When I Am Baptized – Hand Clap Patterns

We’re drilling in the beat for this song with an engaging hand clap pattern while singing When I Am Baptized. With two different patterns prepared for Junior and Senior aged Primary groups, your kids will be ready to join in with ease.

When I Am Baptized – Hand Clap Patterns

Tell the children you are going to sing through the song and want to see just how well the kids know the words. If they can show you they know the song, then you’ll get to move on to a fun movement activity to review the words, rather than learn them!

If you notice any spots where they are struggling, write a few of the keywords up on the board, and really enunciate them as they come up or create simple actions to represent the words to help the kids follow along.

When they’re ready, tell them you are going to show them a fun pattern. Ask them to watch and observe and see if they can tell you what the pattern is. Sing through the song one more time with just you doing the pattern (some kids will start anyways – which is totally fine).

Then, ask what the pattern is. See if a few of the kids can demonstrate the pattern. Tell them let’s try it together.

After a few times through, you can ask the Senior Primary if they have ideas for how to change the pattern that they want to try. Let them modify the hand clap pattern, and sing through it two more times!

Junior – Hand Clap Pattern

• Have the children find a buddy, you’ll need a friend for this hand pattern.
• Have one child hold both hand at hip level, palms up. They’ll keep their hands like this, ready to receive low high 5’s.
• The other child will clap their partners hands, following the steady beat.
  • I “like”
  • to “look”
  • for “rain-“

I have a steady beat chart for this song, that I used in a mini chorister conducting class I used for an activity day girls class. You can grab that to help them follow along with the beat, or just make dramatic claps and ask them to follow you.

Senior – Hand Clap Pattern

• Have the kids find a buddy.
• One child will hold both hands down at hip level, palms up.
• The partner will clap on every beat and half-beat alternating single hands.
  • Left – “I”
  • Right – “like”
  • Left – “to”
  • Right – “look”
  • Left – “for”
  • Right – “rain-“
  • Left – “bows”
• After each phrase, have the kids quickly switch. The first partner will now be the clapper and the second partner will now receive the claps and keep their hands down at hip level.
• Repeat this pattern through the song. Each pair will be a clapper 4 times and a receiver 4 times during the song.

This song has such a great beat and rhythm that it’s the perfect song for a hand clapping pattern and teaching about the differences between beats and rhythms!

Watch for our lesson plan on teaching how to lead and conduct music!