If you are looking for a simple way to review Our Time to Shine (archives) in singing time this month, you will love this Our Time to Shine Movement Words activity!
Pair keywords throughout this song with simple actions for a fun way to engage both your Junior and Senior primary children!
**See all Our Time to Shine Singing Time Ideas**
Our Time to Shine Movement Words
Our primary just gained four adorable Sunbeams! When all the primary children are combined for singing time, it can be a challenge to help those sweet young children learn the songs while also keeping the older children engaged too. I think this activity is a perfect fit!
Incorporate some movement in your primary room with this fun movement words activity! This activity is a great way to encourage your primary children to really listen carefully to the lyrics and move a bit while singing.
The basic idea behind this purposeful movement activity is to pick actions for a few keywords throughout the song. For this specific song, I chose 4 keywords from the first verse and 4 from the chorus.
There are SO many ways to adapt this activity, so don’t forget to glance at our big list of extension ideas later in this post.
Before introducing this activity, start by singing through Our Time to Shine (flip chart) once. This is a great way to encourage reverence and refresh your memory of the song.
Then, have all the children stand up! Listen carefully. When you hear the name of someone from the scriptures, tap your head! Sing through the song again. Did you catch them both? That’s right – This verse talks about Esther from the Old Testament and Nephi from the Book of Mormon.
Sing through the song again, this time listening for the word, “stand.” Jump up high when you hear this word! *Hint: It will come up twice in the song.
Now, who thinks they have the biggest muscles? Listen for the words, “defending” and “protecting” and flex your muscles when we sing these words.
Don’t be afraid to be silly! It goes a long way when connecting with children. It’s important to be reverent, and you can always reign it back in if it gets too wild!
Continue introducing just one movement word at a time. You can either stick with one at a time or build up to all 8 – totally up to you! If you are using this activity with Senior primary children, they can definitely handle the challenge of trying all the movement words together!
First Verse Movement Words:
Here’s a quick outline of the 8 movement words for the first verse and chorus. Be sure to grab the movement word cards later in this post for some helpful visuals.
- Scripture Heroes (Esther, Nephi) – Tap Head
- Stand – Jump
- Defending/Protecting – Flex Muscles
- Plan – Spin
- Time – Tap Wrist
- Shine – Jazz hands
- Learned – Give yourself a big hug
- Share – Partner Clap
Extension Activities:
- Challenge your older primary children by trying all 8 movement words from the very start! They’ll have to really listen closely for all the keywords.
- To simplify this activity, try just one action, like a clap or stomp, for all the keywords. Then, once you are familiar with the words you are listening for, try adding in a few of the movement words.
- Divide up the movement words! Cut out the movement word cards and randomly pass them out to children in the room. When you sing that word, have that child do the action! Then, have each child pass their action card to a new volunteer.
- Put all the movement cards in a bowl and choose 1-2 movement words each time you repeat the song.
- Scatter the movement cards throughout the room. Choose one helper to pick one movement word at a time to focus on. Put each card on the board until you have all 8!
For another fun similar activity, head over to see this The Hearts of the Children Movement Words singing time activity!
Our Time to Shine Movement Words Printable Song Helps
This free in-post printable includes 8 movement word cards in 1/4 page size for the first verse and chorus of Our Time to Shine.
This activity has extended printables available including additional movement words for the 2nd verse as well as a lyrics chart with actions and larger full page action cards. You’ll find these bonus printables including in the INSTANT Primary Singing membership when Our Time to Shine 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 to this fun Our Time to Shine Ribbon Wands activity next for another great way to incorporate movement as you teach this song in primary!
What other fun ways will you use this movement words singing time activity in your Primary room?
