ask a child (one of the oldest) to come up and be your partner. Sing a phrase of the song, freeze, and sing the next phrase. Now ask that child to choose a friend and you choose another friend. Sing the song and do the arm swings with some well-placed freezes. Ask all the children to find a friend. Make sure the teachers and presidency are aware of any children that need to find a friend and they buddy up with them. Sing the song and do the arm swings with some freezes.
Extender
Ask everyone to find a new friend and do the activity again as you sing the song.
Benefit
This active, large muscle activity is a great way for the children to sense the steady beat of the song while they hear the song over and over again to make a map of those sounds and the beat in their head.
Example Video
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This activity works well in a home Zoom situation using pillows from home, yet is very fun for the children
Beforehand Preparation
Figure out a pattern of throwing the pillow up and catching it, hitting the pillow to a steady beat, and moving the pillow from side to side.
Activity
Sing the song and do the activity you have created with the pillow to model for the children, asking the children to pretend to have a pillow. Now ask them to join you doing the pattern with a real pillow as you sing.
Extender
Change the pattern a bit, making it a little more complex. Sing and do the new addition to the pattern.
Benefit
A pillow is soft enough and yet sturdy enough to throw and punch to the steady beat, engaging the children in large motor activities as the move to the song.
Example Video
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Beforehand Preparation
Cut pool noodles in half lengthwise, then cut them into 5 to 6 -inch lengths crosswise. You are preparing enough pool noodles for every child to have one for each hand.
Plan a pattern to the steady beat for the song you will be teaching. If the song is gentle, do slower gentle movements. If the song is a strong beat, use strong movements. Choose between tapping on the lap, clapping them together, swishing them together overhead, in front or side to side. You can also cross tap to one shoulder then the other.
Activity
Ask the children to pretend to hold pool noodle in their hands and follow your pattern as you sing. Sing the song and do the pattern. Pass out the pool noodles to the children. Sing the song again doing the pattern with the pool noodles.
Extender
Younger turn a different way like to the back or side and do the pattern again.
Older add in a new, more complicated movement or a partner movement like tapping across.
Example Video
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This activity is good for children from 3 to 7, and in a more advanced way for children 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Obtain enough wind wands for at least 1/3 of the children in your Primary. Ideas to make the wind wands in Appendix C.
Sing the song and come up with different patterns for the wind wand movement, usually in 4 to 8 beat segments.
The patterns for Younger Children should be simpler than that for Older Children.
For example:
Younger Children = Circle x 8 beats on one side, Switch to the other side and Circle 8x. Paint the Sky x 8, then paint the floor x 8. Repeat the Circle segment, then the Paint segment. Notice that you repeat the movement for 8 beats, then do the same thing on the other side (you'll see that in both segments).
Older Children = Circle x 4 Left, Circle x 4 Right, Snake on the Floor Left x 2, Snake on the Floor Right x 2, Over the Shoulder Left, Over the Shoulder Right. Paint the Sky x 2, Dot, Dot, Freeze (for 2 beats). Repeat the sequence. Notice that the movements come in 4 beat patterns, changing more quickly than they would for younger children.
Here are some of the idea movements for the wind wands:
Circle Left
Circle Right
Circle Up
Circle Down
Dots on the Floor
Figure 8 Front
Figure 8 Down
Figure 8 Up
Freeze
Over the Shoulder Left
Over the Shoulder Right
Paint the Sky
Paint the Floor
Snake on the Floor
Snake Up
Snake Down
Snap
Watch the video to see demonstrations of each of these ideas.
The Activity
Tell the children to watch your hands and to have their hands do what you are doing. (They will not have a wind wand, but you will be using one in order to demonstrate.) After you have demonstrated the pattern, ask the children to watch it again and tell you what your hand is doing (i.e., circle, circle, circle, circle, etc.). Note: for the older children it is helpful to write down simple symbols to help them remember the sequence such as a squiggle line with an arrow pointing to the left for Snake on the Floor Left, or a circle with x4 Left for Circle Left x4.
Ask the children if they would like a wind wand. Tell them there are 2 rules: 1. Move to a place in the room where their ribbons will not touch someone else. 2. If they use the wind wand inappropriately, I will take it. No questions asked. (Be sure you follow through with that in a kind way.)
Have four helpers help you pass out the wind wands. As they pass out the wind wands, begin practicing the pattern so that the children will be pulled straight into the activity. Once you have practiced the sequence once, repeat the sequence and begin to sing the song as you move to the pattern.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for crossing the midline and for practicing steady beat (See Chapter Ten). Good for logical, picture/spatial, and musical intelligences (See Chapter Five). Good for Whole to Part to Whole learning (See Chapter Nine). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One).
Example Video
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Rhythm Stick Roll
This activity is good for gentle songs.
It only works with younger children if they are paired with an older child or a teacher.
Beforehand Preparation
Obtain enough rhythm sticks for each child to have one. This activity work better if the sticks used are thicker than a pencil.
Figure out the timing with the beat of the song to include rolling the stick into a partner’s hand while receiving the partner’s stick, then circling it around the back and out to begin the process again.
Activity
Ask an older child to come up and be your partner. Roll your stick into his or her hand. Have them circle the stick around their back and grasp it with the other hand. Now have the partner roll the stick into your hand, after which you will circle it around your back and grasp it with your other hand.
Sing the song and do this action with your partner.
Extender
Instead of using only one stick, now do two sticks with both of you rolling a rhythm stick into the other’s palm at the same time.
Example Video
4th Article of Faith, younger
4th Article of Faith, older
Families Can Be Together Forever
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Beforehand preparation
Obtain enough scarves for each of the children (or at least half). Figure out a pattern to the beat or meter of the song. I usually use a mixture of action word actions, figure 8”s, side circles, and overhead circles. Draw icons to represent those movements.
Activity
Display the icons in the front of the room. (Can be done without icons). Ask the children to pretend to hold a scarf and to follow your hands as you sing the song and model the actions.
Pass out the scarves. Sing the song and do the actions together.
Extender
Ask if there are any helpers that could come up to the front to help you do the actions as you sing. Sing the song and do the actions. Ask those children to find a friend and bring them up to the front to help show the actions.
Example Video
I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus, partner
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Beforehand Preparation
Get two plastic spoons for each child.
Make up action word actions or movements to the steady beat using the spoons.
Activity
Ask the children to pretend to hold spoons and follow your actions. Sing the song and model the actions with the spoons.
Pass out the spoons to the children. Sing the song and do the actions with the spoons together.
Extender
Do the song silently with the piano playing, doing the actions with the spoons as you “sing” the song in your head.
Example Video
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Beforehand Preparation
Sing the song and sway with your arms swinging in front of you back and forth. Decide when to call out Freeze at the phrases.
Activity
Ask the children to follow your hands. Point them to one side and swing your arms in front of you to point to the other side. Ask the children if their arms, hands, feet are just like yours.
Sing the song. Sway and freeze at the phrase. During a freeze, again ask the children if their hands, arms, and feet match yours. Continue singing as you sway and freeze.
Extender
Ask the children to face the back of the room. (You move to the back to be in front of the children.) Sing as you sway and freeze facing this new direction.
Benefit
This activity helps the children to feel the meter (groups of beats) in a song, to be actively engaged while they hear the song over and over, and to use their large motor movements during singing time.
Example Video
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Beforehand Preparations
Obtain some old tennis balls. With a sharp edge, cut a small slit into one of the seam lines on the ball. Put in three or four BBs. Glue the ball seam closed.
Figure out a pattern to the steady beat with the ball. You can use the same type of patterns that are used with egg shakers. You can also do a partner movement where you shake, tap, and then roll the ball to a partner as you both sit with your legs opened to a V.
