For a fun way to put your song knowledge to the test, try this Born to Bring Us Joy Keyword Swap activity! As you practice Born to Bring us Joy (archives) in singing time, figure out which words don’t belong and swap them for the correct song lyrics!
Born to Bring Us Joy Keyword Swap
If you are looking for an easy way to review this Christmas song, you will love this keyword swap game! This basic idea behind this representation of words activity (more ideas like this!) is to switch some of the lyrics with words that don’t belong. During singing time, your job is to find the correct word to complete each phrase!
In preparation for this activity, I’ve replaced some lyrics throughout the song! Some replacements are opposites, and some are a little trickier! You can find a printable version of this activity with keyword swaps for the first verse of this song.
This activity can be used with any verse you are teaching, but I chose to focus on the first verse for this activity. You’ll notice that the printable version does not include lyric swaps for the chorus. This is because the chorus has a lot of repetition! As you work through the lyric swaps for the verse, just sing through the chorus once or twice at the end.
Before introducing this activity, sing through Born to Bring Us Joy with a flip chart once. This is a good way to refresh the lyrics before adding in some tricky words!
Then, post the first page of keyword swaps on the board. Hmm, can someone read the first line for me? “The angels/wisemen echoed through the earth/sky.” Some of these words don’t belong. Does anyone know what the right words are?
Sing through the song again, listening carefully for those keywords. Raise your hand if you think you know what the right word is!
To keep things simple, start with one first keyword swap at a time. Who echoed through the sky when Jesus was born? Was it the wisemen? No! That’s right – it was the angels! Cross off the incorrect lyric or circle the right one, and then move on to the next keyword swap.
Let’s read the next line – “The day/night that Jesus was born.” Hmm, who knows this one? Do we need a hint?
Sing through the verse as you make your way through this fun keyword swap activity! This is a great way to keep the kids engaged and get in lots of repetition. Did we get them all right? Let’s sing through it once more and check our work!
Keyword Swap Examples:
I’ve included a few examples below of keyword swaps from the first verse. Be sure to grab the full printable version later in this post to save some time on singing time prep!
Each line of the song includes at least one keyword swap with two word options separated by a dash. Some of these keyword swaps are opposites and some are similar! Can you figure out which word doesn’t belong?
- “The angels/wisemen echoed through the earth/sky” (ANGELS / SKY)
- “The shepherds, hearing/singing their song that night” (HEARING)
- “to kneel/sit before the baby/little boy” (KNEEL / BABY)
Extension Activities:
- For an extra challenge, write all the song lyrics on the board with ONLY the incorrect words. Can you spot the wrong lyric and write in the correct one?
- Choose a fun action to do each time you sing one of the key words in the song. Here are some examples: Stomp feet, roll arms, jump up, stand/sit, give a high five, clap hands
- Cut out each song phrase and divide them between classes. Have each class find the correct song lyric, then sing only their assigned line!
- Divide the room into two sides. Have one side sing only the keywords and have the other side sing the rest of the lyrics. Then, switch!
For another fun similar activity, head over to see this Follow the Prophet Word Swap singing time activity!
Born to Bring Us Joy Keyword Swap Printable Song Helps
This free in-post printable includes a 4-page keyword swap activity for the first verse of this song with each keyword pair in color.
This activity has extended printables including keyword swap pages for the chorus and additional verses. It also includes a wrong lyrics only version and a keyword blanks option in 3 size formats! You’ll find these bonus files in the Born to Bring Us Joy teaching packet in my shop.
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Head over to this Born to Bring Us Joy First Letters activity next and solve this puzzle with only first letters and emojis!
What other fun ways will you use this keyword swap singing time activity in your Primary room?
