110+ Different Ways to Sing Primary Songs

When you’ve learned the song and already used some of our fun singing time lesson plans to teach the words, now it’s time to just build in tons of repetition!

If you’re looking for tons of ways to sing through the song over and over and over again, these fun singing time cards with 110 different ways to sing printable cards will come to the rescue! You can incorporate these ideas into any of your singing time lesson plans, too!

110 Different Ways to Sing Primary Songs including printable singing time music cards with a variety of fun ways to build in song repetition.

Using Ways to Sing Cards in Singing Time

*Downloads are available at the bottom of the post when signed in!*

How to Play:

Select a group of ways to sing cards from below. You can include a mix of your favorites or pick a category to start with.

Cut out the cards, fold them in half, then put them in a big jar or bowl.

110 Different Ways to Sing Primary Songs including printable singing time music cards with a variety of fun ways to build in song repetition.

Pick out a song you want to practice and sing through in Primary. Sing through it once before pulling out your fun ways to sing cards.

Have a helper come up and pick out one of the ways to sing from the jar. Give simple instructions, if necessary, and then sing through the song.

Repeat with a new way to sing or fun way to divide the room and repeat singing the song again and again with new actions each time.

Some of these ideas came from these two posts, which are also great, but a lot of my ideas below are UNIQUE and I have about double any other list:

110 Different Ways to Sing Primary Songs including printable singing time music cards with a variety of fun ways to build in song repetition.

Alternate Ideas to Use the Singing Ways Cards:

  • Add in a variety of songs. Roll a dice and assign one song to each number. For fewer songs than 6 you can add in fun extra options like Teacher’s choice, Kids choice, choice of ANY song, Repeat the last song (and action), etc. With 2-3 songs you can simply split by even and odd numbers or any other division that makes sense!
  • Have the helper pick two ways to sing cards, and then let them choose between the two options.
  • Use a number picker app (“Hey Google!”) and have it pick a number between 1-110. Use that method for your way to sing!
  • Have the kids help you come up with fun ways to sing and use those ideas instead or add them to your collection.  

110 Different Ways to Sing Primary Songs

Below you’ll find listed all of our fun ways to sing broken down into a variety of categories including movement, people interaction, ways to divide the Primary room, using a Sign to flip between two actions, and more!

You’ll also be able to grab our free printable cards at the bottom of this post. Bookmark this post and you’ll be able to easily come back later to reference and fun new fun ways to sing to incorporate into your music time!

Get Moving – Fun Movement Ways to Sing:

  1. Balance on one foot
  2. Turn right at the end of each measure (or line)
  3. Draw shapes in the air while you sing
  4. Use hand actions (or ASL) that represent words
  5. Stand up for the chorus
  6. Bend side to side
  7. Jump on a keyword
  8. Sing with terrible posture, then with perfect singing posture
  9. Rub belly and pat heat
  10. March in place
  11. Touch your toes
  12. On your knees
  13. Spin at the end of the song (or through chorus)
  14. Line dance to the right and then left through the chorus
  15. Cha-cha through the song
LDS Baptism Song - Body Rhythm Pattern Singing Time activity and lesson plan for Primary Music Leaders. Also, a fun activity for LDS families home study of Come, Follow Me.

Look at this cute way to use a traditional Head Shoulders Knees and Toes pattern with the Baptism Body Rhythm pattern!

Different Ways to Sing Singing Styles:

  1. Country Singer
  2. Opera Singer
  3. Use a baby voice
  4. Whistle
  5. Hum the song
  6. Sing like the Tabernacle Choir
  7. Can you rap the song?
  8. Whisper sing
  9. Yodel sing
  10. Sing with oooohs, aaaaahs, etc
  11. Wiggle a finger up and down on your lips and sing like you’re underwater!
  12. Sing into a microphone (sing into the curl of a closed fist for a muffled effect)
  13. Pirate (sing “arrrr” instead of words)
  14. Cat (sing “meow” instead of words)
  15. Cow (sing “moo” instead of words)
Printable ways to sing primary cards

Fun Ways to Sing Like a Character:

  1. Lasso like a Cowboy
  2. Do a Robot Dance
  3. Flap arms like a Bird
  4. Dance like a hula dancer
  5. Strike a Frankenstein pose
  6. Pretend to fly (in your spot) like a superhero
  7. Like a Giant (sing deep and low)
  8. Play an air guitar
  9. Ride your bike while you sing
  10. Lead like a music conductor
How to Conduct Primary Music

Head over to this post for a fun free When I Am Baptized mini conducting course to use in your Primary! I created this to use for an activity days girl class and it includes a whole printable worksheet to work through to teach how to lead, beat, rhythm, and more!

