Prophet Themes:
Each prophet seems to have one or two "themes" they are remembered for. I
pulled out my Gospel Art kit and read the back of the pictures of each of
the prophets. At the very bottom they have quotes or the things they were
known for in their presidency. I chose about six prophets that I could
think of songs that my kids knew. I then had the kids choose a prophet,
try to guess if they knew what that prophet was known for, and then we
talked a little bit about that thing and sang a song that went with it.
Another review game is:
I put a phrase or a word on individual pieces of paper (depending on the
number of children in the group). I place them in a circle and the
children stand in front of one and as the music plays we walk around the
circle singing the song. When the pianist stops playing everyone gets on a
word and I pull out one of the words from a bag I'm holding. Whichever
child is on that spot, gets a sticker (which I have another teacher who is
sitting hand them out so I can immediately go back to playing the game).
If a child has already received a sticker, it automatically goes to the
person on the right. (Now the children joke that we'll "Choose the Right
Way") Once again, we end up singing the same new song several times
without the children realizing that we are reviewing.
Leading Sticks: I made ribbon wands, or leading sticks out of
slurpee straws that I hole punched the end of and tied a length of red,
yellow and blue ribbon onto. They were really cute, and the kids loved
them.
"Conducting wand" (plastic tube filled with water and glitter).
This wand is used to control who is singing. The person conducting has the
"power" to have everyone sing, row 1, row 2 or row 3 (waving across the
individual rows) or it they point it at a specific child they have to sing
alone (only for a few words of the song). I allow the children to have the
"power" but it is a privilege and they know if they muck about they won't
have another turn. The challenge children love this part of singing time
and want to sing longer and longer so it is successful.
3 birds
(clipart from the computer). I have an owl, canary and parrot. Once again
I give the wand "power" to a child and they get to choose how we sing the
song by interchanging between birds during the song (using the wand to
point). The owl means we sing "hooo", the canary is when we sing properly,
and the parrot is when we talk the words. You can use other bird pictures
as appropriate
"Punch Out"--make
a poster board with 6-9 cut-out circles, put tissue paper over the
circles, and anything you want behind the circles (at New Years I put
bells behind the circles that "jingled"--we said we were "ringing in the
New Year", for On a Golden Springtime, you could put suns behind them with
phrases to the song/questions/etc.). To decorate the poster board, you
just put words like "bam" "kaboom" etc. under each circle. Then to use the
poster, the kids punch through the circles to get what is on the other
side. It is thin, but actually held up okay--I just had to have a teacher
help me hold it when the kids punched (one of us on each side).
Black Board:
write the words to the verse/s up on the blackboard, sing the song through
properly, then select children to come and rub 2 words out each. Then sing
the verse again, and have more children rub words out. Sometimes I allow
them to circle words as well and that means that where the word is circled
the children sing "la" instead. Usually we sing the words that have been
erased but sometimes we miss those words out while we sing and when the
circled words "la" is added it is a
really fun way to sing a song and believe it or not the kids really learn
the words.
Rhythm Actions:
Decide on an appropriate rhythm action for the song (ex. slap the thigh,
hit the back of the hand, snap, hit the back of the hand, etc...).
Demonstrate it slowly for the children to a steady beat. Practice it once
or twice. Challenge them not to lose the action as you sing. Start the
rhythm action to the beat of the song and then
sing the song as you do the rhythm actions. This is GREAT fun... and my
favorite (and my kids' favorite) is a 6/8 beat.
Eraser Pass:
Choose major words of the song. Find 2 or 3 synonyms/like words and/or
opposites for each of the major words. List the major word and its like
words together in a group (with each major word having its own group) on
either a blackboard or white board.. If possible putting each group in a
different color. Tell the children to listen to the song and erase the
words that do NOT belong in the song. Tell the children there are 2 rules:
1. Pass the eraser to someone who has not had the eraser before. 2. Do not
talk or give hints. Begin to sing and hand the eraser to one of the
children. Help them understand that they erase words that are NOT in the
song, then they pass the eraser on to someone else. Song the song over and
over again as they erase.
Beat vs. Rhythm:
As the children to keep the beat on their lap as you sing the song. Sing
the song and keep the beat. As the children to tap the rhythm of the words
with their other hand on their lap. Sing the song and tap the rhythm of
the words. Split the group in half. Have half the group tap the beat and
the other half tap the rhythm of the words as you sing. Switch and sing
again. For fun, challenge the children to keep the beat in their left hand
and the rhythm of the words in their right hand (or visa versa). Sing the
song and tap the beat AND the rhythm of the words. It is pretty rough, but
the kids really like it and they are LEARNING the songs as their hands are
trying to do the rhythms.
4/4 time: (Right hand) slap thigh, lift hand (hit the back of the right
hand with the palm of the left hand), snap (left), slap hand (right)...
repeat... OR... (with both hands) lap, lap, clap, clap, lap, clap, snap,
hold, (repeat) lap, lap, clap, clap, lap, clap, snap... or any combination
of laps claps, snaps, etc..
