Follow the Prophet Drum Patterns

I have had so much fun teaching Follow the Prophet (archives) this year! There are so many great ways to review this primary song. I am so excited to try this simple Follow the Prophet Drum Patterns this month! I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Follow the Prophet is one of the recommended songs to teach as part of both the Book of Mormon and Primary Old Testament Songs List! I like to teach it as part of the Old Testament year.

*See ALL Follow the Prophet Singing Time Ideas here!*

I love bringing fun instruments into primary. You can find lots of fun instruments or use your imagination to make your own! Drumming can be a fun activity because it can help reinforce tricky rhythms and keep children engaged!

For this activity, you won’t need any fancy drums. There are many ways to create your own “drums” in a primary room. This time, I’ll be grabbing some hymnbooks to use as our drums. You can also pat your legs or sit on the floor and drum on the ground.

You can use actual drumsticks or use pencils or chopsticks as a fun alternative that will also work great!

Follow the Prophet Drum Patterns

This engaging activity is great for both Junior and Senior primary! The idea here is to create a simple drum pattern that children can mimic using their hands. You can make your drum patterns as easy or as complex as you’d like.

For this activity, I’ll be using a simple LEFT – RIGHT pattern, and mix in a few other patterns to add some interest.

During the chorus, I want to keep the pattern pretty simple. While you sing “Follow the prophet, follow the prophet,” create this left – right pattern by hitting the hymnbook with your left hand, then switching to your right hand.

LEFT – RIGHT – LEFT- RIGHT – BOTH

FOL – LOW – THE – PRO – PHET (Here’s a break down to follow along with the words)

During the verses, you can use this simple pattern, or create your own! Here are some simple ideas to get you thinking:

LEFT – LEFT – LEFT – LEFT – RIGHT – RIGHT – RIGHT – RIGHT

LEFT – LEFT – RIGHT – RIGHT

LEFT – BOTH – RIGHT – BOTH

Any of these combinations would be awesome for this activity! You could even challenge the children to create their own drum patterns. Kids have the best imaginations and love to participate!

Activity Instructions:

1. Start by reviewing a verse and chorus of Follow the Prophet (feel free to use our printable Follow the Prophet flipchart!)
2. Bring out a hymnbook and drum one of the patterns. Explain that you’ll be drumming along to the song!
3. Give a hymnbook to each child and invite them to try out the drum pattern while you continue demonstrating the pattern.
4. Try singing the chorus without the piano while drumming along.
5. Once the children are comfortable with the pattern, try it out with the piano!
6. Continue trying out drum patterns while you review the song!

Extension Ideas:

• Have each group/class come up with their own drum pattern. Invite them to teach their pattern to the class.
• Follow the leader! Have one child lead the drum pattern while you sing.
• Have each class choose a verse by picking one of the prophets. Have them create a drum pattern and have them sing and drum ONLY on their assigned verse. Everyone can join in for the chorus!
• Split the class into two sides. When you point to each side, have them take turns drumming. See which side can drum and sing the loudest!

Follow the Prophet Drum Patterns Video

I love to try out my drum patterns before using them in primary. I’ve created this short video to demonstrate some drum patterns that can be used for this activity. Use this video to prep for your singing time, or you can show the video during primary and have the children follow along with me!

Just click on this link to watch on YouTube or watch the video below!

For another fun drumming activity, head over to our Baptism Drumming the Beat singing time idea.

Follow the Prophet Drum Patterns Printable Singing Time Pattern

This free printable includes a 2-page pattern guide. With one pattern specifically for the chorus and a set of patterns to mix and match and try for the verse!

You’ll find a set pattern that will take you all the way through the song, larger pattern guides, and black and white printables included in the INSTANT Primary Singing membership as extended printables for this activity. They are included when Follow the Prophet is the featured song of the month.

We have so many fun ideas to review Follow the Prophet this month! Try this fun Follow the Prophet Word Swap Activity to see if your kiddos can find the incorrect word, and swap it with the correct one!

What drum patterns will you be using for this activity?