I loved teaching I Will Be What I Believe (archives) to my Primary children – it was an instant favorite song! This beautiful song was written by Blake Gillette and will need permission to be taught during Singing Time, but it’s worth asking as it’s one of those songs the kids love to sing! You will have a lot of fun teaching this song with this easy to follow I Will Be What I Believe Egg Shakers pattern!
I like to include I Will Be What I Believe as part of my Book of Mormon Songs for Primary list, but it could also be included in the Doctrine & Covenants year as it fits both year’s topic of study.
*See all I Will Be What I Believe Singing Time Ideas!*
I Will Be What I Believe Egg Shakers
Sing through I Will Be What I Believe (flip chart here) once, before introducing the egg shakers.
Pass out the egg shakers with your teachers help. Sing through the song using your egg shaker patterns and let the kids shake along, trying to follow along. This is a great way to help them get their shaking out and introducing the full pattern briefly first.
Then, sing through the song with one line and egg shaker pattern at a time, building up each line of the song on each other.
After you’ve worked through the song invite one class to come up front (as many as would like to) and lead the actions while everyone follows along. This is a great way to sing through the song a bunch of times and give the children an opportunity to be involved and take lead of the actions!
I Will Be What I Believe Egg Shakers Pattern:
1st Verse Actions:
- Shake the egg shaker in a big circle “Living in this world”
- Shake quickly back and forth from right to left “with change all around”
- Shake right your ear “but with the prophet’s words”
- Small toss and catch then stomp! “I’ll stand on solid ground”
- Wrap the egg shaker inside of both hands and shake “Even though it’s still hard”
- Shake in the pattern of a big question mark “with questions that arise every day”
- Tap egg shaker in your palm 3 times “I will say”
Extension Activities:
- Sing through the song and pause and add 2 actions per verse, then continue singing through the song with the action. This is a good way to add in a mix of and singing repetition by increasing the challenge each time you sing through the song.
- Invite the children to help you come up with actions to replace some of the patterns I’ve included here! This is a really great way to engage the oldest children in your Primary especially and give them some ownership over the pattern.
- Try singing the keyword or phrase that coordinates with your action word either extra loud or whisper singing. For example you would sing “world”, “change”, and “prophet’s words” differently then the rest of the words.
I Will Be What I Believe Egg Shakers Pattern Demo Video
Here’s a quick video to help you visualize and see how all of the pattern comes together from the printable chart. I demonstrate each of the actions for the first verse and go through some of the lesson plan ideas for teaching the song with this pattern, too.
Watch my video demo of the I Will Be What I Believe Egg Shakers pattern here.
For another fun similar activity, head over to see this When Joseph Went to Bethlehem Egg Shakers singing time activity!
I Will Be What I Believe Printable Song Helps
This free in-post printable includes a 1 page pattern guide for the 1st verse!
Join INSTANT Primary Singing for extended printables including a printable lesson plan, pattern guide, and visual pattern helps for the entire song in color and black and white. You’ll find these bonus files included when I Will Be What I Believe is the featured song of the month.
To access the free in-post printables for this post, you’ll just need to create a free account or login with the Grow.me tool. Then, confirm by email and refresh the page and ALL my free printables will automatically unlock in every post!
For more information on why I use a content lock or how to create your account, you can see the FAQ page here.
For a fun additional way to teach this song, continue over to this I Will Be What I Believe Keyword Pairs lesson plan!
What other fun ways will you use this egg shakers singing time activity in your Primary room?
I can not seem to get verse 2 to come up so I can print it. (re I will Be What I Believe Egg Shakers Pattern). Also, is it possible to print the directions?
The printable lesson plan and actions for the rest of the song are included in the membership. If you are a member, they will be available on the membership page as part of the April Book of Mormon packet. The extended printables will also be available in my shop as a teaching packet for this song, but it’s not quite ready yet.