Upper Elementary Worship Set

This is truly a labor of love.

Every summer I break out all the tunes and rethink the core worship playlist I will use for the next school year. I love to make my selections now so that I can begin teaching new songs over the summer. The strategy behind that thinking is that by the time fall comes along, it won’t be “all new” to everyone. (And that encourages others to participate too!)

I start off with 12 core worship songs. Why? Because if you schedule 3 songs for your worship sets, in an ideal world, you will sing through your entire playlist once a month (that’s only each song 12 times a year). The reality is, we all bring in special worship music for holidays or for a particular message and so you can imagine how quickly we can lose the power of repetition.

So generally speaking, I start with 12 — and realize that there will be some flexibility to the list.

Last night I chose my upper elementary “core 12″ for 2010-2011 and thought I would share it with you. There are a lot of songs on the new JUMP CD that I can’t wait to teach to the kids.

Song	CD
JUMP	JUMP
We Won’t be Quiet	Live it Out
Get Down REMIX	AmberSkyRecords Singles
Shout	Chase the Light
Happy Day	Live it Out
Know you Better	JUMP
Big House (REMIX)	JUMP
Feeling so Fly	Live it Out
Through the Fire	JUMP
Cannons	JUMP
Glory to God	JUMP
You are the Light	Chase the Light

There ya have it. We are combining age groups for the summer and so I haven’t thought through a core 12 for lower elementary quite yet.

I’d love to know…..what is your strategy for selecting worship songs for children’s ministry? What worship songs you love to sing with your upper elementary kids….?

For more tips on how to lead a contagious praise and worship time with Kids, check out KidzPraise.com

(image originally uploaded to Flicker by robin746)

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Paula Moore

Love the organization! I’m looking forward to listening to some of these new songs. Last year we built a system where we picked 4 songs for the month. One was always a new one and the other three were always familiar ones. That really helped us too. The kids always knew that there would be familiarity but also a gift of a new song and new moves every month too. Their current new favorite is We Wont be Quiet. Oh so fun to yell it out! Love kidz worship!
Joy Bowen

Thanks for sharing Paula! Do you guys use tracks or video?

I have a spreadsheet where I track the songs for the year. So that there is enough repetition to make sure the kids know the songs, but include enough variety so that especially those older kids don’t become bored with too much repetition. (I’d be happy to share it if anyone would like to see it)
Mike Kelly

This helps out alot! What about motions for songs? Do you make them up or are they somewhere on the net? I would love to see the spreadsheet of the songs.
Joy Bowen

Hey Mike! Thanks for posting here!
For motions, our church uses the subscription at AmberSkyRecords.com. If you have an annual subscription you will either have unlimited viewing of the choreography files or unlimited downloading of the choreography files (plus credits to use toward any music purchases)!
I enjoy created choreography for worship so if I’m inspired to create dance moves I will do that too.
Kevin

I love this article! I'm making the final edits to my four song sets that I'll use for the year. I've never done this, but I love groups and patterns, especially when it comes to reinforce things with kids!

The one thing I can't settle on is whether I should use the same intro song each week or not. This will be our 2nd season of our FX. Last year we did “Come on In” every week.

I'm curious to know what other churches are doing.
joybow

Hi Kevin! Thanks for the comment here!

I personally like to do a variety of songs when it comes to the Family Experience. Here are some fantastic upbeat songs to consider for your welcome:

“Get Loud”, “Come on In”, “Get This Party Started”, “Let's Dance”, “Glow”. Even activity songs like “Hokey Pokey”, “Free Ride” or “Spin” can be a great way to kick off the production.

Using the same song every week can tire out the song for your audience. I would suggest choosing 4 songs to rotate through the month to start with this year and see how that engages your families.
I would even rotate your goodbye songs between “So Long” and “Goodbye” so that you're not doing the same thing each week.

I hope that is helpful….
Stacy Rogers

Have you started working on your 2011-2012 list yet? I’m trying to get everything organized so we can hold auditions and begin to better equip our children to be leaders? Also do you just rotate “So Long” and “Goodbye” each week for your closing songs?
Anonymous

Hi Stacy, I’m working on a new KidzPraise project and hope to include resources like the annual playlist for leaders.
I would suggest having a few closing songs for your Family Experience. Repetition is good but too much becomes “same ‘ole, same ‘ole”. Be sure to check out the new Zapped CD from amberskyrecords — it’s awesome!

Impulsive Joy