Elementary Sunday School Lesson: Make a Joyful Noise
Use this kids’ Sunday school lesson, “Make a Joyful Noise,” to help elementary-age kids sing praises to God! Find more great Sunday school lessons to help kids grow in their faith.
Elementary Sunday School Lesson: Make a Joyful Noise
1. Musical Feelings
You’ll need:
- music player with 1 worship song and at least 5 other styles of music
- markers
- at least 5 sheets of paper
Express Feelings Through Music
Have children sit in a circle around you.
Say: Today we’re going to learn about different ways of telling God how we feel through music. First, let’s sing a song to God.
Teach children a worship song. (Try this one about how God is good!) After the kids sing, draw simple faces on sheets of paper to represent happy, sad, excited, prayerful, angry and other emotions.
Ask:
- How did the song we sang make you feel?
Have kids point to the face that best describes how the song makes them feel.
Then play brief portions of different musical styles—hymns, popular music, country, rock, jazz or marching band. After each music style, have the children use the paper faces to tell how they feel. As the music plays, encourage children to clap, move, or dance to the rhythm of the songs.
2. Make and Shake
You’ll need:
- paper plates (2 per child)
- crayons
- dried beans (8-10 per child)
- stapler (for teacher use only)
- music player (optional)
Make Paper Tambourines
If you want, play music in the background.
- Give each child two paper plates and crayons.
- Have children decorate the bottoms of their paper plates with pictures of musical instruments.
- After the children have decorated their plates, help them each put 8-10 dried beans between two plates.
- Have kids each press their plates together with the decorated sides facing out.
- Then staple closely around the edges of the plates to keep the beans from falling out to make a tambourine.
3. Dance to the Lord
You’ll need:
- music player with a fast-paced Christian song
- paper plate tambourines from the last activity
- paper faces from the first activity
Dance to the Lord
- Play the upbeat song and instruct kids to move and shake their tambourines.
- Allow a few minutes for the kids to dance. (Tip: Kids will love if YOU join in the dance party.)
- After the music is finished, show the kids the paper faces (from the first activity).
- Ask the children how the music makes them feel, and have them each point to the corresponding paper face.
4. Praising
You’ll need:
Teach About Praise
- Play a worship song softly in the background
- Read aloud Psalm 150.
- Remind children that music is a gift and that it can be used to joyfully give praise to God.
Pray: Great God, thank you for giving us music and musicians. Thank you for the gift of your Word. Help us give you praise through our music and our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.
5. Snack
Share a snack with the children that makes them happy, such as “joy juice” (orange juice) or something “a-peeling” like bananas.
Margaret Hinchey served as a children’s choir director in Colorado. Jane Wilke worked as an early childhood educator in Missouri.
Looking for more elementary ideas? Check out these posts!
