I LOVE teaching Follow the Prophet! It’s so light-hearted, energetic and not to mention, the kids sure enjoy it!
Chorus
I suggest teaching simple actions for the chorus first. My primary K.N.O.W.S. the chorus (they all learned it when they were in nursery with me – using my Music Bag – more details HERE!). But to introduce it, sing the chorus while performing these actions (they’ll catch on real quick!):
- For “follow the prophet”: roll arms (like patty cake!) during “follow the proph..” then clap on the second syllable of proph – “ET” repeating that three times.
- For “don’t go astray”: point your finger and wave it back and forth (as if saying “no no.”) and shake your head back and forth for no.
- Then repeat the arm rolling and clap on the second syllable of proph – “ET” three more times.
- For “he knows the way” do: jazz hands (fingers spread and you shake your hands) with elbows bent.
OR (these actions are a little more technical – perfect for Sr. primary!)
Sister Pat Graham taught this song at her workshop a few years ago that I recorded! You can find the video HERE and it’s Video #4 (titled “Part 4”), at 9:30 (it continues on into Part 5) is when she starts to introduce the song using the “Jewish Folksong” theme presented by the author, Duane Hiatt! The actions she teaches for the chorus are super fun!
Sing it through a second time for kids to start catching on and then a third – they should all have it by then! You can also ask these questions in between each time you sing it:
- “who knows the way?”
- “what ‘way’ is the song talking about?”
- “what should we do so we don’t go astray?”
- “what does ‘astray’ mean?”
Name That Prophet
For teaching Follow the Prophet, I have an activity called “NAME THAT PROPHET.” It covers ALL 9 verses! But there’s NO WAY you’ll be able to do all of this in 20 minutes so take 2 Sundays (at least) to cover all this!
For this activity, you need a picture for each prophet mentioned in the song. There are TONS of options!
Susan Fitch
Susan Fitch is an {amazing and talented, I might add!} artist who is currently selling a set of artwork on Etsy she created for teaching this song HERE.
Susan has Adam, Enoch and Jacob for free on her blog HERE and HERE. President Nelson can be found HERE.
She has created 2 pages for each verse – a prophet, and his “scenery.” These can also be used as a Memory Match-up activity. Check out my post HERE with more details!
If you want these images already printed, laminated and on a stick, check out my Music Bag HERE as they are included!
These are available in my Resource Library. Access my printables at my Resource Library. Instructions for accessing my Resource Library are found at the bottom of this post.
Puppets
Or there are these puppets you can use from the 2006 March Friend found HERE (scroll down to the “Old Testament” section and click on “Follow the Prophet”).
Gospel Art Book
If you’d rather use church-approved material, you can find pictures of each of these prophets in the Gospel Art Book (GAB) HERE to download…
You need one for:
- Adam
- Enoch
- Noah
- Abraham
- Moses
- Samuel (great story summary HERE)
- Jonah
- Daniel
- Today
I bought an actual Gospel Art Book at the Distribution Center and have taken it all apart, placed each page in sheet protectors and put in a big 3-ring binder:
It’s much more user-friendly in this format. I can take any pictures out that I need, use them in various forms for my lessons, and put them back when I’m finished. I’ll be honest – I bought 2 of these and kept one bound which I occasionally use in that format too!
If you are interested in ordering one (or a few!) for yourself, or maybe for your primary to keep with your calling, you can order it HERE or at a Distribution Center near you :).
Okay…back to the prophet pictures!
Place each picture (if printing, I’d recommend printing them all be an 8 1/2 x 11 size) of the prophets in sheet protectors with this question mark on the backside of each:
Download it at my Resource Library. Print 9 copies on white card stock.
Follow the Prophet Activity
To use in primary, place each prophet, one at a time in the middle of the chalkboard using a magnet (I’d suggest these magnets HERE over tape with this activity so you can easily turn them over) with the question mark side facing out toward the primary. For Senior, I will probably go out of order just to keep them on their toes!
**If using the prophet sticks, simply reveal the prophet stick when he is guessed. They’ll hang nicely on the board with a strong magnet. And you only need to print the question mark page once.