Fun People Interaction Ideas for Singing:

  1. Face Your Neighbor
  2. Front row turns around and faces the back row
  3. Face the back of the room
  4. Stand in a circle
  5. Sing with the lights off
  6. Link arms with a neighbor
  7. High five a neighbor on a specific keyword
  8. Mirror your partners actions, then switch who leads
  9. Hide an object and sing louder as the seeker gets closer and closer!
  10. Four corners – everyone picks a corner then randomly draw a number card (or roll a dice) if that number is drawn all the kids in that corner return to their seats and sing through the song. On a 5 all the corners sing instead. On a 6 you pick new corners!
when I am baptized hand clap pattern

For a super fun and easy way to get the kids working together, try this When I Am Baptized Hand Clap Patterns! It’s fun and adds lots of movement and working together with others.

Follow the Beat or Rhythm Singing Ways:

  1. Nodding with the Beat
  2. Alternate feet on the beat
  3. Clapping on every rest
  4. Clap every beat
  5. Clap every other beat
  6. Clap double speed
  7. Pat on every WORD
  8. Stomp to the rhythm
  9. Sway with the rhythm
  10. Rub your hands together with the speed or volume of the song
We'll Bring the World His Truth Beat vs Rhythm Primary singing time ideas

This We’ll Bring the World His Truth Beat vs Rhythm singing time is a perfect resource to learn more about using beat and rhythm with actions in singing time! It also helps explain the differences and some fun movement actions you can add for variety.

Body Part Singing Way Ideas:

  1. Close Your Eyes
  2. Don’t blink!
  3. Wink as you sing!
  4. Plug Your Nose
  5. Cover your ears
  6. Hold your tongue
  7. Don’t move your lips!
  8. Fold arms
  9. Bow head
  10. Tap to the beat on your knee, forehead, elbow, etc
  11. Sing with a big smile!
  12. Sing with your mouth wide open
  13. Make a silly face while you sing
  14. Make jazz hands whenever you sing a specific word
  15. Hold your arms and legs tight together “glued” in place
I Am a Child of God Singing Time Ideas - finger actions easy movement game for LDS Primary

This adorable I Am a Child of God Finger Actions is a great example of getting your body involved and making the singing time super interactive! It’s one of my favorites!

Ways to Divide the Primary Room:

  1. Boys vs Girls
  2. Teachers vs Students
  3. Right side vs Left side
  4. Front row vs Back row
  5. Junior vs Senior
  6. Class vs Class
  7. Even Age vs Odd Age
  8. Hair color
  9. Eye color
  10. Clothing color or style
  11. Count off 1-2 or 1-4
  12. Favorite Holiday: Halloween or Christmas
  13. Favorite Season: Summer or Winter
  14. Favorite Pet: Dogs or Cats
  15. Favorite Subject: Math or English
Echo singing printable cards with unique ways to divide the Primary room for Singing Time music games

Head over to our I Know My Father Lives Echo Singing post for these cute card printables and lots of directions of how to use Echo Singing to add tons of repetition with a variety of ways to divide up the room!

Easy Sign for Switching to Different Ways to Sing:

Create a simple 2-sided sign (or two printable cards). Switch between two actions and alternate the way you sing throughout the song and whatever interval you choose.

  1. Stop and Go sign, music continues while you stop and start singing
  2. Hum or Sing
  3. Soft or Loud
  4. Music leader vs Kids
  5. Slow or Fast
  6. Sit and Stand
  7. Sway and Freeze
  8. Hop or Balance
  9. Right vs Left Arrow to pick which side of the room sings
  10. Smooth & Choppy – sing the words held out and flowy together or quick and choppy without holding the notes
Sway and freeze printable sign for singing time ways to sing

Head over to this post for He Sent His Son Sway & Freeze to grab a free printable sign to use for your actions! Plus fun extension ideas for how to use this for your whole singing time.