Activity
Ask the children to pretend to hold a tennis ball while you model the pattern. Sing and model the pattern. Pass out the tennis balls. (NOTE: because balls are often thrown, please set some boundaries such as “these balls stay in our hands unless we are supposed to roll them on the ground. We want to stay safe in our Primary. Please keep us safe by following this.”)
Sing the song and do the pattern together.
Extender
Younger: do the pattern facing a different way in the room OR getting a different partner.
Older: increase the complexity of the pattern to challenge the children. Use different sets of partners.
Benefit
The dopamine (pleasurable reward hormone) in our brain is highly sensitive to variety and novelty. Using different manipulatives to a steady beat is intriguing to the children as well as fun. They get to experience the beat of the song in their bodies while they are hearing the melody and rhythm over and over again.
Example Video
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This activity is good for both younger children, ages 3 to 7, and older children, ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Sing the song and move your hands away from you and back towards you like the waves of the sea. Note where the song has small waves and where the song might have larger waves.
Activity
Ask the children if they have been to the seashore. Tell them that when you watch the waves some of them are small (demonstrate with small in and out movements to a steady beat) and some of them are large, even crashing waves (demonstrate large in and out movements to a steady beat).
Ask the children to have their hands follow your hands. Sing the song and move your hands to the steady beat, responding to the rise and the fall of the music with smaller or larger movements.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for practicing nuances of the song, and for practicing steady beat (See Chapter Ten). Good for kinesthetic, and musical intelligences (See Chapter Five). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One).
Example Video
Gestures/ Concrete representation of words
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This activity works with children 3 to 7, and with more complex actions for children 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Sing through the song and choose some actions that could represent the action words in the song. If the word is "build," you could pretend to build something. If the word is "home," you could use your hands to look like the roof of a house. If the word is "brave", you could put your arms into a strong stance to show bravery. I often will mix in Sign Language for words like faith, true, or commandments (abstract ideas). Handspeak.com, signing savvy.com, and ldd.org are good resources for those signs.
Activity
Ask the children to have their hands follow your hands. Show an action and say the word, focusing on some of the more complex actions or signs. Sing the song and do the motions for the action words having the children follow your actions. If you notice that the children aren't getting an action, again say the specific word and do the action. Sing the song again doing all of the actions.
Ask the children to sing the song in their head with no sound as they do the actions. Lead them in the actions as you mouth the words.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for Concrete Representation of Words,Visual and Kinesthetic Learners (See Chapter Five). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). Great for audiation (See Chapter Two). Great for physically connecting the phrasing of the song with the melody (See Chapter Ten).
Example Videos:
Praise to the Man- chorus
Joseph Smith First Prayer- song story
Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus
Search Ponder & Pray- chorus
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This activity is good for children ages 3 to 7, and ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
For younger children find 6 pictures that correspond with the message of the song. Copy the pictures so that you have two of each.
For older children you can use a combination of pictures and major words of the song, copying each so that there are two. Get thick colored paper that will cover the pictures once they are displayed.
Activity
Display the pictures at the front of the room in a 4 x 3 grid. Cover the pictures with the colored paper so that it can be lifted up. Tell the children you are going to play a matching game. You will choose someone to come up and uncover two of the pictures. If they match, we will leave them uncovered. If not, we cover them up again. They will be working together to try and find all the matches before you sing the song 'four' (choose a number) times. Sing and choose children to come and uncover the pictures (I tap them on the shoulder) until all the pictures are matched and uncovered.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). The children get the opportunity to hear the whole song again and again while focusing on something else (See Chapter Nine - Whole to Part to Whole). Good for learners who use visual, logical, and musical intelligences (See Chapter 5).
Example Videos
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This is a form of visual intrigue AND gestures (concrete representation of words)
Beforehand Preparation
Look through the song searching for words that might be represented by an emoji (thinking, praying, etc.) or an icon (heart for love, a horizontal arrow for sent, an arrow pointing down for come from above, etc.). Print or draw those icons and emojis large enough for your Primary to see at the front of the room. Think of an action that can be done with each emoji or icon. WARNING: Do NOT use rebus (a picture of a can for the word “can” that means to be able, a picture of words that sound like the same thing but are not). Rebuses are very confusing to young children and distracts from the real meaning of the song, even though the word sounds the same.
Activity
Put the icons and emojis at the front of the room. Ask the children “What do you see? What do you notice?” Receive the children’s answers. Ask the children what these have to do with the song you are going to sing. Sing the song. Receive their answers. Ask the children to follow your hands. Point to an icon or emoji and do the action. Now sing the song and do the actions with the children, following the symbols on the board.
Extender
Ask if there are any helpers that can do the actions with you. IIf not, sing the song one more time doing the actions with the children.) Have the helpers do the actions with you at the front of the room while you sing the song. Challenge the helpers to do the actions without you. Go to the back of the room (so that the helpers can see you), and sing the song, having the children follow the helpers.
Benefit
Children pick up meaning from the gestures, visual cues, and context around them as a natural part of life. Giving the children a chance to have the challenge of a new set of visual icons and emojis, plus using movement to mimic the visual is a very strong way to learn.
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Beforehand preparation
Obtain 5 or 6 pictures that have to do with the song in the order it comes in the song. You might want to consider using magnets to hold the pictures on a board at the front of the room because you will be moving the pictures around.
Activity
Tell the children that somehow you got the pictures out of order for the song. Ask them to figure out which picture comes first, second, etc. as you sing the song. Sing the song and receive their answers. Move the pictures (or have them move them) into the correct order. Hopefully singing the song at least a few times (so that they can hear it again and again) to check the order.
Extender
After the children figure out the order for the pictures, it would be good time to the activity “Inside Chalkboard”.
Example Video
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Beforehand preparation
Obtain enough scarves for each of the children (or at least half). Figure out a pattern to the beat or meter of the song. I usually use a mixture of action word actions, figure 8”s, side circles, and overhead circles. Draw icons to represent those movements.
Activity
Display the icons in the front of the room. (Can be done without icons). Ask the children to pretend to hold a scarf and to follow your hands as you sing the song and model the actions.
Pass out the scarves. Sing the song and do the actions together.
Extender
Ask if there are any helpers that could come up to the front to help you do the actions as you sing. Sing the song and do the actions. Ask those children to find a friend and bring them up to the front to help show the actions.
Example Video
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One of the most effective ways for children to learn is through Gestures that represent a concept or phrase of the song.
Beforehand Preparation
Look up some of the key words of the song in Sign Language on the web. Here are some websites: Lifeprint.com, Handspeak.com, SigningSavvy.com. These are a few I have used.
Don’t choose more than one or two signs per phrase of the song. (That’s a doable amount for both younger and older children.) Practice those signs so that they come easily to you as you sing the song.
Activity
Ask the children to follow your hands. Say the word and do the sign a couple of times, having the children follow you. Do only two or three signs.
Ask the children to follow your hands as you sing the song. They will encounter new signs that they haven’t practiced, but they will try and follow your hands as you sing. When you have finished the song, ask if there are any children who come up and be your helpers. Some may come, but if not, tell the children you will do it one more time so that they can become your helper. Sing and sign the song again. Ask for helpers once again. (If helpers came up the first time, ask them to find a friend to come up with them and be a helper, also.)
Extender
Ask the children to lead the song with sign language while you stand in the back. (You are in the back of the room giving hints for some of the signs.)
“Sing” the song using your hands only. Don’t sing out loud.
Example video
Written Words
(Older Children)
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This activity is good for children ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Sing through the song. If there are repeating words within the same category (like you, me, him, her), assign that one color. If there are a lot of words that start with the letter "s" or any other starting letter that repeats, assign those another color. If there are numbers, assign those a color. Create a poster using dots for each word, using the assigned color of what you have decided for each dot. Find an example of a color code HERE.
Activity
Display the poster at the front of the room. Ask the children "What do you see? What do you notice?" Receive their answers. Ask the children what the poster has to do with the song you will sing. Sing the song. You might want to give hints as you sing by pointing to a certain dot or emphasizing certain words. Receive the children's answers.
