I am so excited to teach Follow the Prophet this month in primary! If you enjoy playing fun & silly word games in singing time, you will love this Follow the Prophet Word Swap review activity!
I have loved the songs on this year’s Old Testament Come Follow Me Singing Time List! This month, I’ll start teaching Follow the Prophet. Since there are many verses to this song, we have lots of fun activities to keep this song engaging as you review!
We play lots of word games in primary. I have found that these types of activities are some of the most engaging review activities for senior primary kiddos. They are a great way to get them thinking and using their problem-solving skills.
This activity incorporates all these skills, and even includes some laughter. If you are looking for a great word game to review Follow the Prophet this month, look no further!
Follow the Prophet Word Swap
The idea behind this activity is to provide the children with a short phrase from the song that includes one of the words swapped with a silly word. Their job is to find the word that doesn’t belong and swap it out for the correct word!
I had so much fun coming up with silly phrases for this song. I have included a printable lesson plan for this activity that includes a list of 12 silly phrases for the word swap!
Here are some examples of silly phrases I came up with:
- In a place called (insert your city or state here), he helped things to grow (Adam’s verse).
- When they were so happy that there was no sin (Enoch’s verse).
- So the king threw Daniel in the penguin’s den (Daniel’s verse).
- They wished they had listened when they saw the snow (Noah’s verse).
*Just a disclaimer: These phrases are meant to be fun and silly, and I do not mean to take away from the reverence of these sweet primary songs.*
As you can see, the changes to these verses are pretty simple. Once you have your silly phrase, you can create a word bank for the correct words for each phrase.
During primary, tape up the silly phrases, as well as a word bank to choose from. Have children choose one phrase at a time and swap the silly word for the correct one!
Activity Instructions:
- At the beginning of primary, review Follow the Prophet by singing the chorus and a few verses.
- Then, show one of the phrases and ask the children if that sounds right to them. See if they can think of the right word.
- Place one phrase on the board at a time, along with the word bank.
- Invite the children to work together to swap out the silly word for the word that fits best in the sentence.
- Continue singing and swapping words until you have solved all the silly phrases!
There are lots of fun ways to adapt this activity, from team play to matching. Check out my list of Extension Ideas to see how to adapt this activity for your primary.
Extension Ideas:
- Create 2-3 teams and give each team a set of silly word phrases. Have the children sit on the floor and replace the silly words with the correct lyrics. Have a contest to see which team can swap all the words and fix the sentences first!
- Choose the phrases that match the verse you are singing. While you sing that verse, invite children to come up and swap out the words.
- Hide the word bank! This might be a fun challenge for Senior primary kiddos. Invite them to solve the word phrases without seeing the word bank. If they need some help, you can let them peek at the word bank or ask a teacher.
For another unique and fun singing time idea similar to this word swap, see our Did Jesus Really Live Again Find the Word idea. They’ll have to pick the correct word out of a strip of 4 words per blank!
Follow the Prophet Word Swap Printable Lesson Plan
I’ve created a simple lesson plan in this Follow the Prophet Word Swap Printable. In true Primary Singing fashion, the first page of this lesson plan includes instructions for the activity and extension ideas.
The rest of this printable includes word phrases with one lyric replaced by a silly word. Print out the phrases and tape them up to the board during singing time.
If children have a hard time thinking of the correct word, you can show the word bank and see if they can choose the correct lyrics from the word bank.
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We have so many fun ideas for this song! For another great activity to review Follow the Prophet, check out this fun Follow the Prophet Listen & Sing activity!
How did you enjoy this Follow the Prophet word swap activity? Let us know in the comments!
