Have you ever noticed the difference between walking into a dark room and walking into a room filled with light? This Teach Me to Walk in the Light Dark VS Light activity is a great nature activity to introduce this song in primary!
You can use nature activities to appeal to a child’s sense of awareness. This type of activity can help children immerse themselves in the song through their senses. This particular activity focuses on the sense of sight.
Most people recognize the difference between light and darkness, and in this lesson plan we’ll explore the concept in an interactive way! This activity explores these two phenomenon and helps prepare children as they begin learning Teach Me to Walk in the Light (archives).
**Head Here to See all Teach Me to Walk in the Light Singing Time Ideas!**
Teach Me to Walk in the Light – Dark VS Light
The idea behind this activity is to introduce different scenes or situations that are associated with light or darkness. As children decipher light from darkness, you can help them learn the importance of “walking in the light.”
There are so many different ways to plan for this activity. In this post, I’ll outline three different variations and explain what you’ll need for each one.
1. Picture Perfect
Perhaps the simplest way to plan this activity is to find and print out different pictures of light and darkness. Once you gather these pictures, you could post them around the primary room. During primary, have children choose pictures and organize them into two different categories: Light & Dark.
Here are some examples of pictures to use:
Light:
- Lightbulb
- Sunshine
- Sunrise
- Playing at the park
- Swimming at the pool
Dark:
- Dark forest
- Bedtime
- Cave
- Tunnel
How to Play ‘Pictures Perfect’:
- Start by finding 8-10 pictures of items or scenarios that represent light or darkness.
- Print out your pictures and place them around the room in primary.
- At the beginning of primary, create a T-Chart on the board with one side being “Light” and the other side saying “Dark.”
- Invite children to take turns choosing pictures and placing them on one side of the t-chart.
- Discuss why each item fits in its category. You might also ask, “Which feels better, light or darkness?”
- Begin teaching Teach Me to Walk in the Light (feel free to use our Teach Me to Walk in the Light flipchart here!)
2. Pick an Item
This version of the activity is similar to the first, but with physical items. Choose 5-8 items that represent either darkness or light. Place all the items in a bag and have children take turns choosing an item during primary. As each item is revealed, you might ask the children if that item represents darkness or light.
You could choose items such as a flashlight, picture of a sun, a night light, or a candle to represent light. You could also bring a picture of Christ or a picture of the temple. For darkness, you could bring in a picture of a forest or dark place. You could also bring a black shirt or night goggles.
How to Play ‘Pick an Item’:
- Choose 5-8 items that represent either darkness or light. Some examples might include: a candle, a dark-colored shirt, a flashlight.
- Place all items in a large bag and keep them hidden.
- At the beginning of primary, have children choose one item at a time. Discuss whether each item represents darkness or light.
- Begin teaching Teach Me to Walk in the Light!
3. Searching in the Darkness
For this activity, begin primary with the lights out. If your primary room does not have any windows, you might want to have a flashlight on or a small light. When children come in, invite them to notice how they feel sitting in the dark.
Then, turn on the lights. Ask them to look around at their friends and see how they feel when the room is bright. Do they feel lighter? Do they feel happy to see their friends?
For this activity, you could also hide something in the room and invite a child to try to find the item in the darkness. Then, you could hide another item but turn the lights on. This time, they have light to help them see the path to the item.
How to Play ‘Searching in the Darkness’:
- Before children come into the primary room, turn the lights out. If it is too dark, you might choose to turn on a small candle or light.
- Choose a large item to hide in the room.
- When you begin primary, invite children to think about how they feel when it’s dark. Do they feel nervous? Afraid? Confused?
- Explain to the children that you have hidden an item in the room. Invite a child to find the item.
- Once the item has been found, turn on the lights.
- Have a child leave the room, and hide the same item around the room.
- When the child returns, have them find the item with the lights on.
- Start teaching Teach Me to Walk in the Light!
Each of these 3 variations on the Light VS Dark activity are great ways to introduce this song. The great thing about all of these activities is that they require very little prep. Aside from printing a few pictures or searching for items around your house, this should be a pretty simple activity to plan.
For another engaging contrast activity, head over to see our Search Ponder and Pray Feel the Spirit lesson plan!
Teach Me to Walk in the Light Dark VS Light Printable Lesson Plan
Since there are *3* possible ways to play this activity, I’ve created a lesson plan to help you decide which version will work best for your primary. The first two pages of the printable include activity instructions for all three versions of the Dark VS Light intro activity.
The last pages of the printable include pictures that you can use for the ‘Pictures of Light & Darkness’ adaptation of this activity. If you choose to use this adaptation in primary, simply print and cut out these pictures!
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You will also love this Teach Me to Walk in the Light Sing-Along Karaoke Videos!
Which one of these Light VS Dark activities will you use to introduce Teach Me to Walk in the Light?