Keep singing the song, asking leading questions, and giving hints until the children start to figure out the color code. Have the children sing the song with you once they have decoded the color code.
Activity Extender
Ask the children to sing only certain colors out loud and sing the other colors inside their head.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). Great for audiation (See Chapter Two). Good for those learners who use visual and logical intelligences to learn (See Chapter Five). Good for a high concentration activity (See Chapter Four).
Example Videos
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Envelope Game is a great activity for older children ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Look through the song. Choose the major words of the song and type them in two columns in 16 or 18 font. (Hopefully they will all fit on one page.) Run off enough copies that every 3 children in your older Primary will have one. Cut up one copy of words so that each word is separate. Put the words into an envelope. Label the outside of the envelope with which song is inside.
Activity
Hold up an envelope. Challenge the children to put the words to the song in order while you sing the song five (choose a number) times. Tell them that not every word to the song is in the envelope, and that they might want to do this activity on the floor so that they can spread out. Ask the children to get into groups of three of four and hand out an envelope to each group. Say, "Ready, Go!" Sing the song over and over as they work together to put the song words in order.
In my experience, one group will race to finish and declare themselves the winners. My response is to ask them to be the singers to help the other groups. I give that response to every group that declares themselves done. It changes the feeling in the room from competition to cooperation.
Activity Extender
Once each group has finished putting the words in order, ask everyone to turn over every other word and try to sing the song. (By this time, they have probably heard the song at least five or six times.) Another challenge would be to have the children sing only the words that are NOT on the word strips, and to sing the words they can see only in their heads.
Benefits of this Activity
Good for learners that use word, logic, and musical intelligences (See Chapter Five). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). Great for learning Whole to Part to Whole (See Chapter Nine). Good for learners that use the people interaction intelligence (See Chapter Five).
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This activity is good for children ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Write down the major words of the song. For each word, write two words that are similar or opposite (synonyms or antonyms).
Activity
Write each word and the two like words with it on a whiteboard or chalkboard at the front of the room. Put the words in order as they come in the song, listing the other two words either first and second, first and third, or second and third in the group with that word.
Tell the children there are three rules: 1. Erase the words that are NOT in the song, 2. Pass the eraser to someone who has not yet had the eraser, 3. Not talking.
Tell the children you will sing the song 'five' times (you choose a number) and challenge them to erase all of the words not in the song by the time you have finished singing.
Start singing the song and hand the eraser to one of the children. The children will erase one word, pass the eraser, and return to their seats as you continue to sing. If one child accidentally erases a word that is in the song, just write it back in.
Activity Extender
After all of the extra words have been erased, have the children sing the song. Next have them sing the only the words that are on the board, singing the other words in their head.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for unconsciously understanding the meaning of a word. Good for those learners who use people interaction, words, and logic intelligences (See Chapter Five). Good for Whole to Part to Whole learning (See Chapter Two). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One).
Example Video
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This activity is good for children ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Make a word chart for the song. However, instead of putting all the words on the chart, leave a blank line for at least 5 to 8 of the major words of the song. On separate word strips, write each of those major words for the song that you left off of the word chart. In addition, write a synonym for each of those word strips on similar word strips. For instance, if the word from the song is faith, you would make a word strip for faith, and one for belief. If the word from the song is prophet, you would also make a word strip for seer.
Activity
Display the word chart at the front of the room. Tape the word strips around the room or off to one side. Ask the children to figure out what the missing words are in the song as you sing. When you have finished singing the song, ask the children to raise their hand if they know the first missing word. Tap one of those who have raised their hand on the shoulder to go get the word strip with that word and tape it to the word chart. Ask who knows the second word to raise their hands, then tap one of them on the shoulder to tape that word to the word chart. Continue until all the words are up on the word chart. If the children need you to sing the song one more time to figure out the words, do so.
Activity Extender
Once all the words are on the word chart, ask the children to only sing the words on the word strips and you will sing the other words. Switch and have the children sing only the words that are not on the word strips.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). Great for audiation (See Chapter Two). Good for those learners that need to see and hear words (See Chapter Five). Great for the logic intelligence (See Chapter Five). Great for a high concentration activity (See Chapter Four). Because of the synonyms, this is a good way to show words with similar meanings in order for the children to unconsciously learn more about the meanings of the different words from the song.
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Beforehand Preparation
Print out the main words in the song. Put the words up around the room.
Activity
Tell the children that you will sing the song, touch them on the shoulder to go choose a word from around the room, and ask them to bring the word up to the front of the room and put it in the right order, figuring out which word comes first, second, etc. as you sing the song. Sing the song and touch children on the shoulder to come up. Have them put the words into the correct order. Sing the song at least a few times (so that they can hear it again and again) to check the order.
Extender
Tell the children you are going to take away four of the words as they close their eyes and you will give them 5 seconds to memorize the words. Have them open their eyes and discover what four words are missing. Receive their answers. Ask them to sing ONLY those words and you will sing all of the rest of the words.
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Beforehand Preparation
Decide on four to five major words of the song. Mix up the letters to each word. Post the scrambled letters (each one to its own word strip) in the front of the room.
Activity
Ask the children to look at the words in the front of the room. Tell them that each of these scramble words is one of the major words from this song. Ask them to figure out what words these are as they listen to the song.
Sing the song
Ask the children for their answers. Give them hints if needed.
Sing the song again.
Ask for the answers and give more hints if needed.
Once the children have figured out each of the words (and you have sung the song multiple times), ask them to sing these words when they come in the song.
Extender
Ask the children to sing only those words and you will sing all the rest.
Visual Intrigue
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This activity works with children 3 to 7, and with more complex actions for children 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Sing through the song and choose some actions that could represent the action words in the song. If the word is "build," you could pretend to build something. If the word is "home," you could use your hands to look like the roof of a house. If the word is "brave", you could put your arms into a strong stance to show bravery. I often will mix in Sign Language for words like faith, true, or commandments (abstract ideas). Handspeak.com, signing savvy.com, and ldd.org are good resources for those signs.
Activity
Ask the children to have their hands follow your hands. Show an action and say the word, focusing on some of the more complex actions or signs. Sing the song and do the motions for the action words having the children follow your actions. If you notice that the children aren't getting an action, again say the specific word and do the action. Sing the song again doing all of the actions.
Ask the children to sing the song in their head with no sound as they do the actions. Lead them in the actions as you mouth the words.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for Concrete Representation of Words, Visual and Kinesthetic Learners (See Chapter Five). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). Great for audiation (See Chapter Two). Great for physically connecting the phrasing of the song with the melody (See Chapter Ten).
Example Videos:
Joseph Smith First Prayer- song story
Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus
Search Ponder & Pray- chorus
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This activity is good for children ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Sing through the song. If there are repeating words within the same category (like you, me, him, her), assign that one color. If there are a lot of words that start with the letter "s" or any other starting letter that repeats, assign those another color. If there are numbers, assign those a color. Create a poster using dots for each word, using the assigned color of what you have decided for each dot. Find an example of a Color Code HERE.
Activity
Display the poster at the front of the room. Ask the children "What do you see? What do you notice?" Receive their answers. Ask the children what the poster has to do with the song you will sing. Sing the song. You might want to give hints as you sing by pointing to a certain dot or emphasizing certain words. Receive the children's answers.
Keep singing the song, asking leading questions, and giving hints until the children start to figure out the color code. Have the children sing the song with you once they have decoded the color code.
Activity Extender
Ask the children to sing only certain colors out loud and sing the other colors inside their head.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). Great for audiation (See Chapter Two). Good for those learners who use visual and logical intelligences to learn (See Chapter Five). Good for a high concentration activity (See Chapter Four).
