Once Within a Lowly Stable Dance Scarves

Your primary children will love this cute Once Within a Lowly Stable Dance Scarves activity! For a fun way to incorporate manipulatives as you review Once Within a Lowly Stable (archives), draw the song with dance scarves!

As you sing, follow along with each line of the song and add to your adorable, imaginary manger scene! Let’s jump in and I’ll show you how it works!

Once Within a Lowly Stable Dance Scarves

This activity is the perfect blend of visual intrigue (learning style) and movement (learning style)! The awesome part about this activity is that you don’t have to spend time passing out crayons and paper; you get to draw in the air!

I’ve broken down each line of the song into one component of a simple manger scene with Mary and Baby Jesus. Simply draw one part of the scene with your dance scarves as you sing each line. Here’s a sneak peek of what you’ll be drawing:

Start by singing through Once Within a Lowly Stable (flip chart & lyrics here) before passing out dance scarves. This is a great way to help familiarize the kids with the song before adding any additional elements.

We’re going to use our dance scarves to draw the manger scene! Let’s start by drawing a stable. Draw a stable in the air with your dance scarves by making a pointed roof and two walls. As you create this shape, sing or say the first line of the song.

For the next line, we’re going to draw some grass. Zig zag with your dance scarves as you sing the second line of the song.

Then, use your dance scarves to make a rectangle in your stable. This will be the start of your manger. Finish your manger as you sing the next line by drawing two lines coming off the rectangle.

For the last two lines, we’ll be drawing Mary and Baby Jesus. Draw a simple kneeling stick figure in the air, then draw Baby Jesus.

After singing through each line individually, see if you can draw the entire manger scene while singing through the verse. Collect the dance scarves and share a brief testimony of the Savior at the end of singing time.

Dance Scarves Pattern:

I’ve included an easy-to-follow outline of the dance scarves pattern for this song below. You can also find a visual representation of each step of the process in the printable later in this post.

You’ll definitely want to grab that visual, as well as a simple version of the finished product to help your primary kids really picture what they are drawing!

• Line 1 – Draw the stable – Triangle roof with two sides
• Line 2 – Draw the Grass – Small Zig Zags in front of yourbody
• Line 3 – Draw the manger – Rectangle
• Line 4 – Draw two lines to complete the manger
• Line 5 – Draw Mary – Kneeling stick figure
• Line 6 – Draw Baby Jesus – Small circle for head, oval for swaddled body

Extension Activities:

• If you don’t have dance scarves, use this as a magic crayon activity instead! Just follow the same instructions, using your finger as an imaginary crayon. Draw the scene in the air as you sing together. Here’s a straight-forward example of a magic crayon activity.
• Have the kids try to guess what you are drawing! Before passing out dance scarves, sing through each line and draw shapes for the manger scene. See if the kids can guess each part of the scene. Then, draw it together.
• Split the class into 6 small groups. Have each group sing one line of the song and draw one part of the manger scene. Each time you repeat the song, have the kids rotate to a new line of the song. This is a great way to get in lots of practice!

For another Christmas activity using scarves, head over to see this Away in a Manger Dance Scarves singing time activity!

Once Within a Lowly Stable Dance Scarves Printable Song Helps

This free in-post printable includes a simple, one-page example of what your manger scene will look like! I’ve also included a page with each step of the process to help you remember which shapes to draw as you sing each line.

Join INSTANT Primary Singing for extended printables including a dance scarves pattern for the 2nd verse and larger drawing guide pages! You’ll find these bonus files included when Once Within a Lowly Stable is the featured song of the month.

Be sure to grab this handy Once Within a Lowly Stable Flip Chart to help you teach this song with ease!

What other fun ways will you use this dance scarves singing time activity in your Primary room?