Heading back to school is a big and significant event in your Primary kiddos lives! What a fun way to show them you’re paying attention to their big moments than with these back to school singing time ideas!
There’s a lot of fun variety of activities with some that will work for any songs, review a mix of songs, or incorporate an everyday lesson while tying it into a seasonal theme!
12 Back to School Singing Time Ideas
1. Build a Pencil Song Scramble
Use this Build a Pencil Song Scramble game with adorable pencil graphics to write in your song title by letter or word and let the kids pick an envelope, unscramble the song, and even match a fun way to sing if you’d like! It’s a great themed way to review all your songs as you get closer to the Primary Program!
2. What’s in my Backpack?
Pull out a variety of school supplies and then match the song with a fun themed way to sing that goes along with each object. There’s a total of 18 different fun school supply cards in this What’s in my Backpack Review game!
3. Pencil Rhythm Sticks
Teach whatever song you’re already working on with a fun rhythm stick pattern – but substitute out pencils, markers, colored pencils, red pens, etc! This will add a fun theme, but help you stay focused on continuing teaching the songs you’ve picked for the year.
Here are some of our Rhythm Stick Lesson Plans to make it even easier:
I’ve also created these super easy to use Rhythm Stick Music Cards that make it a cinch to easily come up with fun and unique rhythm stick patterns for any song! Head over to find the cards in my digital shop or over on my Etsy shop.
4. Lead with School Supplies
Prepare a variety of school supplies to have up front that the children can use to help lead the music. You might include some of the following:
- Pencil
- Marker
- Glue Stick
- Ruler
- Scissors (the blunt kid style)
- Pencil box
- Tissues
- Eraser
5. The Shortest Pencil
Have 3-5 pencils of varying lengths, but all of the same color. Mix them up together and then hold them so that you disguise the length of each pencil. Have helpers come up front and stand in front of a song title (or number) on the whiteboard.
They’ll each then draw a pencil. Whichever helper drew the shortest pencil is the song everyone sings! You can also let that child stay up front to help you lead the song.
This is a fun play off of the story of Nephi and his brothers drawing lots that you can tie into the theme, if you want to. It can be a great tie into how the Lord can help us as we do hard things – like starting school for the first time or making new friends.
6. Choose the “WRITE”
Have fun with the hymn Choose the Right by simply mixing up the keyword! Here’s a few ways to add in the back to school theme:
- Add a fun action for every time you sing right, such as stomp or point to the right!
- Hold up a pencil or pretend to write with a pencil every time you sing “right”
- Create a fill-in-the-blank and have the kids write in the missing keywords
- Pass the dry erase marker! Kids get to write the word they just heard sung up on the board, then pass off the dry erase marker. Can they get all the words up there and in the correct order?
We have 12 more fun Choose the Right Singing Time ideas that you could mix and match to add to your Back to School singing time plans over in this post!
7. Plan a Geography Lesson for Singing Time!
Use this fun singing time activity for I Hope They Call Me on a Mission that will take the kids all around the world! Add a map (or bring in a globe) and add little pins or stars to the locations and have the kids try to spot the different places around the world.
8. Bring in a Little Math Practice!
The kids will love this fun The Holy Ghost Number Problems singing time idea. They’ll have to decode which numbers represent which matching words in a fun activity that adds a challenge while getting in lots of singing repetition. You can easily tie in a fun themed activity like this with the back to school theme!
9. Art Class Singing Time
I love the idea of picking a few favorite subjects and diving in with a different activity for each. Bring in one of our fun and easy art-themed singing time ideas that match a song you’re working on. Here’s a few favorites, but you can see even more ideas linked in our Visual Intrigue Singing Time Ideas post.
- I Know My Father Lives Color Puzzle
- I Love to See the Temple Playdoh Creations
- Keep the Commandments – Color the Commandments
- Gethsemane – Jesus Loves Me Drawings
- Love One Another – Magic Crayon
10. Hidden Calculator Song Number
I adore this cute idea by I Heart Primary Music. You’ll simply type in a song number and then hide the calculator somewhere in the room. Make sure you test out your calculator first to ensure it will stay on long enough and write down the song numbers, just in case they hit a button. She has some more cute ideas in the post, visit her post for additional ideas!
11. Back to School by the Subject!
Camille is so creative! She came up with this darling lesson plan that goes through 6 different Primary songs with a themed activity that matches the subject for reading, writing, math – even recess!
12. School & Bus Song Mixer
Little LDS Ideas has adorable printable school house and school bus printable cards. You’ll just write a song title and a way to sing on the back of each, then let the kids pick one bus and one school house and sing following the matching sequence!
What other fun ideas do you have for a fun Back to School Singing Time?
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