Example Video
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This activity is good for children ages 3 to 7, and ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
For younger children find 6 pictures that correspond with the message of the song. Copy the pictures so that you have two of each.
For older children you can use a combination of pictures and major words of the song, copying each so that there are two. Get thick colored paper that will cover the pictures once they are displayed.
Activity
Display the pictures at the front of the room in a 4 x 3 grid. Cover the pictures with the colored paper so that it can be lifted up. Tell the children you are going to play a matching game. You will choose someone to come up and uncover two of the pictures. If they match, we will leave them uncovered. If not, we cover them up again. They will be working together to try and find all the matches before you sing the song 'four' (choose a number) times. Sing and choose children to come and uncover the pictures (I tap them on the shoulder) until all the pictures are matched and uncovered.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). The children get the opportunity to hear the whole song again and again while focusing on something else (See Chapter Nine - Whole to Part to Whole). Good for learners who use visual, logical, and musical intelligences (See Chapter 5).
Example Video
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This song is good for children ages 3 to 7, and ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Sing the song and draw some stick figures that illustrate the concepts of the song.
Activity
Tell the children you have a picture to draw for them. Sing the song and draw the stick figures to illustrate the concepts of the song on a whiteboard or chalkboard. (For some reason the children are intrigued by this process and watch you carefully. Don't worry about the quality of the illustrations. It is better to draw quickly and not so carefully.) I will often ask the younger children if there is something else, I should draw to help show the song. I take their suggestions and try to draw it.
An adaptation of this activity for older children, I will pass out pencils and paper and ask the children to pick one of the ideas in the song. I ask them to draw a picture to illustrate some part of the song as I sing the song four times (or whatever number you choose). I tell them that I would like to use their drawings to illustrate the song for the younger children.
Benefits to this Activity
Good for learners that use visual intelligence (See Chapter Five). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). Good for Concrete Representation of the concepts (See Chapter Seven and Chapter Five).
Example Video
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Good for children ages 3 to 7, and 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Assemble 5 to 6 key pictures that relate to the song. I often use this activity in conjunction with the Song Puzzles activity, the Mixed-Up Pictures activity, or the Concentration Matching Game activity.
Activity
After the pictures are displayed in front of the room, tell the children you will give them 10 seconds to memorize each of the pictures, then you will take one or two of them away and see how much they can remember. Count to 10 then take away one or two of the pictures. Ask the children specific questions about the picture. What color was the person wearing? How many animals were in the picture? What was the weather like in the picture? How many plants were in the picture? Receive the children's answers then show them the picture to help them check their answers.
Repeat the process with another picture or two. Now sing the song asking the children to remember the pictures as they sing by putting the pictures up on their "inside chalkboard." Point to the picture location (now without any picture, just the space) as you sing.
Benefits of this Activity
Good for thinking memory skills (See Chapter 10). Good for visual and musical intelligences (See Chapter 5). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). Good for Concrete Representation of the concepts (See Chapter Seven and Chapter Five).
Example Video
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This activity is good for children ages 3 to 7.
Beforehand Preparation
Listen to the song and figure out sweeping movements and circular movements to the beat of the song as if you were holding a crayon and drawing on a very large piece of paper.
Activity
Tell the children you have a magic crayon. Pretend to pull it out of your pocket and hold it up for all to see. Make a magic "poof" sound and tell the children that your crayon is a certain color. (I will sometimes say it is a certain color with another color of sparkles.) Ask the children to pull out their magic crayons and decide what color they will be. Ask their crayons to follow your crayon. Sing the song and draw simple patterns in the air to the beat of the song. Be especially aware of crossing the body with your hand and arm (so that it crosses the midline). After singing, ask the children what color their crayon was. Receive their answers. Ask the children to change the color of their crayon with another magic "poof." Sing the song again, drawing in the air.
Benefits of this Activity
Good for crossing the midline (See Chapter 10). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). Good for kinesthetic and visual intelligences (See Chapter 5). Good for engaging the younger child even when the song has a slower tempo.
Example video
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This activity is good for children ages 3 to 7.
Beforehand Preparation
Sing through the song and pretend to paint with a paintbrush to the beat and feel of the song. Be aware of using circles, crossing the midline (See Chapter Ten), and changing the location (up and down, side to side, back and front) as you move. Explore the space as you move and decide what movement would be appropriate for the children.
Activity
Tell the children you have a magic paintbrush. Pretend to hold up a paintbrush in the air. Tell the children you are going to give a magic color to the paintbrush. Wave your hand over the pretend paintbrush. I sometimes say "Poof!" Tell the children what color your paint is and ask them to pretend to get out their own magic paintbrushes and decide what color they will have. Ask the children to follow your hands. Sing the song and pretend to paint with your paintbrush to the beat and feel of the song. Halfway through the song, stop and call out, "Freeze!" Tell the children you are going to change the color of your paint. Wave your hand over the pretend paintbrush and change colors. I will sometimes say a color with sparkly stars, or rainbow stripes. Continue to sing the song and move your paintbrush. After singing the song, I will ask the children with what colors they were painting and receive their answers. If I can tell the children are still interested, I will change the colors of our paintbrushes and sing the song again, moving to the beat and feel of the song.
Benefits of this Activity
Good for visual and kinesthetic intelligences (See Chapter Five). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). This activity works well for slower tempos and gentle songs. Great for crossing the midline (See Chapter Ten).
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This is an interactive role play where the child becomes one of the pictures in a line inside the frame that you will hold up. It works very well and gives the children lots of chances to “become” the picture.
Beforehand Preparation
Obtain a picture frame at least three feet tall and perhaps two feet wide. (I cut out the inside of a foam board leaving a frame on the outside.) Prepare at least five to six “picture” descriptions that the children could act out to go along with the song.
Activity
Ask children to come up and be part of your pictures. (Younger children can have a teacher’s help. Older children can bring a partner.) Pass out the descriptions and put the children in order of the “pictures” in the song. Sing the song and put the frame in front of the child doing a role play as it comes in the song. Ask other children to come up and do the same thing as you sing the song again.
Extender
Ask a whole group of children to come up and be in the “picture”. Put the frame in front of the role-playing children as it comes in the song.
Benefit
Role playing, like stories, imprint into the memory deeply, helping the children remember the meaning and order of the words in the song, plus they get to hear the song over and over again as the song is sung for the different “pictures”.
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This activity is good for both 8 to 11 year olds, and 3 to 7 year olds. The focus will be different for the two different groups of children.
Beforehand Activity
Make a melody map. Instructions for how to make a melody map are included in Appendix C of the book "To Teach a Child a Song."
Activity
Post the posters for the melody map up at the front of the room. I do not put them in the right order. Ask the children, "What do you see? What do you notice?" Receive their answers. (They will often say things like, "I see colors." "I see circles (or squares)." "I see a car shape." "I see mountains.") Ask the children, "What do these shapes and maps have to do with this song?" Sing the song. Receive their answers. Ask appropriate questions like, "What does this color stand for?"
Example Video
Bar Graphs
Dot Graphs
Away in a Manger- Harmony
Line Graphs
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Activity
Have the children pair up and decide who is the mirror and who is the person in the mirror. Demonstrate it with a child in the audience first, and tell them to find a friend. Remind them to move slowly because the song is slow. Sing while one of them moves for their partner to follow, then do it again and have them switch so the other person is the mirror.
Benefits
Can cross the midline. Kinesthetic activity, very visual, interactive.
Example Video
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Beforehand preparation
Obtain 5 or 6 pictures that have to do with the song in the order it comes in the song. You might want to consider using magnets to hold the pictures on a board at the front of the room because you will be moving the pictures around.
Activity
Tell the children that somehow you got the pictures out of order for the song. Ask them to figure out which picture comes first, second, etc. as you sing the song. Sing the song and receive their answers. Move the pictures (or have them move them) into the correct order. Hopefully singing the song at least a few times (so that they can hear it again and again) to check the order.
