Hymn # 239 "Choose the Right": 1st Verse

This week I am going to attempt the first verse of "Choose The Right".  I have found that our children are very successful when I create a game/activity that forces them to listen closely to the words (even if they don't know them yet).  This week we are going to play a musical chairs of sorts.

I have printed (and laminated) a few keys items and also found a few props.

We will sing the entire song through once (or twice) for the kids to listen to the words.  Then, I will line up chairs in the front of primary, call up enough kids to have them each hold one of the signs and/or props.  (I will also hand out my CTR-on-a-stick from last week to remaining audience members. Same rules.)  Each child in the front of the room has to stand up when they hear the part of the song that matches their sign.  If they forget to stand up or miss it, then they get to pick someone from the audience to take their place (and the audience member will hand over their CTR-on-a-stick).  Lather, rinse, repeat!!

For our senior primary (who consists of "older" senior primary) I may have them line up, but not in order of the song (like I would intenionally do with junior).  I also might add a few more props/signs that would require them to act faster and listen for more words.

My props, in the picture above, are as follows:

Choose the right
When a choice is placed before you (B 4 U sign)
In the right
The Holy Spirit Guides (Wrong Way sign)
And its light (flashlight)
Is forever shining o'er you
When in the right
Your heart confides (heart sign)

I limited my props/signs to simplify it for the young ones, but you can add as many or as little as you want.

Hymn # 239 "Choose the Right": Chorus Only

This is quite the song to teach the primary! I love it, but hymns always take a little more effort.  For our first week in February, I spent the time introducing the chorus to the primary. ONLY the chorus.  I wanted them to have some confidence in a strong portion of the song before we moved on to the verses.

Last week I printed out pictures to represent the chorus lines (CTR shield, wise old owl for wisdom, etc).  I posted the pictures around the room and had the kids sing the chorus a few times and then called up a child to find the picture they thought came first, then second, third, etc.

As they found the hidden picture and brought it to the front of the room, I then had them place it on the magnetic chalkboard in the proper order (helpful hint: I allowed the remainder of the primary to help the "seeker" but ONLY if the seeker asked for help and ONLY with their pointing fingers -- no words allowed).

I also handed out CTR-on-a-stick.  Each child had a shield (printed and attached to a stick -- or pencil, like me, if you ran out of sticks).  Any time the kids heard the word "RIGHT" they had to hold their CTR-on-a-stick SUPER high!! It really helped them focus on the words.

(I got this idea off another pirmary blog and I cannot seem to find it!! My apologies in advance for not giving the proper credit. If one of you happen to find which blog, feel free to post a comment with a link to it and I will do the same if I find it.)

As a help, I also handed out a printed copy of the hymn to the teachers. I wanted to make sure that there was some singing along with the mumbling. Most of the teachers knew the song already, but cheat-sheets can't hurt a bit!