Are you teaching The Hearts of the Children (archives) in primary this year? This simple song can be a wonderful way to connect Old Testament prophesies to revelations from our current prophets, such as temple building!
Focus on the lyrics with this The Hearts of the Children Keyword Pairs singing time activity! For a fun way to review this song in primary, rearrange keywords throughout the song.
The Hearts of the Children Keyword Pairs
As you teach this Come Follow Me Old Testament (full list) song, focus on keywords throughout the song with this keyword pairs activity. The basic idea behind this word representations activity (archives) is to take keywords from the song and rearrange them in the correct order by finding which word comes next!
The only prep work needed for this activity is to cut out all the keywords into word strips. I’ve color-coded each keyword pair with first words in red and second words in yellow, as shown below.
How to Play:
Start by singing through The Hearts of the Children using this flip chart. Then, tuck away the lyrics to make this activity a little more challenging!
Arrange the keywords on the board, with all the words in red on one side and all the words in yellow on the opposite side.
Tell the kids to listen carefully as you sing through the song again. Raise your hand when you see a word from the song.
Did you catch it? The first keyword is “Hearts.” Choose someone to come put this word at the top. Awesome! What comes next? Look on the yellow side for the next keyword. Nice job! It’s “children.”
Continue singing through the song slowly and finding one keyword at a time. The color-coded words make it a little easier by giving a hint about what the next keyword will be.
Once you have all the keywords in order, sing through the song once more. You might also consider having a brief discussion about what some of these words mean. Words like, “prophesied,” as well as Old Testament characters, such as Malachi and Elijah may not be familiar to your primary children.
Help deepen their understanding of this song by discussing some of these words and conclude with your testimony.
Keyword Pairs:
Here’s my list of keyword pairs for this song. You’ll notice that each of these keyword pairs are arranged in order from the beginning to end of the song.
In each keyword pair, the second word comes almost directly after the first. So, you’ll have to listen extra carefully to hear each pair!
- Hearts – Children
- Turn – Fathers
- Malachi – Prophesied
- Hearts – Turn
- Elijah – Fulfilled
- Families – Sealed
Extension Activities:
- Play a matching game! Match each keyword from one side of the board to its pair on the other side.
- Add some movement by giving one keyword strip to each child. As you sing, have them walk around the room to find their match! Or, have the children rearrange their words in the correct order at the front of the room.
- Have one side of the room sing only the red keywords and have the other side sing all the yellow keywords. Have the teachers fill in the gaps by singing the rest of the lyrics.
- For an extra challenge, put only one poster on the board at a time. See if the children can guess which word comes next! For example, what word follows “hearts?” (hint: there are 2! “Children” and “Turn). Or, do the opposite and hold up the second keyword page and see if the kids can remember what comes before each keyword.
- Give each class their own keyword pairs puzzle with a few keyword matches in an envelope. Set a timer for 3 minutes, then pass your envelope to another group.
For another fun similar activity, head over to see this Born to Bring Us Joy Keyword Swap singing time activity!
The Hearts of the Children Keyword Pairs Printable Song Helps
This free 2-page in-post printable includes 12 keywords from this song, with first words in red and second words in yellow.
This activity has extended printables available including 1/2 page and larger 4-page keywords, plus keyword matching cards. You’ll find these bonus printables in your INSTANT Primary Singing membership when The Hearts of the Children 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.
Dive into the scriptures with this The Hearts of the Children Scripture Share idea and help your primary children better understand the meaning of this song!
What other fun ways will you use this keyword pairs singing time activity in your Primary room?