Extender
After the children figure out the order for the pictures, it would be good time to the activity “Inside Chalkboard”.
Example Video
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This activity is good for children from 3 to 7, and in a more advanced way for children 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Obtain enough wind wands for at least 1/3 of the children in your Primary. Ideas to make the wind wands in Appendix C.
Sing the song and come up with different patterns for the wind wand movement, usually in 4 to 8 beat segments.
The patterns for Younger Children should be more simple than that for Older Children.
For example:
Younger Children = Circle x 8 beats on one side, Switch to the other side and Circle 8x. Paint the Sky x 8, then paint the floor x 8. Repeat the Circle segment, then the Paint segment. Notice that you repeat the movement for 8 beats, then do the same thing on the other side (you'll see that in both segments).
Older Children = Circle x 4 Left, Circle x 4 Right, Snake on the Floor Left x 2, Snake on the Floor Right x 2, Over the Shoulder Left, Over the Shoulder Right. Paint the Sky x 2, Dot, Dot, Freeze (for 2 beats). Repeat the sequence. Notice that the movements come in 4 beat patterns, changing more quickly than they would for younger children.
Here are some of the idea movements for the wind wands:
Circle Left
Circle Right
Circle Up
Circle Down
Dots on the Floor
Figure 8 Front
Figure 8 Down
Figure 8 Up
Freeze
Over the Shoulder Left
Over the Shoulder Right
Paint the Sky
Paint the Floor
Snake on the Floor
Snake Up
Snake Down
Snap
Watch the video to see demonstrations of each of these ideas.
The Activity
Tell the children to watch your hands and to have their hands do what you are doing. (They will not have a wind wand, but you will be using one in order to demonstrate.) After you have demonstrated the pattern, ask the children to watch it again and tell you what your hand is doing (i.e. circle, circle, circle, circle, etc.). Note: for the older children it is helpful to write down simple symbols to help them remember the sequence such as a squiggle line with an arrow pointing to the left for Snake on the Floor Left, or a circle with x4 Left for Circle Left x4.
Ask the children if they would like a wind wand. Tell them there are 2 rules: 1. Move to a place in the room where their ribbons will not touch someone else. 2. If they use the wind wand inappropriately, I will take it. No questions asked. (Be sure you follow through with that in a kind way.)
Have four helpers help you pass out the wind wands. As they pass out the wind wands, begin practicing the pattern so that the children will be pulled straight into the activity. Once you have practiced the sequence once, repeat the sequence and begin to sing the song as you move to the pattern.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for crossing the midline and for practicing steady beat (See Chapter Ten). Good for logical, picture/spatial, and musical intelligences (See Chapter Five). Good for Whole to Part to Whole learning (See Chapter Nine). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One).
Example Video
I Know that My Savior Loves Me
When He Comes Again
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If the song lyrics speak of concrete things (building a boat, helping things grow, doing good to others, etc.), It might be a good candidate for a role play activity.
Beforehand Preparations
Look through the song and figure out three or four figures or actions that the children might act out. Gather whatever props might be needed for the child to play that role. You might want to write out what it is you want the child to do.
Activity
Ask for children to come out to act out the names and actions in the song. Pass out the slips of paper with the descriptions. Sing the song and have the children act out the parts.
Extender
Ask each of the children who just acted out the lyrics of the song to go and chose a friend to be their replacement. Sing the song again with the new actors.
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One of the most effective ways for children to learn is through Gestures that represent a concept or phrase of the song.
Beforehand Preparation
Look up some of the key words of the song in Sign Language on the web. Here are some websites: Lifeprint.com, Handspeak.com, SigningSavvy.com. These are a few I have used.
Don’t choose more than one or two signs per phrase of the song. (That’s a doable amount for both younger and older children.) Practice those signs so that they come easily to you as you sing the song.
Activity
Ask the children to follow your hands. Say the word and do the sign a couple of times, having the children follow you. Do only two or three signs.
Ask the children to follow your hands as you sing the song. They will encounter new signs that they haven’t practiced, but they will try and follow your hands as you sing. When you have finished the song, ask if there are any children who come up and be your helpers. Some may come, but if not, tell the children you will do it one more time so that they can become your helper. Sing and sign the song again. Ask for helpers once again. (If helpers came up the first time, ask them to find a friend to come up with them and be a helper, also.)
Extender
Ask the children to lead the song with sign language while you stand in the back. (You are in the back of the room giving hints for some of the signs.)
“Sing” the song using your hands only. Don’t sing out loud.
Example Video
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This is a very effective way to invite the Spirit into the room.
Beforehand Preparation
Choose a video clip that matches the message of the song. You will not be using the sound, so it is just the images you will be using. Figure out how to play the video in the Church setting.
Activity
Tell the children you have a video for them. Turn off the sound and play the video, singing the song slowly as the video plays.
When the video clip ends, bear your testimony. I usually use this activity to end the singing time, then I thank them for singing with me.
This activity is not necessarily to learn the melody or words of the song. It is to attach an emotion, visual images, and feeling to the song (which things are just as important as the words).
Benefits
This activity helps the children to feel different emotions and attach different images to the song. The Spirit often comes into the room and helps the children to associate the Holy Ghost with the song. It is a very effective activity in so many ways.
Example Video
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This is a good review activity after the children have already had a lot of experience with the song.
Beforehand Preparation
Figure out a way to hand out different colors to the children.
Cut out different squares of colored paper, one for each child, and one of each for you to hold at the front of the room.
Use colors the children are wearing for each child, but have a square of that color in the front of the room to point to or show.
Activity
Assign a color to each child (see above). Ask the children to only sing when you show that color at the front of the room. Begin the song, showing one color, then switching the color at the phrase.
Extender
Sing the song again, switching the color more quickly.
Ask a child to come up and be the “color show” person. Sing the song only when your color is shown.
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Beforehand Preparation
Younger: Find three or four 8x11 pictures that match the message and subject of the song. Find a 4-piece jigsaw puzzle pattern on the web. (Search 4-piece jigsaw pattern). I find that photo paper is stiff enough to make a good puzzle, while regular printer paper is not. Cut each of the pictures into that same jigsaw puzzle pattern. You might want to put sticky magnets on the back of each piece so that the children can move them around easily. (Search for sticky magnet strips or magnetic tape.)
Older: Add in two to three more pictures (five to seven different pictures) that are also cut into a jigsaw pattern.
Activity
If you have a small Primary, you can do this activity as a group. If you have a larger Primary, it would be helpful if each class could have a set of the jigsaw puzzles.
Tell the children you have some puzzles. While you sing the song three to four times, you would like them to complete the puzzles. Give the younger children a hint that there is more than one picture they will be working to complete.
Sing the song as they put the puzzles together. If one group finishes before the others, ask them to be helpers to you for singing.
Extender
Use the activity Inside Chalkboard as an extender activity, asking the children to memorize one of the pictures then turn it over so they can’t see it and tell you the colors, shapes, etc. that are in the picture. Sing the song and ask them to “see” the picture as they sing.
Benefit
This is a visually intriguing activity that engages the children as they hear the song over and over again. The brain not only associates the pictures with the song, but also starts to organize the beat, rhythm, and melody so that the words can ride upon those musical elements.
Example Video
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This is one of the best ways to draw a child into the message and the feelings of the song.
Beforehand Preparation
Makeup or find a story that deals with the message of this song. You will need to shorten the story so that you are only speaking two to three sentences before you sing a phrase of the song.
Activity
Tell the children you have a story. Tell the story intermixed with phrases of the song.
I usually use this activity as one of the last activities of the Singing Time. I thank the children for singing with me as I finish this activity.
Benefits
Stories convey emotions and context in a strong way to the children. This activity helps the children connect emotions and context to a song, and often invites the Holy Ghost into the room.
