My primary children LOVE logical games, especially my Senior primary friends. This game will be no exception! This Fathers Line Matching Game is such a fun way to review this great song for Father’s Day!
With Father’s Day approaching, many singing time leaders are working on learning a song to share in sacrament meeting. If you’re preparing to sing in sacrament meeting this year, this Fathers Primary song teaches a great message about fatherhood and our Father in Heaven.
It can be a little tricky to keep all the verses straight in this song! Since I’ll be teaching all 3 verses of the Fathers song in singing time, this line matching activity will be a great way to review the lyrics and keep the verses separate.
In this post, I’ll share some details about the game, how to play, and some extra extension ideas. Later in the post, I’ve included a 4-page printable that includes matching worksheets for all 3 verses of the song!
Fathers Line Matching Game
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I’m so excited to try this activity in primary as we review for Father’s Day! The idea behind this activity is pretty simple. To start off, break down each line of the song into 1-2 word phrases.
During primary, arrange one half of the phrase on one side of the board and the other half on the other side of the board. Once you have a bunch of phrases up on the board, invite children to come up and match the phrases.
There are many different ways to do this! If you want to keep it simple, you can just write out the phrases on the whiteboard. I have created a printable lesson plan later in this post that includes a matching worksheet for each verse of this song!
At the beginning of the song, sing through the first verse of Fathers (check out our flipchart here). Then, once your primary kids feel pretty confident with the words, it’s time for a challenge.
Tape the line matching worksheet to the whiteboard and explain that all the words to the song are on this page! Your job is to find each match for the set of words on the left side of the page.
Have children come up to the board and match one phrase at a time. Then sing the song again and move on to the next verse! For a fun challenge, you could start singing the song and see if you can match all the phrases by the time you are finished singing!
Activity Instructions:
- At the beginning of singing time, review each verse of Fathers (lyrics here).
- Ask the kids if they’re up for a challenge!
- Write out phrases of the song, with a few words on one side of the board, and the rest of the phrase on the other side.
- Make sure the phrases are mixed up!
- Choose one child to come up and draw a line from of the phrases to its correct match.
- Continue matching phrases one verse at a time!
Call-and-Response Adaptation for Junior Primary:
Since this game requires some reading, this activity is geared more toward Senior primary. However, if you want to adapt this activity for Junior primary, just play the game, this call-and-response adaptation will work great!
You can do a simple call and response game for Junior primary that requires no reading skills. For this version, just hold the matching worksheet and call out the first half of phrase. Then, have the kids call out the second half of the phrase! So fun!
Extension Ideas:
- Write phrases on strips of paper, with one half of the phrase on one strip and the other half on another strip of paper. Pass out one piece of paper to each child. While you sing, have the children walk around and find their match!
- Give each class an envelope that contains phrases of one verse. See which class can arrange their verse the fastest! Have each class sing their assigned verse.
- Sing while you match the phrases! Have children come up while you sing and see if you can match all the phrases before you finish singing the verse.
For more fun ideas for using a line match in Primary, head over to see our Love One Another Line Matching lesson plan!
Fathers Line Matching Game Printable Lesson Plan
This printable lesson plan contains matching worksheets for all 3 verses of Fathers. The first page includes brief instructions to play the game, as well as some fun extension ideas.
There are lots of ways to use this printable. If you want to use the full worksheet, print out each page and use a marker or pencil to match the phrases. Another way to use this worksheet is to print and cut out each of the phrases. Both ways are great for this activity!
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For more Father’s Day songs, check out our post with 40+ BEST Father’s Day Primary Songs!
