One of my sisters is fascinated with technology. She is also a teacher. She loves to discover new ways to use technology in the classroom and she occasionally shares these ideas with me. Several years ago she introduced me to the idea of QR codes. I had seen those funny looking boxes on things but had never known what they were. She showed me how they were created and she showed me a few creative ways they were being used. I was intrigued but tucked the information back in my brain to be used at a later date. That later date came a few weeks ago.
Have you ever taught a Bible class that suggested a song to sing that you didn’t know? I have. It can be frustrating. It might be a song written to the tune of a familiar song but if you don’t know the familiar song, that’s no help. It might be a new original song that has the music written out but if you can’t read music, that’s no help.
Other than learning to read music or becoming an encyclopedia of children’s folk songs, how can one go about learning a new song to teach in Bible class? Better yet, how can those who know the songs or write the songs easily teach the songs to others?
That’s where the QR code comes in. If you are not familiar with these codes, they are the little cubes with cryptic coding you see in various places. They might be found in a magazine or on a product at a store or on the little flip chart thingy at your restaurant table. If you have the tools to decode the QR code, then you might learn more about the product or even be given a coupon or freebie. You never know what’s in store for you when you follow a QR code. Okay, we all know it’s mostly advertising but they are still kind of fun. With just a smart phone and a QR code reader — downloadable app that is free — you can access the wonder of these little cubes. Just place the phone (with the app open) over the code and you are sent to the url for that code.
Put those two (QR code and need to learn a new song) together and you have the song bags you’ve been seeing in the pictures. Each bag has the item or items that are to be used with the song. The outside of the bag has the words to the song and a QR code. The QR code takes you to a recording of me singing the song. My hope is that any teacher wanting to use the activity can easily learn the song just by accessing the recording from the QR code.
Go ahead. Try it with the QR code on the bag below.
Thank you. I blew right past the bags because I was excited to talk about the codes. The bags are a great alternative to my typical activity storage containers — ziploc bags. Not only do they look nicer but they will last longer and the activity instructions or song can be ironed on the outside. Unlike the baggies that I usually stuck a “cheat sheet” inside for the song or instructions which could easily get lost.
The flowers came from McDonald’s toddler happy meal toys. They sometimes have some really, really good ones. Not many people know that they have alternative toys for toddlers. When my boys were small, I would always ask what their toddler toy was. When it was a good one, I’d make the whole family get a happy meal with a toddler toy inside.
What a great idea! I love the use of the bags, even if you can’t do the QR code. Can you tell me where you found the “daisies”, please?
Thank you for sharing your ideas and thoughts.
What an awesome idea! Thanks.
What is the flower you are using in the daisy flower bag song? Also, do you have these songs made up like the ones you iron on the bags. I love this idea, plus the one with the Bible figures – I bought a lot of them on clearance at Mardels too
I’m not sure where the flower song came from. I think my sister in law taught it to me. I don’t have the QR codes for these bags except on the bags themselves because the laptop I was using at the time completely quit a week ago. But, here is the link to the flower song: http://www.biblesongsandmore.com/songbagdaisy.mp3
That’s great that you got the Bible figures.