Example Video
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Beforehand Preparation
Obtain 5 or more objects that have to do directly with the song. The objects should be fairly obvious in how they relate to the song without much symbolism. Note: Do not use something that is a rebus. It is confusing rather than helpful for the children.
Activity
Tell the children that you have some things in the bag. You are going to sing the song and have them guess what might be in the song. Sing the song. Receive their answers. Ask one child to come up and feel the bag and tell everyone what he or she felt. Have them guess again. Sing the song again. Receive their answers. Have another child feel what is in the bag. Have them guess again. Sing the song again. Continue, eventually revealing one object at time and singing the song multiple times.
Spiritual Connection
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Because we work with one of the largest groups of investigators and new converts in the Church, we need to give an opportunity for the Holy Ghost to bear witness to the children. One of the ways to do that is to bear a short authentic testimony for every song that we can, at least once a Sunday. Here are some things to consider before we do that:
1-The children must be prepared by being engaged in the learning process. Get them involved in an activity that deals directly with the song (beat, rhythm, melody, words)
2- You must be prepared by truly having a testimony to bear about one small aspect of the gospel from the song. Distill the testimony down to only two or three sentences. Make it specific. Don’t make it too general.
3- Pause and go. If there is a moment in the activity where you have said “Freeze”, or there is a natural pause.
4- Help the children to recognize when the Spirit is in the room. Point it out to them.
A testimony is essential every single Sunday as you teach.
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This is a very effective way to invite the Spirit into the room.
Beforehand Preparation
Choose a video clip that matches the message of the song. You will not be using the sound, so it is just the images you will be using. Figure out how to play the video in the Church setting.
Activity
Tell the children you have a video for them. Turn off the sound and play the video, singing the song slowly as the video plays.
When the video clip ends, bear your testimony. I usually use this activity to end the singing time, then I thank them for singing with me.
This activity is not necessarily to learn the melody or words of the song. It is to attach an emotion, visual images, and feeling to the song (which things are just as important as the words).
Benefits
This activity helps the children to feel different emotions and attach different images to the song. The Spirit often comes into the room and helps the children to associate the Holy Ghost with the song. It is a very effective activity in so many ways.
Example Video
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This is one of the best ways to draw a child into the message and the feelings of the song.
Beforehand Preparation
Makeup or find a story that deals with the message of this song. You will need to shorten the story so that you are only speaking two to three sentences before you sing a phrase of the song.
Activity
Tell the children you have a story. Tell the story intermixed with phrases of the song.
I usually use this activity as one of the last activities of the Singing Time. I thank the children for singing with me as I finish this activity.
Benefits
Stories convey emotions and context in a strong way to the children. This activity helps the children connect emotions and context to a song, and often invites the Holy Ghost into the room.
Example Video
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As often as you can, bear a very short, very specific testimony about some aspect of the song. That usually means you will have to do some prep work as you think about what part of the song you could testify of to the children.
See also Spiritual Connection
Logical Conclusions/ Patterns
(Older Children)
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This activity is good for children ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Sing through the song. If there are repeating words within the same category (like you, me, him, her), assign that one color. If there are a lot of words that start with the letter "s" or any other starting letter that repeats, assign those another color. If there are numbers, assign those a color. Create a poster using dots for each word, using the assigned color of what you have decided for each dot. Find an example of a Color Code HERE
Activity
Display the poster at the front of the room. Ask the children "What do you see? What do you notice?" Receive their answers. Ask the children what the poster has to do with the song you will sing. Sing the song. You might want to give hints as you sing by pointing to a certain dot or emphasizing certain words. Receive the children's answers.
Keep singing the song, asking leading questions, and giving hints until the children start to figure out the color code. Have the children sing the song with you once they have decoded the color code.
Activity Extender
Ask the children to sing only certain colors out loud and sing the other colors inside their head.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). Great for audiation (See Chapter Two). Good for those learners who use visual and logical intelligences to learn (See Chapter Five). Good for a high concentration activity (See Chapter Four).
Example Video
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Crack the Code is a great activity for children ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Write out the first letter of each of the words of the song, first letters of one sentence per word strip.
Post those word strips at the front of the room in a mixed-up order.
Activity
Ask the children what this code has to do with the song. Sing the song. Receive the children's answers.
Ask the children to help you put the word strips in order. Sing the song and choose a child (by tapping them on the shoulder) to move a word strip to put them in order. Keep singing and tapping children on the shoulder until all the word strips are in the right order.
Activity Extender
Once all of the word strips are in order, ask the children to sing the words of only every other word strip out loud, but sing the others in their head silently.
Benefits of this Activity
Children this age are intrigued by codes (See Chapter Seven). Great for children that learn through word or logic multiple intelligence (See Chapter Five). Great for Whole to Part to Whole learning because the children hear the whole song and are focused on the parts (See Chapter Nine). Great for audiation (See Chapter Two).
Example Video
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Envelope Game is a great activity for older children ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Look through the song. Choose the major words of the song and type them in two columns in 16 or 18 font. (Hopefully they will all fit on one page.) Run off enough copies that every 3 children in your older Primary will have one. Cut up one copy of words so that each word is separate. Put the words into an envelope. Label the outside of the envelope with which song is inside.
Activity
Hold up an envelope. Challenge the children to put the words to the song in order while you sing the song five (choose a number) times. Tell them that not every word to the song is in the envelope, and that they might want to do this activity on the floor so that they can spread out. Ask the children to get into groups of three of four and hand out an envelope to each group. Say, "Ready, Go!" Sing the song over and over as they work together to put the song words in order.
In my experience, one group will race to finish and declare themselves the winners. My response is to ask them to be the singers to help the other groups. I give that response to every group that declares themselves done. It changes the feeling in the room from competition to cooperation.
Activity Extender
Once each group has finished putting the words in order, ask everyone to turn over every other word and try to sing the song. (By this time they have probably heard the song at least five or six times.) Another challenge would be to have the children sing only the words that are NOT on the word strips, and to sing the words they can see only in their heads.
Benefits of this Activity
Good for learners that use word, logic, and musical intelligences (See Chapter Five). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). Great for learning Whole to Part to Whole (See Chapter Nine). Good for learners that use the people interaction intelligence (See Chapter Five).
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This activity is good for children ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Write down the major words of the song. For each word, write two words that are similar or opposite (synonyms or antonyms).
Activity
Write each word and the two like words with it on a whiteboard or chalkboard at the front of the room. Put the words in order as they come in the song, listing the other two words either first and second, first and third, or second and third in the group with that word.
Tell the children there are three rules: 1. Erase the words that are NOT in the song, 2. Pass the eraser to someone who has not yet had the eraser, 3. Not talking.
Tell the children you will sing the song 'five' times (you choose a number) and challenge them to erase all of the words not in the song by the time you have finished singing.
Start singing the song and hand the eraser to one of the children. The children will erase one word, pass the eraser, and return to their seats as you continue to sing. If one child accidentally erases a word that is in the song, just write it back in.
Activity Extender
After all of the extra words have been erased, have the children sing the song. Next have them sing the only the words that are on the board, singing the other words in their head.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for unconsciously understanding the meaning of a word. Good for those learners who use people interaction, words, and logic intelligences (See Chapter Five). Good for Whole to Part to Whole learning (See Chapter Two). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One).
Example Video
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Beforehand preparation
Obtain 5 or 6 pictures that have to do with the song in the order it comes in the song. You might want to consider using magnets to hold the pictures on a board at the front of the room because you will be moving the pictures around.
Activity
Tell the children that somehow you got the pictures out of order for the song. Ask them to figure out which picture comes first, second, etc. as you sing the song. Sing the song and receive their answers. Move the pictures (or have them move them) into the correct order. Hopefully singing the song at least a few times (so that they can hear it again and again) to check the order.
Extender
After the children figure out the order for the pictures, it would be good time to the activity “Inside Chalkboard”.