3/4 or 6/8 time:
This is our FAVORITE.. and my boys love this! It goes like this: (R)
thigh, up (slap w/Left), (R) thigh... (L) thigh, up (slap w/Right) (L)
thigh.. repeat. (It sounds like this.. "down, up, down, down, up, down,
down, up down, down, up, down") This takes awhile to get... and you start
out slowly with the kids and just encourage them. This will become one of
their favorite patterns. When I first taught this, I explained to my
toughest boy that if he could master this pattern, he would be able to
master any sports task... because of the coordination.
Magic Crayon:
Tell the children that you have a magic crayon that draws large circles
and it turns different colors. You can either give them a color, or let
them pick their own color in their mind. Tell them to draw large circles
and sing the song. As the children to take out their magic crayon and
decide a color for their crayon. (Pantomime with them.) Sing and draw
circles with your magic crayon. After singing, ask the children what
colors their crayons were. You may want to repeat the activity, but have
them change the color of their crayon (I like to "magically" change colors
during the song by saying, "Ok, let's change colors... POOOF! and motion
at the end of your magic crayon).
Umbrella: I called a
child up to hold the umbrella. I "rained" on the umbrella with a spray
bottle set at mist.....but it only rained when the children sang well. As
was suggested by the originator of this idea, I occasionally sprayed one
of the kids singing and I sprayed the child holding the umbrella. With
each time singing, I had a different child hold the umbrella.
Spin the Teacher:
You can make creative shapes from poster or cardstock paper on bright
colors and blindfold the teacher and have them turn around a couple of
times, then have them pick a color or choose with their hands a paper. On
the paper you could have all kinds of things... song titles, a phrase from
a song, and have the class who's teacher is up there tell you which song
it's from.
Scripture chase:
Write the scripture references from the songbook for several songs and the
kids had to look up the reference, read the scripture, and try to figure
out what song we were going to sing.I also used the opportunity to point
out how the lyrics for many of the songs are taken almost word-for-word
from the scriptures ("As I have Loved You," "Truth from Elijah", for
example) and encouraged the kids to look for "matching songs" to the
scriptures they read during family scripture study.
"Before and After."
All I did was make some word strips with phrases from different
songs. Some that we are learning and some others that they know. They draw
a slip and read it. Then the group tries to tell what phrase comes before
and what phrase comes after. Then we sing it. Sometimes to get it they
have to say the whole song but they can usually figure it out. In senior,
if they need some help we will deduct some points. It makes them really
concentrate on the words. I give them 5 points if they get the phrase
before and 5 points if they get the phrase after and up to 10 points for
how well they sing the song. When we are done singing, I tell them the
score and they decide if they want to try again for a higher score. I
watch to see if everyone is singing, if they are watching me, if they are
involved in the music, etc. to decide the score. Since Senior primary
likes to compete, I tell them how many points the junior made and let them
try to beat it. In junior we just tried to see how many points we could
get.
Sing & Spin:
Borrow an office chair from the clerk*s office - the kind that you can
spin around in. Place a child in the chair, place pieces of paper on the
floor around the perimeter of the chair like the numbers on a clock. Spin
the child when the child stops whichever paper the child's toe is closest
too is the song the kids will sing.
Shoot the hoops:
This is a fun way to play name that tune. Draw three lines on the floor
with chalk or put down three lines with tape. The closest line is worth
one note, the second is worth 2 or 3 notes and the furthest away line is
worth 3-5 notes. I usually let the kids have 2 or three chances. I place a
bucket on a table against the wall or chalkboard. Add up the points and
that's how many notes the kids get to hear to guess the song. For a fun
visual - I cut out orange circles and draw basketball lines on the
circles. I don't put the song titles on the balls I just put the number
that way I tell the pianist what number to play and the kids can try to
guess. This also makes it something I can use over and over again and
change the songs.
Mystery Bag:
I fill a bag with objects that are clues to songs. In the past I have used
the following: picture of the temple or small wooden temple, picture of
Pres. Hinckley, Book of Mormon, light bulb, hinge, package of microwave
popcorn, small toy bird, yellow toy plate, sheep, silk flower, silk purple
pansy, toy whale, toothbrush, picture of Jesus, a toy house or wooden
home, tithing envelope, missionary name tag, hymnbook, etc. This is a good
thing to keep in the cupboard - that way when you have a few extra minutes
you can pull out the bag or if you're unexpectedly sick a presidency
member or sub can easily do singing time.
Apron: Make
or buy an apron and then sew several pockets. You can place clues to one
song in the pockets or you can keep slips of paper that have names of
songs on them or a phrase from the song and then the kids have to guess
the song. The apron is also a good prop to keep in the cupboard for a last
minute fill-in.
Nutty singing:
Carefully crack walnuts open - put a paper with a song title inside and
glue the shell back together. The kids can crack the shell open and
discover the song.
Eggsellent Singing:
Blow out raw eggs, color them. When the dye is dry roll up a paper
with a song title on it and stuff it down inside. Then you let the kids
crack the eggs open (it can be a mess so do it over a bowl or trashcan).
The kids absolutely love this - so be prepared to have some sad kids if
they don't get to crack an egg.
