This short and sweet Primary song is included in *3* out of of the 4 year Primary Song Rotation! That surprised me a little, but it’s a great theme to teach the kids when they are young – repentance and forgiveness!
Will you be teaching Help Me Dear Father (archives) this year? I like to included it as part of the Old Testament Songs for Come Follow Me.
**See all Help Me Dear Father Singing Time Ideas**
Help Me Dear Father Hand Bells
Sing through Help Me Dear Father (flip chart here) once, before introducing this hand bell activity. It’s a great way to transition to a new activity or run through the words once, before adding in an activity.
Invite 3 or 5 helpers up front to try the bells while you sing. In a smaller Primary, you can combine the bell parts by giving one person both Red and Green bells and another person both Orange and Dark Blue bells and then one more person the Light Blue bell.
Ask one of the teachers or Primary Presidency to help you either point along with the bell chart to help your ringers or to lead the singing to keep the rest of the kids singing along – whichever role they might be more comfortable with. This will set you up for success so even if the bells get off track, you’ll still be singing along.
Then, take turns giving different children the opportunity to come up and take a turn with the bells. This helps you get in tons of singing repetition and everyone gets a chance to play!
Extension Activities:
- You could cut up the word notes charts into strips. Stack them in order and hold up one phrase at a time while you sing through the song to just sprinkle in the bells while you sing using only notes from the basic 8-bell set.
- Have the kids help you rearrange the bell chart and get it back into the correct order as a challenge, before introducing the bells. This is great for getting more repetitions through the song with a smaller Primary group.
- Pass out jingle bell bracelets, egg shakers, or any other instrument and invite everyone that doesn’t have a hand bell to ring, shake, jingle, etc on all the notes that do NOT have a hand bell assigned! Or, you can have them shake following the beat (steady rhythm of the song) instead of the notes.
- Pick a color. Have everyone STAND on that specific color. Then, add a different action to the next color, maybe a stomp or a clap. This will get everyone interacting with the music in a unique and fun way!
For another fun similar activity, head over to see this Choose the Right Way Hand Bells singing time activity!
Help Me Dear Father Hand Bells Printable Song Helps
This free in-post printable includes a hand bell chart using just the standard 8-bell set for the 1st verse.
Join INSTANT Primary Singing for extended printables including the 2nd verse, extended bell charts, and larger formats. You’ll find these bonus files included when Help Me Dear Father is the featured song of the month.
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Continue over next to this super fun Help Me Dear Father Singing Bee review game! It’s a wonderful way to practice the song after you’ve learned the words.
What other fun ways will you use this hand bell singing time activity in your Primary room?