Example Video
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Beforehand Preparation
Print out the main words in the song. Put the words up around the room.
Activity
Tell the children that you will sing the song, touch them on the shoulder to go choose a word from around the room, and ask them to bring the word up to the front of the room and put it in the right order, figuring out which word comes first, second, etc. as you sing the song. Sing the song and touch children on the shoulder to come up. Have them put the words into the correct order. Sing the song at least a few times (so that they can hear it again and again) to check the order.
Extender
Tell the children you are going to take away four of the words as they close their eyes and you will give them 5 seconds to memorize the words. Have them open their eyes and discover what four words are missing. Receive their answers. Ask them to sing ONLY those words and you will sing all of the rest of the words.
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This activity is good for both 8- to 11-year-olds, and 3- to 7-year-olds. The focus will be different for the two different groups of children.
Beforehand Activity
Make a melody map. Instructions for how to make a melody map are included in Appendix C of the book "To Teach a Child a Song."
Activity
Post the posters for the melody map up at the front of the room. I do not put them in the right order. Ask the children, "What do you see? What do you notice?" Receive their answers. (They will often say things like, "I see colors." "I see circles (or squares)." "I see a car shape." "I see mountains.") Ask the children, "What do these shapes and maps have to do with this song?" Sing the song. Receive their answers. Ask appropriate questions like, "What does this color stand for?"
Example Video
Bar Graphs
Dot Graphs
A Childs Prayer- with shaker
Away in a Manger- Harmony
Line Graphs
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This is not a stand-alone activity, but one that should be mixed in with other activities.
Budding mathematicians begin to show their propensity for logic and numbers from about age 5 and up. Their brains are sparked by challenges that involve numbers. Adding those kinds of challenges into our regular Primary activities awakens interest.
Activity
Ask how many times a word is repeated.
Ask a number question casually in the course of the regular activity … if there are 3 camels and they drink 45 gallons of water, how much water will they drink, if Nephi got 5 boards from one tree to build the boat, how many trees would he need to make 75 boards?
Ask your math interested children to count how many times they hear the song as you do the pattern or figure out the visual challenge.
Benefits
Because each of us take in information in different ways, we need to be sensitive to those children who think in numbers. It enlivens the learning process for them.
People Connections
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This is a good review activity after the children have already had a lot of experience with the song.
Beforehand Preparation
Figure out a way to hand out different colors to the children.
Cut out different squares of colored paper, one for each child, and one of each for you to hold at the front of the room.
Use colors the children are wearing for each child, but have a square of that color in the front of the room to point to or show.
Activity
Assign a color to each child (see above). Ask the children to only sing when you show that color at the front of the room. Begin the song, showing one color, then switching the color at the phrase.
Extender
Sing the song again, switching the color more quickly.
Ask a child to come up and be the “color show” person. Sing the song only when your color is shown.
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This activity is good for children ages 3 to 7, and ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
For younger children find 6 pictures that correspond with the message of the song. Copy the pictures so that you have two of each.
For older children you can use a combination of pictures and major words of the song, copying each so that there are two. Get thick colored paper that will cover the pictures once they are displayed.
Activity
Display the pictures at the front of the room in a 4 x 3 grid. Cover the pictures with the colored paper so that it can be lifted up. Tell the children you are going to play a matching game. You will choose someone to come up and uncover two of the pictures. If they match, we will leave them uncovered. If not, we cover them up again. They will be working together to try and find all the matches before you sing the song 'four' (choose a number) times. Sing and choose children to come and uncover the pictures (I tap them on the shoulder) until all the pictures are matched and uncovered.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). The children get the opportunity to hear the whole song again and again while focusing on something else (See Chapter Nine - Whole to Part to Whole). Good for learners who use visual, logical, and musical intelligences (See Chapter 5).
Example Video
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Crack the Code is a great activity for children ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Write out the first letter of each of the words of the song, first letters of one sentence per word strip.
Post those word strips at the front of the room in a mixed-up order.
Activity
Ask the children what this code has to do with the song. Sing the song. Receive the children's answers.
Ask the children to help you put the word strips in order. Sing the song and choose a child (by tapping them on the shoulder) to move a word strip to put them in order. Keep singing and tapping children on the shoulder until all the word strips are in the right order.
Activity Extender
Once all of the word strips are in order, ask the children to sing the words of only every other word strip out loud, but sing the others in their head silently.
Benefits of this Activity
Children this age are intrigued by codes (See Chapter Seven). Great for children that learn through word or logic multiple intelligence (See Chapter Five). Great for Whole to Part to Whole learning because the children hear the whole song and are focused on the parts (See Chapter Nine). Great for audiation (See Chapter Two).
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Example Video
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This activity is good for children ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Write down the major words of the song. For each word, write two words that are similar or opposite (synonyms or antonyms).
Activity
Write each word and the two like words with it on a whiteboard or chalkboard at the front of the room. Put the words in order as they come in the song, listing the other two words either first and second, first and third, or second and third in the group with that word.
Tell the children there are three rules: 1. Erase the words that are NOT in the song, 2. Pass the eraser to someone who has not yet had the eraser, 3. Not talking.
Tell the children you will sing the song 'five' times (you choose a number) and challenge them to erase all of the words not in the song by the time you have finished singing.
Start singing the song and hand the eraser to one of the children. The children will erase one word, pass the eraser, and return to their seats as you continue to sing. If one child accidentally erases a word that is in the song, just write it back in.
Activity Extender
After all of the extra words have been erased, have the children sing the song. Next have them sing the only the words that are on the board, singing the other words in their head.
Benefits of this Activity
Great for unconsciously understanding the meaning of a word. Good for those learners who use people interaction, words, and logic intelligences (See Chapter Five). Good for Whole to Part to Whole learning (See Chapter Two). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One).
Example Video
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Envelope Game is a great activity for older children ages 8 to 11.
Beforehand Preparation
Look through the song. Choose the major words of the song and type them in two columns in 16 or 18 font. (Hopefully they will all fit on one page.) Run off enough copies that every 3 children in your older Primary will have one. Cut up one copy of words so that each word is separate. Put the words into an envelope. Label the outside of the envelope with which song is inside.
Activity
Hold up an envelope. Challenge the children to put the words to the song in order while you sing the song five (choose a number) times. Tell them that not every word to the song is in the envelope, and that they might want to do this activity on the floor so that they can spread out. Ask the children to get into groups of three of four and hand out an envelope to each group. Say, "Ready, Go!" Sing the song over and over as they work together to put the song words in order.
In my experience, one group will race to finish and declare themselves the winners. My response is to ask them to be the singers to help the other groups. I give that response to every group that declares themselves done. It changes the feeling in the room from competition to cooperation.
Activity Extender
Once each group has finished putting the words in order, ask everyone to turn over every other word and try to sing the song. (By this time, they have probably heard the song at least five or six times.) Another challenge would be to have the children sing only the words that are NOT on the word strips, and to sing the words they can see only in their heads.
Benefits of this Activity
Good for learners that use word, logic, and musical intelligences (See Chapter Five). Great for active participation in the learning process (See Chapter One). Great for learning Whole to Part to Whole (See Chapter Nine). Good for learners that use the people interaction intelligence (See Chapter Five).
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This is an interactive role play where the child becomes one of the pictures in a line inside the frame that you will hold up. It works very well and gives the children lots of chances to “become” the picture.
Beforehand Preparation
Obtain a picture frame at least three feet tall and perhaps two feet wide. (I cut out the inside of a foam board leaving a frame on the outside.) Prepare at least five to six “picture” descriptions that the children could act out to go along with the song.
Activity
Ask children to come up and be part of your pictures. (Younger children can have a teacher’s help. Older children can bring a partner.) Pass out the descriptions and put the children in order of the “pictures” in the song. Sing the song and put the frame in front of the child doing a role play as it comes in the song. Ask other children to come up and do the same thing as you sing the song again.
