For a fun, easy, and interactive lesson plan, try this The Hearts of the Children Emoji Letters singing time game! You’ll work together with the children to crack the code of what each of the letters and the emojis represent and then add in some of the fun extension ideas that best fit your unique Primary.
You’ll love teaching The Hearts of the Children primary song (archives here) because it helps teach the children about prophecy being fulfilled and the blessings of the temple!
The Hearts of the Children Emoji Letters
Sing through The Hearts of the Children with this flip chart once, before introducing this activity. This is a great way to help you transition from another activity and remind the children of the melody before adding an extra activity.
Post the Emoji Letters poster up on the board. Ask the children what do they see? Do they notice any patterns? Let’s sing through the song and see if we can decode what this poster means!
After you sing through the song, ask the children what they noticed again. Take a few responses. They might say things such as:
- There are a bunch of letters – yes! What might the letters represent?
- The letters stand for each word – Do only the letters represent words?
- I see emojis/symbols mixed in – Do they represent the same things?
- There are a whole bunch of letter “T” – Are all the letter T’s the same?
- Sometimes it goes letter, emoji, letter, emoji in a pattern – Does this pattern change the way the song feels?
Test out a few of the things the children noticed and patterns they saw as you sing through the song. Give them a specific thing to look for as you sing – such as are all the T’s the same?
Continue to sing your way through the song looking for new patterns and connections each time through the song until they have solved that each letter represents the first letter of a word and the emojis represent words, too.
Extension Activities:
- Cut the first letter puzzles into strips (or by page for the large format) and scramble them up. Invite a child or two to come up front and help unscramble the order or the paper strips until they are back into the correct order.
- Invite your Primary children to draw their own emojis for all of the missing blanks! They can draw a simple emoji to represent the various keywords that are missing. If they need a hint, print the 1-page emoji chart so you have ideas to help out as needed.
- Add an action to do for each letter and another action for each emoji symbol. You might, for example, clap for each letter and pat for each symbol.
- Use post it notes and invite the children to come up front and cover up some of your letters/emojis. This will up the challenge to see if you can still remember what comes next! Keep adding post it notes until the posters are covered!
For another fun similar activity, head over to see this I Lived in Heaven Emoji Letters singing time activity!
The Hearts of the Children Emoji Letters Printable Song Helps
This free in-post printable includes a 1-page emoji letters printable poster!
This activity has extended printables available including a larger 2-page and 6-page format in color, black and white, and with word blanks. It also includes a pattern key for the extension rhythm activity. These can be found in the INSTANT Primary Singing membership when The Hearts of the Children is the featured song of the month.
Get more out of singing time with the INSTANT Primary Singing membership that includes printable lesson plans, tons of extended printables and an ad-free experience for each featured song of the month, or get immediate access to the entire song list for the year!
Learn more about INSTANT Primary Singing membership options here!
Have questions or need more help, see this FAQ page here.
Next, head over to this fun and engaging The Hearts of the Children Word Search puzzle that reveals a hidden scripture passage when you’ve found all of the keywords!
What other fun ways will you use this emoji letters singing time activity in your Primary room?
