I would be the last person to teach people how to sing. But there are some points about the worship service I would like to share. Every age group needs praise and worship in their class. This will “look” different in different age groups. In the Infant to three year olds group activities are difficult, so an individual approach maybe appropriate. Then holding a baby or child sing to the Lord. When you sense the presence of the Lord say to the young child, “Do you feel that? It’s the Lord.” Help them to connect with Lord. Samual needed this help from Eli. The 2-4 year olds are able to do actions with a song but may not sing at the same time. This is fine, getting them involved is the goal. Once they are involved then move from a physical participation to spiritual participation, which can be a challenge. This takes the Holy Ghost and prayer to know how and what to do. Talk with other teachers and see what works for them. The ability to have some kind similitude in all the service can be beneficial. An example of this would be a worship blanket/mat that is spread out on the floor so everyone knows it is worship time. As adults’ standing together is their “key” it is time for worship.
True worshippers worship in spirit and in truth. “In truth” impliesthat they must know what they are saying. Songs that use unfamiliar words or phases will eliminate true worship. In the preschool class a song like “the B-i-b-l-e that’s the book for me. I STAND ALONE ON THE WORD OF GOD” is a phase that these concrete thinkers most likely don’t understand. They would have the concept that they are to stand on top of the Bible. I am not saying don’t use this song or any other song. I am saying teach the true meaning for what we are singing. For the elementary class put the lyrics of the song into a Word document, run the spell checker and at the end there is a reading grade level. If it is higher than a 3rd grader you may want to look for the more difficult words and be ready to explain them.
The dark ages came about partly because the Bible was in Latin and so were the worship service. Only the priest could read it and understand it. Let’s not be guilty of the same. Perfect praise comes from a baby, lets be diligent to keep that characteristic in our children. With our children not being in the adult service, it becomes critical to have a TRUE worship time in their classes.