Are you looking for a fun word game to incorporate into your singing time plans? This Choose to Serve the Lord Code Word Blanks activity is a great way to test your knowledge of the song in an engaging way!
As you teach Choose to Serve the Lord (archives) in singing time this month, fill in missing letters one at a time to solve each word puzzle with keywords to help your primary children remember each scripture character in this Old Testament song!
Choose to Serve the Lord Code Word Blanks
Your Primary children will love this code word blanks challenge! I find that this representation of words activity is especially successful with older primary children, but you can definitely find ways to include your younger primary kiddos too.
I’ve created word blank puzzles for each scripture hero mentioned in the song. Each puzzle contains the name of a scripture hero, as well as a code word or phrase from the song about what they teach us.
As you sing, guess one letter at a time to reveal scripture characters and song phrases. For an added challenge, see how many word blank puzzles you can solve before singing time ends!
How to Play:
Before introducing this activity, I recommend starting with a brief song review. If you haven’t already, grab a copy of our flip chart for this song as you practice. It can also provide some helpful hints for the word puzzle!
Write out dashes for each letter to spell out one of the scripture hero names. Or, just tape the printable version on the board. Can you guess which scripture character this is?
_ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _
Explain that each line represents one letter in a word from the song. Have the children raise their hand to guess one letter at a time.
If they guess a letter that is in the puzzle, have them come up and fill in the missing letter(s). Can anyone guess what the word is? Don’t say it just yet!
*Here’s a hint: The top word tells us the name of someone in our song.
Continue guessing one letter at a time until you solve for the entire puzzle, or until someone guesses the word correctly. Awesome! It spells, “Queen Esther.”
Now, let’s try the next puzzle. *Hint: This puzzle tells us what we learn from the story of Queen Esther in the scriptures.
It may take quite a while to get through all 4 sets of word puzzles, so you may want to choose 1-2 to focus on this week, and try another puzzle next time! Or, see our extension ideas for ways to divide up the puzzles!
1st Verse Code Word Blanks :
I’ve included all 8 word blank puzzles for the first verse below. To save on time writing on the board, grab a copy of our printable word puzzles later in this post.
_ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ = Queen Esther
_ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ = Stand for right
_ _ _ _ _ _ = Elisha
_ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ _ = Angels Protect
_ _ _ _ _ = David
_ _ _ _ = Slay
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ = Deborah
_ _ _ _ / _ _ / _ _ _ _ _ _ Lead to Christ
Extension Activities:
- Split the room into 4 groups – one for each set of word blank puzzles. Give an answer key to each teacher and have each group work together to solve their word puzzles.
- Cut out the word puzzles and solve only for the scripture hero names! Then, see if the children can remember what we learn from each person in the song.
- Give a simple picture clue for each word blank puzzle. For example: 👑 = Queen Esther, 😇 = Angels protect, ⚔ = Slay, ➡ = Lead to Christ
- Once you have solved a word blank puzzle, choose a volunteer to come up and hold the paper. Hold the paper up high when you hear the word or phrase!
- Pick an easy action to do each time you sing a phrase from the puzzle(s). For example, spin each time you sing the name of a scripture character and jump for each code word phrase.
For another fun similar activity, head over to see this I Need Thee Every Hour Word Blanks singing time activity!
Choose to Serve the Lord Code Word Blanks Printable Song Helps
This free in-post printable includes word blank puzzles with scripture heroes and lessons from the first verse.
This activity has extended printables including code word blanks for 8 different heroes, and half challenge cards with the hero name or what you learn paired with the other puzzle. You’ll find these bonus printables included in your INSTANT Primary Singing membership when Choose to Serve the Lord 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.
You won’t want to miss this Choose to Serve the Lord Paper Plates idea with fun rhythms for keywords through the song!
What other fun ways will you use this code word blanks singing time activity in your Primary room?