Challenging Ways to Sing Primary Songs:

  1. Skip singing a specific word throughout the song
  2. Sing silently in your head
  3. Without looking at the words or music
  4. Sing without the piano accompaniment
  5. Pause singing when the music stops, and pick back up again where you left off
  6. Sing the whole song with ONE big breath
  7. Sing every other word
  8. Can you hold a squat for the song?
  9. Push-up and sing!
  10. Start at the Chorus, then sing to the end and loop back around until you get to the chorus again.
This is the BEST list with over 110 different ways to sing primary songs or use these printable cards for any music time, singing time, class, preschool, etc when teaching a song. Great for building in lots of repetition with fun ideas for any age - pick the ones you like best!

10 Bonus Ways to Sing Ideas

Here’s a fun additional fun ways to sing to add to your lists! These are some extra ideas I found that aren’t currently included in the printable.

  1. Roll your arms
  2. Sing as slow as you can
  3. Dance like a ballerina
  4. Split room by first name (a-n and m-z)
  5. If you have a sister
  6. If you have a brother
  7. Wearing a zipper
  8. Wearing buttons
  9. Have pockets
  10. Carrying a bag

Printable Ways to Sing Singing Time Cards

To make it even easier to use this fun list of different ways to sing in your own music class or singing time, I’ve created printable cards to help! Included below is huge printable with all the ways to sing typed up on individual cards.

You’ll first find a quick overview page of how to use these ways to sing cards for singing. Plus, some fun alternate use ideas we’ve shared above.

Then, you’ll find two options for the cards – a color coded option that adds variety and interest to the cards and a printer friendly black and white option.

Printable ways to sing primary cards with over 110 unique and different singing ways included

Color Coded: I’ve used a variety of colors (print pages 2-7) to help segment the ideas and make it easier for you to sort through and find just the one you’re looking for.

You can use the ways to sing in batches which will help keep them fresh and interesting, since there are so many to choose from! Or pick choose from all the options below to have a fun custom mix of ways to sing for your Primary!

  • Blue = Movement and Using a Sign
  • Green = Beat and Rhythm actions and Challenging Ways to Sing
  • Yellow = Singing Styles and Make your own
  • Purple = Body Part Actions and Act like a Character
  • Orange = People Interaction and Ways to Divide the room

Printer Friendly: There is also a black and white option below (print pages 8-13). Just add colored paper to your printer and you’ll instantly have fun colorful singing time cards without using up your colored ink.

Printable ways to sing primary cards with over 110 unique and different singing ways included

To access the free in-post printables for this post, you’ll just need to create a free account or login with the Grow.me tool. Then, confirm by email and refresh the page and ALL my free printables will automatically unlock in every post!

110+ Different Ways to Sing Primary Songs Singing time ideas for Primary Music Leaders PS Plus Unlock Banner

For more information on why I use a content lock or how to create your account, you can see the FAQ page here.

Animal Ways to Sing Cards

For another cute take on different ways to sing in Primary, you can mimic animals with these darling animal singing ways cards! These cards were created by Brenda Nettleship and she’s generously allowed me to share her file with you here! I also wanted to make sure to credit Shaylene Jennings who started a fun conversation with the ways to sing like an animal!

Fun Animal Ways to Sing Music cards for Primary

To use these cards, just print out all 3 pages. Then, cut out the animals and the descriptions. Glue the descriptions on the back of each matching animal. Then, laminate to keep them in wonderful condition to use again and again!

Included Animal Ways to Sing:

  • FAST as a fox
  • SLOW as a turtle
  • NO BLINKING like a fish
  • SHIVER like a penguin
  • STOMP like a dinosaur
  • TONGUE OUT like a dog
  • BAAAA like a lamb
  • HUM like a bee
  • QUIET as a mouse
  • LOUD as a lion
  • CLAP like a monkey
  • HOP like a kangaroo
  • SLITHER like a snake (with hands)
  • STAND like a flamingo (one foot)
  • HOLD YOUR NOSE skunks are stinky

To access the free in-post printables for this post, you’ll just need to create a free account or login with the Grow.me tool. Then, confirm by email and refresh the page and ALL my free printables will automatically unlock in every post!

110+ Different Ways to Sing Primary Songs Singing time ideas for Primary Music Leaders PS Plus Unlock Banner

For more information on why I use a content lock or how to create your account, you can see the FAQ page here.

What other fun and unique ways to sing Primary Songs would you add to this list? Leave them in the comments to give others ideas, too!

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