My Primary group absolutely loves it when I bring in any type of instruments or manipulative – but their favorite just might be handbells!
That might be because I bring handbells in as a special treat just a couple of times a year, or maybe it’s just because handbells are so fun! Either way, we’ll be using handbells to teach My Heavenly Father Loves Me (archives)!
**See TONS of fun ways to help you teach My Heavenly Father Loves Me Singing Time activities here!**
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My Heavenly Father Loves Me Handells
The kids love every opportunity to use handbells. This is such a pretty song, that it lends really well to using the handbells.
Have 8 kids come up and each will ring on their specific color. Look for great singers to come up next! This is a great way to work through the song 3-4 times until all (or most) of the kids have had a turn.
Grab this 8-piece Handell set from Merry Bells. Take 10% off your order with the coupon code PrimarySinging. They are really nice quality they have worked great! While it doesn’t include the sharps/flats, it’s a great set that works for a lot of songs! In fact, they have bell charts for 60 different Primary songs!
How to Play:
- Sing through My Heavenly Father Loves Me song once before introducing the bells. Then, display the poster with the bell notes.
- This hand bells chart follows with one bell for each note of the song, so you’ll easily be able to follow along on the bells while you sing.
- Have everyone practice like they are ringing a pretend bell for each of the notes so they can learn the timing. You can hold your hand vertically and tap it forward in all the right places.
- When they’re ready with the pattern, have 8 helpers come up front to help you. You’ll need to use all 8 bells with one helper will hold one bell and ring on their color match.
- If you need to double up and only have 6 helpers, you can have the high-C (white bell) and F (green bell) combine with another part.
- Ask the kids to share what they notice or hear. You can help show how the notes go up in a row or the repeat of certain notes, etc.
- Have new helpers come up front and ring the bells for you while you sing!
If your Primary has mastered ringing the bells on time – you can create a popcorn effect by assigning each row in the Primary room to a different color!
Have them sing only the words that match their handbell color (along with a representative from their row). It can be hard to catch all your words, but it’s a fun challenge they always enjoy trying!
You can use these Handbell Music Note Cards that make it easy to make Handbell Charts on the fly! Bonus points if you can name that tune!! (Hint: It’s from the Hymn book and we have a iconic ring based on this song!)
My Heavenly Father Loves Me
Hand Bells Printable Chart
I’ve created this simple printable hand bell chart to help you teach My Heavenly Father Loves Me. It’s 4 pages with one square for each of the notes of the song.
You’ll find a printable lesson plan and larger 6-page hand bell chart included in your INSTANT Primary Singing membership when My Heavenly Father Loves Me 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.
Head over next to see how we’re using a simple scarf pattern to review My Heavenly Father Loves Me!
