Discovery Week- "Tour Guide"

May's song is 'Baptism'. In my opinion, it is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. It tells of one of the most amazing acts of obedience and humility in the world's history. My goal through this activity will be to help the children really know and feel the importance and power of this piece of music.

Prep:

A Name Tag that says "Tour Guide-Primary Tours"

1 picture of Jesus Christ being baptised by John the Baptist

1 Picture of the River Jordan (I haven't found the one I want just yet, but when I do I will try and post it here)

A Globe

Colored chalk--I may or may not use this to write down answers to my questions on the board.

Picture Prompts


Presentation:

Tell the children that today is going to be so much fun because we are going to take a pretend trip to a very special place and we get to learn our new song for the month of May. Have everyone stand up. Tell them to grab their pretend suitcase in their hands. Have the pianist play a few wiggle songs right in a row. As the music plays in the back ground, have the children move their feet to the rhythm. Tell them that your late for your plane so you'll have to reverently jog in place....oh no you dropped your suit case (sing hinges to pick it up) make it fun and get those wiggles out so they can concentrate on the next part of the activity..finally tell them they made the plane just in time and have them sit down.

Spend a few min telling them that they are now flying over a huge ocean and perhaps what they can see now and then. You could use the globe at this point to show them where they are going. Tell them they are now off the plane. Have them close their eyes as you describe them walking over some rocky paths in a place that they've never been. Tell them its hotter than here and as you come around a corner you can hear something....at this point have the pianist play just the bottom hand to the song. It has the rhythm of a river and ask them what the rhythm of the song reminds them of. Have them open their eyes.

Show them the picture of the Jordan River and tell them this is the special place that they traveled so long to get to. Show your picture prompts for the first verse and tell them that you want them to listen to the song and see if they can hear where they are. Continue to sing the song as the children answer Who was there, what happened, why it was important, and what should we do now that we know this story. Put up the picture of the Savior being baptised after the first verse has been learned and reference it for the next verses.

The first part of this activity should only take maybe 3-4 min. The rest of the time will be spent singing the song, understanding the words and story, and getting the rhythm down.

I hope that all makes sense...its been a long day.

*the crazy chorister