If I Listen with My Heart: 8 Puzzle Match Up

There are 32 puzzle pieces put up around the room and 8 pieces of paper up at the front.  I tell the children that there are lots of puzzle pieces around the room.  I will tap a person on the shoulder to go pick one of the puzzle pieces and put it up on one of the pages up front.  The goal is to put together all of the 8 puzzles.  (Each of the puzzles are only 3 or 4 pieces each.)

I start to sing the song and tap a couple of children on the shoulder.  They choose a puzzle piece and put it up in the front.  More and more pieces come up to the front with different children as I tap their shoulders, and eventually those coming up have to figure out which puzzle piece goes to which puzzle, and how they fit together.  (This activity can also be done with younger children, except with about 3 puzzles.)

I am singing the song the entire time the children are putting the puzzles together.  I carefully chose the pictures to be images that support and encourage the message of the song.  

For this song, I chose pictures of Jesus Christ, children with Jesus, and pictures of children reading the scriptures. Because the children are concentrating on the puzzles and the images of the puzzles, those images are linked in their heads with the song.  They don't seem to notice the song going on around them, but their subconscious brain does notice.  

In fact, I have had children be able to sing the song at the end of the puzzle activity even though we did not concentrate on the song.  (It depends on how that particular child learns best... another reason to present the song in multiple ways!)