This fun Seek the Lord Early Relay Race would be perfect to take outdoors for a summer singing time idea or even use as part of a Primary Saturday activity for a fun challenge for the kids that adds meaning! Of course, you certainly can still do this idea right in your Primary room.
**22 Seek the Lord Early Singing Time Ideas Here**
Seek the Lord Early Relay Race
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How to Play:
Start by singing through Seek the Lord Early (flip chart here) once before introducing the activity.
I recommend picking just the 1st or 2nd verse (not both) but if you have a small Primary you could probably make it through both. You might want to do the 1st verse all the way through, then move onto the 2nd verse to help the kids remember the tasks.
Pair an older child with a younger child and make groups of 2-3 until everyone has a partner. I recommend having 2-4 groups of teams work through the relay while the rest of the Primary sings through the song and waits for their turn.
Explain to the children what each step of the relay race entails. The different challenges are outlined below.
My thought was they would complete one step of the relay race, and then PAUSE! Everyone pauses singing and the racers pause until both sides are finished. Then, continue through the next line and the next challenge, line by line. You can point out that the colored lines in the poster are to help them to remember to STOP and wait before the next challenge.
Adding in pause breaks will help lower the chaos and the kids will work more as a team of singers vs racers!
Remind the children before starting the relay race that you like to bring in fun activities, but if it gets too crazy we’ll have to go back to our seats and sing without the activity.
Sing through the song as many times as it takes to get all your groups through the relay race!
Supplies:
- Chairs from the Primary room or other obstacles, scriptures, rope, prophet pictures printed or from your ward library, chalk or paint tape to create hopscotch, picture of Christ.
Seek the Lord Early Relay Race Actions by Verse
I’ve paired each activity with a specific line of lyrics from the song. Remember, the kids should pause after each line so it doesn’t get too crazy!
Seek the Lord Early – Verse 1 Relay Race:
- “I’ll seek the Lord early while in my youth” – The older child skips (hops, jumps, etc – pick a fun movement!) to the younger child while on the opposite side of the room.
- “And he will help me to know the truth.” – Together weave through an obstacle course and dodge the traps! You can turn chairs to create an obstacle line or bring in a variety of boxes.
- “I’ll search the scriptures and find him there” – Flip open the scriptures and search until you find the word “Jesus”!
- “Then go to our Father in fervent prayer.” – Spin and then end by kneeling in prayer.
Seek the Lord Early – Verse 2 Relay Race:
- “I’ll seek the Lord early, and I’ll obey” – Walk on a rope on the ground balancing foot after foot.
- “His living prophets in all they say.” – Find all 4 sets of matching prophets! Then, return them face down.
- “I’ll keep his commandments; his love will abound.” Play hopscotch in heart shaped spaces or to a heart shaped space at the end of that’s easier to setup.
- “I will seek the Lord early, and he will be found.” Run to a picture of Christ!
Alternate Relay Race Ideas
for Seek the Lord Early
I love including variations on the activity so you can adapt and adjust the lesson plan to fit your primary size, ages, and interests! Here’s a few swaps I came up with.
4 Corners – Have the kids number off (1,2,3,4) and then the first child in the line will do the first leg of the relay race and tag off to the second team member. They will then do the action for line #2.
Continue through with each of the 4 kids in team doing one action from the sequence of 4 actions per verse! Now, you can have the first helper move to the end of the line and try it all over again!
You can set the kids up in a line one after the other or in 4 corners of the room, whichever makes the most sense for your space!
Go Outdoors – Bring this activity outdoors and have the kids all start at one spot on the sidewalk. All the kids will make it through the first line (singing it through 2-5 times or so, as necessary, to give everyone a chance to complete the activity. Now, walk together to the next relay stop and start again with line 2 from the song!
Double Speed – Skip the pauses between lines and have the singers sing on 2x speed! Pick just 2-3 racers and see if they can make it through all 4 challenges remembering the sequence and finishing them before the song ends.
For another really fun movement singing time idea, head over to see this I Know My Father Lives First Letter Actions idea!
Seek the Lord Early Relay Race
Printable Singing Time Lesson Plan
I’ve made this relay race easy for you by come up with all the steps, a list of what supplies you’ll need, and even a 2-page colorful fun poster (one for each verse) that reminds the kids of what the different relay challenges are.
You’ll also find printable match cards featuring current day prophets or ancient Old Testament prophets. I’d pick one set or the other, but you can include both for Senior Primary if you want an extra challenge!
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To give the kids a fun challenge while teaching Seek the Lord Early grab our Bar Chart singing time idea next!
What other fun ways could you use and adapt the Seek the Lord Early Relay Race? How did this activity go over in your Primary?