Extender
Ask a whole group of children to come up and be in the “picture”. Put the frame in front of the role-playing children as it comes in the song.
Benefit
Role playing, like stories, imprint into the memory deeply, helping the children remember the meaning and order of the words in the song, plus they get to hear the song over and over again as the song is sung for the different “pictures”.
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Activity
Have the children pair up and decide who is the mirror and who is the person in the mirror. Demonstrate it with a child in the audience first, and tell them to find a friend. Remind them to move slowly because the song is slow. Sing while one of them moves for their partner to follow, then do it again and have them switch so the other person is the mirror.
Benefits
Can cross the midline. Kinesthetic activity, very visual, interactive.
Example Video
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This activity works well with younger children to help them feel the beat.
Beforehand
Plan some arm swings and “freezes” to the beat of the song you want to teach. I recommend the freezes come at the end of the phrases.
Activity
Ask a child (one of the oldest) to come up and be your partner. Sing a phrase of the song, freeze, and sing the next phrase. Now ask that child to choose a friend and you choose another friend. Sing the song and do the arm swings with some well-placed freezes. Ask all the children to find a friend. Make sure the teachers and presidency are aware of any children that need to find a friend and they buddy up with them. Sing the song and do the arm swings with some freezes.
Extender
Ask everyone to find a new friend and do the activity again as you sing the song.
Benefit
This active, large muscle activity is a great way for the children to sense the steady beat of the song while they hear the song over and over again to make a map of those sounds and the beat in their head.
Example Video
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This is an activity that works well with older children, but not so well with younger children.
Beforehand preparations
As with the solo body rhythm patterns, you will create a pattern to the steady beat of the song using stomps, patsches, clapping, shoulder tapping, and forearm cross tapping.
Activity
Start with a solo body rhythm pattern. Demonstrate it for the children as you sing the song. Ask them to do the pattern with you as you sing.
Now add an extension to the activity. Ask someone to come up and do the pattern with you, only this time the clapping will be clapping across with your partner or crossing your forearm tap across with your partner. Sing the song and do the pattern with the partner as a model. Now ask everyone to get a partner and do the pattern as you sing the song.
Benefit
Those children who take in information while interacting with other people will greatly benefit from this activity. In addition, moving to the steady beat strengthens the children’s ability to keep the steady beat in their body as they sing. They will also hear the song over and over again as they are engaged.
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This activity works well with gentle songs. If using this with younger children, they should be paired with an older child or teacher.
Beforehand Preparation
Obtain larger scarves than the individual scarves, one scarf for every two children. Experiment with the scarf being held at each of the four corners and being lifted up and brought down, catching the air, to see how fast is reasonable to lift and lower the scarf.
Activity
Ask a child to come up and be your partner. Lift and lower the scarf in tempo as you sing the song. Ask the child to find a friend as you find another friend. Repeat the activity as you sing the song. Now ask all the children to find a friend. Make sure each partnership has a scarf. Lift and lower the scarf to the song.
Extender
Ask the children to switch partners and repeat the activity again as you sing.
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Beforehand preparation
Obtain 5 or 6 pictures that have to do with the song in the order it comes in the song. You might want to consider using magnets to hold the pictures on a board at the front of the room because you will be moving the pictures around.
Activity
Tell the children that somehow you got the pictures out of order for the song. Ask them to figure out which picture comes first, second, etc. as you sing the song. Sing the song and receive their answers. Move the pictures (or have them move them) into the correct order. Hopefully singing the song at least a few times (so that they can hear it again and again) to check the order.
Extender
After the children figure out the order for the pictures, it would be good time to the activity “Inside Chalkboard”.
Example Video
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Beforehand Preparation
Print out the main words in the song. Put the words up around the room.
Activity
Tell the children that you will sing the song, touch them on the shoulder to go choose a word from around the room, and ask them to bring the word up to the front of the room and put it in the right order, figuring out which word comes first, second, etc. as you sing the song. Sing the song and touch children on the shoulder to come up. Have them put the words into the correct order. Sing the song at least a few times (so that they can hear it again and again) to check the order.
Extender
Tell the children you are going to take away four of the words as they close their eyes and you will give them 5 seconds to memorize the words. Have them open their eyes and discover what four words are missing. Receive their answers. Ask them to sing ONLY those words and you will sing all of the rest of the words.
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Beforehand Preparation
Gather tambourines, rhythm sticks, jingle bells, or other types of rhythm instruments, enough for each child in a group when you divide them into two or three groups.
Figure out a rhythm pattern for each of the three or four different instrument groups. I would keep the patterns fairly simple.
Activity
Model the pattern for each of the instruments. Divide the Primary children into their groups. Have each group do their pattern as a practice. Sing the song and have each group play their pattern at the same time. (I often put the groups in a different corner.) Freeze and have the groups switch to the next set of instruments. Sing the song again as the new groups play their new pattern. Children want a chance to play each of the instrument groups, so you will be doing this activity three or four times.
Benefit
This is an activity that makes the music come alive and gives lots of variety for experiencing the steady beat of the song.
Example Videos
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This activity is good for gentle songs.
It only works with younger children if they are paired with an older child or a teacher.
Beforehand Preparation
Obtain enough rhythm sticks for each child to have one. This activity work better if the sticks used are thicker than a pencil.
Figure out the timing with the beat of the song to include rolling the stick into a partner’s hand while receiving the partner’s stick, then circling it around the back and out to begin the process again.
Activity
Ask an older child to come up and be your partner. Roll your stick into his or her hand. Have them circle the stick around their back and grasp it with the other hand. Now have the partner roll the stick into your hand, after which you will circle it around your back and grasp it with your other hand.
Sing the song and do this action with your partner.
Extender
Instead of using only one stick, now do two sticks with both of you rolling a rhythm stick into the other’s palm at the same time.
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If the song lyrics speak of concrete things (building a boat, helping things grow, doing good to others, etc.), It might be a good candidate for a role play activity.
Beforehand Preparations
Look through the song and figure out three or four figures or actions that the children might act out. Gather whatever props might be needed for the child to play that role. You might want to write out what it is you want the child to do.
Activity
Ask for children to come out to act out the names and actions in the song. Pass out the slips of paper with the descriptions. Sing the song and have the children act out the parts.
Extender
Ask each of the children who just acted out the lyrics of the song to go and chose a friend to be their replacement. Sing the song again with the new actors.
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Beforehand Preparation
Younger: Find three or four 8x11 pictures that match the message and subject of the song. Find a 4-piece jigsaw puzzle pattern on the web. (Search 4-piece jigsaw pattern). I find that photo paper is stiff enough to make a good puzzle, while regular printer paper is not. Cut each of the pictures into that same jigsaw puzzle pattern. You might want to put sticky magnets on the back of each piece so that the children can move them around easily. (Search for sticky magnet strips or magnetic tape.)
Older: Add in two to three more pictures (five to seven different pictures) that are also cut into a jigsaw pattern.
Activity
If you have a small Primary, you can do this activity as a group. If you have a larger Primary, it would be helpful if each class could have a set of the jigsaw puzzles.
Tell the children you have some puzzles. While you sing the song three to four times, you would like them to complete the puzzles. Give the younger children a hint that there is more than one picture they will be working to complete.
Sing the song as they put the puzzles together. If one group finishes before the others, ask them to be helpers to you for singing.
Extender
Use the activity Inside Chalkboard as an extender activity, asking the children to memorize one of the pictures then turn it over so they can’t see it and tell you the colors, shapes, etc. that are in the picture. Sing the song and ask them to “see” the picture as they sing.
Benefit
This is a visually intriguing activity that engages the children as they hear the song over and over again. The brain not only associates the pictures with the song, but also starts to organize the beat, rhythm, and melody so that the words can ride upon those musical elements.
Example Video