3 Fun & Simple Ways to Teach ANY Song

Teaching a new song doesn't need to be complicated! Here are a few activities that will work for any song.

It's a new month, which means you've got a new song (or two, or more!) to teach during Singing Time! In case you're looking for some simple new teaching methods, here are some ideas that will work for any song.

Object Line-Up (for Junior primary)

Need:

• Objects to represent lyrics from each line of the song

How to Play:

Line up all the objects in a random order on the floor or a table. Tell the children that the objects represent each line from the new song and you need help putting them in the right order. Ask the children to put their "listening ears" on while you sing just the first line of the song. You might want to sing it a couple times to give them time to study the objects and think. After you sing, ask the children which object seems like it fits with what you just sung, then ask them why to confirm that they listened to the words you were saying (i.e. "Yes, you're right - why do you think tennis shoes fit with the line 'Jesus walked in wisdom'?"). Then ask the children to sing the line with you. Repeat these steps with the second line of the song, then sing both the first and second lines. Continue on until you learn the whole song. Remember to give the little ones lots of praise as you go; this will encourage them to stay engaged!

Word Jumble (for Senior primary)

Need:

• All the lyrics of the song on separate pieces of paper (I recommend 2-4 words per paper)

How to Play:

Mix up all the papers with the lyrics and put them in a line (or 2 or 3) on the floor or on the chalkboard. Tell the children the words are all mixed up and you need to put them in order. Since they do not yet know the song, tell them you will sing it once before asking a child to try and move one piece of paper to the right spot. Sing the song once by yourself while the kids study the mixed up lyrics. After you sing, invite a child who was paying attention to move once piece of paper to the correct spot (no need to tell them if it's correct or not, just keep playing). Repeat. After 2-4 times of this, invite the children to sing along with you if they haven't already. Since knowing the song will obviously make the game easier, the children will likely try and sing along with you from the second or even the first time singing it!

Variant: Follow the Bouncing Ball!

Start with all the lyrics in the right order, and then sing the song while pointing along. Then, choose a child to switch two pieces of paper so that it's not in the right order (make sure everyone is watching this happen!). Choose another child to point to the correct words as you sing the song again. If they were able to keep up, choose another child to switch another pair of papers. If they were not able to keep up and point to the right words as you sang, have another child come up and try (don't switch more papers unless the pointing child is able to complete the "challenge.") This will keep the game from getting too hard too quickly.

New Hand Motions (for Junior & Senior)

Need:

• Just you!

How to Play:

Tell the children you want to do hand motions for a new song but have nothing planned, so you need their help (Senior primary may be more engaged if you tell them you need their help to come up with hand motions to teach Junior primary)! When the children are ready, sing the first line of the song. If there are any "big words" in the line, you can take the time to explain what it means. Then ask "what kind of hand motion should we do for this part of the song?" Then sing it again. Ask the children to show you with their hands what is a good idea for a hand motion. Sing the line again as the children do a gesture. Compliment and mimic some of their ideas, then choose one. Have the children sing with you as you sing the line while doing the selected movement. Continue until you have learned the song!