Dare to Do Right Compare & Contrast

Have some fun sorting through word pairs with this Dare to Do Right Compare & Contrast activity! Compare the meanings of key words in the song and their opposites for a meaningful way to review the upbeat song, Dare to Do Right (archives) in singing time!

Dare to Do Right Compare & Contrast

This logical activity requires careful attention to the song lyrics! As you review, compare and contrast the meanings of different words as you sort song lyrics and their opposites.

I’ve created a simple printable with 5 words from the first verse and their opposites, as well as simple charts to distinguish between song lyrics and other words. Before singing time, print out all the word pairs.

The basic idea behind this activity is to take each set of opposite words and organize the words into categories as you discuss their meanings. I’ve included easy-to-follow instructions below, as well as 3 additional ways to play!

How to Play:

At the beginning of singing time, start with a review of the lyrics by singing through the first verse of Dare to Do Right (flip chart here).

Tape both charts to the board, one for the song lyrics and one for “other words” that don’t belong. Alternatively, just draw a simple T-chart for each column. Tape all the words to the board in scrambled order.

Invite a child to come up and choose one word. Ask questions like: What does this word mean? Is this word in our song? If they choose a song lyric, have them add the word to the “Song Lyrics” poster.

Can someone help us find this word’s opposite? Have the children look at the words to find a word that means the opposite of the word you just picked. Is this word in the song? Place it in the correct column.

Then, compare the two words. How are they different? How would the meaning of the song change if we swapped out these words? For example, if we look at the word pair “kindly” and “mean,” the whole meaning of the phrase would change if we said that we would follow Christ while being mean! We want to be examples of kindness along our path of discipleship.

You can spend as much or as little time as you want discussing each of the word pairs. Looking at the meanings of these words for even just a minute or two can help your primary children better understand the message of this song.

Each time you find a word pair, sing through the song again. Then, choose another volunteer to come up and pick a word. Continue working through each word pair until you have sorted through all the words.

Opposite Word Pairs:

Here are 5 opposite word pairs for the first verse! In the examples below, I’ve bolded all the words that come from the song lyrics.

• Right/Wrong
• True/False
• Brave/Fear
• Kind/Mean
• Hasten/Slowly

Extension Activities:

• Make it more challenging by adding words for the second verse too! Use word pairs like failure/success, save/lose, stand/fall, faith/doubt, hero/villain for Verse 2. See if you can organize these lyrics into categories of “Verse 1,” “Verse 2” and “Other”
• Sing through the song and have the kids pick the correct word in each word pair! Sing a line and see if the children can correctly fill in the blank with the right word. For example, you might sing, “Dare to do ….” And wait for the kids to sing “Right!”
• Write a fun way to sing on the back of each song lyric. Then, when you sing through the song, sing in a silly way! Try a different way to sing each time! Some examples might include: Freestyle dance, sing like a pirate, etc

For another fun similar activity, head over to see this If the Savior Stood Beside Me Contrasting Choices singing time activity!

Dare to Do Right Compare & Contrast Printable Song Helps

This free in-post printable includes word strips for all 5 word pairs for the first verse of this song, as well as two mini posters, one for song lyrics and one for other words. Just use these mini posters as you sort through your opposite word pairs!

Join INSTANT Primary Singing for extended printables including additional keywords and the 2nd verse! You’ll find these bonus files included when Dare to Do Right is the featured song of the month.

Head over to this Dare to Do Right Picture Match activity for a fun way to visualize this song!

What other fun ways will you use this compare & contrast singing time activity in your Primary room?