Then you’ll gradually write in that prophet’s key words found in the verse using chalk. I’ll be using the ones suggested HERE from the March 2010 Friend but I noticed there aren’t any for the last verse so I added my own (Confused, Don’t believe it, Direction along the way).
So, when you have the Adam on the board, place the question mark so it’s facing the primary and the picture of Adam is not visible. Then write “first” somewhere on the chalkboard around the picture. Let them guess.
If they can guess Adam, you can add in “Eden” and “Descendants.” Again, for Senior I’ll probably add them out of order (using the hardest clues first!) and write them in order for Junior.
Once Adam is guessed, turn the question mark over to reveal the picture. I (or a primary child) will then read the scripture references posted in The Children’s Songbook (find them HERE) associated with each prophet. Then we’ll sing the verse using the key words written down on the board and the chorus using the actions posted above. Repeat for each verse.
Like I said, plan on at least 2 Sundays. Get your primary really familiar with each of these prophet’s stories.
Time Permitting
If you have time, incorporate a little history associated with this song. You can find that HERE. Even if you don’t use it, it’s interesting, nonetheless!
My kids keep asking if Follow the Prophet is the longest song in the songbook – I don’t know for sure, but it’s definitely a top 5!!
More Ideas
I’ve been collecting other ideas on teaching this song which I won’t be using so if you want more, here are a few:
- Create mini groups of kids. Assign them a prophet verse and they will get to present information on him. Make sure they know the scripture references and have a set of scriptures so they can read it. Let them color a picture (on big butcher paper would be fun!) and tell the story in their own words. Sing the chorus in between each presentation using the actions posted above.
- The March 2010 Friend had more teaching ideas HERE.
These printables are filed on my Resource Library page under Song Title > Follow the Prophet.
9 thoughts on “Follow the Prophet”
Thank you!!
Love all these ideas. Thank you for sharing!!
After watching the video about the composer, I've been trying to think of a way to nod to the Jewish elements of the song while teaching it. I'm having a hard time. There are so many good ideas, and I am really excited to teach it, too. Seems like something we can have a lot of fun with. Thanks for all the ideas! I am def. interested in Susan's digital files! Thanks for sharing!
Laura,
I just remembered that Sister Pat Graham taught this song at her workshop a few years ago. I have the workshop recording of her teaching it at this link:
http://camillesprimaryideas.com/2013/01/pat-graham-workshop-recording.html
It's video #4 and at 9:30 into the video. She shows you actions with the "Jewish folksong" theme. It's kind of fun! I hope that helps. I think I'll add the link to this post as well.
~Camille
Would you happen to know which video part of the seminar it's on?
Thanks,
Laura
Laura, it's Part 4 (Video #4) and it begins about 9:30 into the recording and on to Part 5 of Video #5.
~Camille
Thanks for the chorus idea! I'm not personally teaching all 9 verses, but we will be learning a couple as a whole primary. I have assigned and asked the teachers in each class (some classes have 2 verses because of combined ages) to teach their classes the verse I have given them–words and a picture too. Then in the program, each class will sing their verse and then the primary sings the chorus. The teachers even get their own verse which I will do as well with the kids so they know it too. One of the teachers in my primary has done this before and said it turned out awesome! Our 3 and 4 year old classes are small so they are doing one verse together in the program. Hopefully they all sing. 🙂 Thanks again for the chorus idea. Totally going to use it tomorrow!
Thank you so much for your lesson plans! I used most of this one today and it was great! i'm really struggling with feeling motivated and happy in my calling right now. And you are an answer to my prayers. Thank you!
Thanks to your inspired post on Follow The Prophet, our kids LOVED Singing time today! I'm new to this calling and your blog has been super helpful to me. You provide creative, fun & spiritual ideas for so many primary songs. All of the kids were attentive & reverent with the lesson, quiet during the scriptures with the old testament prophets, and sang their hearts out as they did the hand motions to FTP. The Jr. Primary loved Susan Fitch's cute art. Thank you TONS Camille!!! Keep 'em coming…you have a huge fan club.