Treasure hunt:
bury rocks that you've painted gold in a big bucket of sand or a box of
sand, then let the kids take turns uncovering a rock. Number the rocks
that way you can use them over and over again. Talk about the things we
should treasure in our lives. The songs could fit with this - for instance
Happy Family - Families, Search Ponder and Pray - scriptures, Follow the
Prophet - prophet, My Heavenly Father Loves Me - the world, our bodies,
Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam - Jesus, I Belong to the Church. - The
gospel, Friends are Nice - friends, The Sacred Grove - Joseph Smith, Book
of Mormon Stories - Book of Mormon, I Love To See The Temple - temples,
When I Am Baptized - baptism, etc.
Summer Shell Pick:
This is fun to do in the summertime - fill a beach bucket with some sand
and then place shells in the bucket - let the kids take turns picking a
shell.
Raindrop Singing:
Cut out raindrops and tape them to an umbrella, let the kids take turns
picking a raindrop. This is easy to tie in to a spiritual message - talk
about how the prophet is like the umbrella and if we follow him he will
protect us from the storms of life or the Savior is like the umbrella, or
obedience is like the umbrella -etc.
Puzzle:
Another great last minute singing time - take a picture from a church
magazine or picture kit, cut it into strips or puzzle pieces, place the
pieces under the kids seats and then let the kids who have a piece take
turns bring up their piece and put the puzzle together. The puzzle could
also be a monthly theme or a song title that you print out on the computer
with some cute graphics or maybe the finished puzzle will tell the kids
where to look to find a reward - have fun with this the possibilities are
endless.
Sound Singing:
Audio tape the kids or people in your ward singing a line from a song -
play the song and have the kids guess who they think is singing it. This
is fun on mother's day or father's day - guess whose mom or dad type of
thing.
Colorful Singing: Make a rainbow with construction paper - on the
back of each strip put a song - then the kids can build the rainbow or
take a color off - maybe under the rainbow you can have a quote phrase
from a song so that when you've completely removed the rainbow the kids
can find the phrase.
Mystery Singing:
I got this idea years ago from Linda B. Write the titles of songs in
invisible ink - then let kids take turns using the decoder marker to
uncover the title of the song.
Easter Cantata
-sing a story: I got this idea from Linda too. Make a book with poster
boards that have the words or the title of the song and pictures from
church magazines. I started mine with Jesus Once Was A Little Child and
then ended it with "I Wonder When He Comes Again" when we've done this in
my ward it's been used for the entire sharing time. We read scriptures in
between the songs and tell the entire Easter story. I've even had somebody
who could play the violin come in and play with the piano so the kids
would know this was an extra special day.
Envelope:
Take a key word from your monthly theme and use a big large brown envelope
for each letter. Each envelope will have a song on the back and inside the
envelope it will have a picture that fits with the song or other visuals.
A child gets to pick an envelope and then help hold the visuals.
Crossword or Word Search
Puzzle: Use the key words from a song in a puzzle or use
key words from several songs for a pick-a-song singing time. The older
kids seem to enjoy this a lot.
Opposite Songs:
Change the titles of the primary songs to the opposite words and let the
kids try to figure them out.
1. Laman's Fear (Nephi's Courage)
2. Frowns (Smiles)
3. Sunday (Saturday)
4. Off a gray wintertime (On A Golden Springtime)
5. In the barren bush bottoms (In the Leafy Treetops)
6. Hate nobody (Love One Another)
7. Take sang the big river (Give said the little stream)
8. We won't be weak (I Will Be Valiant)
Jeopardy: The
kids love to play this game. I make up about 4-6 categories and I have 3
'answers' in each category. The answers are phrases from songs so then the
kids raise their hands and have to give the response in the form of a
question - for instance if the card they picked said "a tiny seedling lay
asleep' then they would respond - "What is On A Golden Springtime?" Here
are the categories I've used before. Shake, Rattle & Roll - movement
songs;Get With the Program - songs from the program theme this year;Praise
to the Man - songs that have something to do with Joseph Smith;Tell Me The
Stories Of Jesus - songs that mention Jesus;I Think The World Is Glorious
- songs that talk about the world or nature;Book of Mormon Stories - songs
that have something to do with The Book of Mormon.
Jeopardy game -- I got BIG
cardboard pallets from Costco (they use then in between their toilet
tissue cases) I have 4 categories listed on top. Some of these might be,
SEASONAL FAVORITES, BLAST FROM THE PAST, SACRAMENT MTG. PROGRAM, SHAKE
RATTLE & ROLL. Under each category, in a column, have the numbers 1-4
listed. Behind each number will be a question. As the children pick the
category and the point value. You give them the answer (ie: the Lord
provides a way) and they tell you the name of the Song in question form (ie:
What is *Nephi*s Courage*) Then you sing the song.
Riddles Jeoprady They had
to figure them out, then we sang the song. I just made a poster so they
could all see them (saves on photocopies). See if you can figure them out.
I'll put the page numbers so you can look them up if I was too abstract in
my thinking! This was just a first draft, so I'm sure many of you could
modify them to be even better! Post if you have any brainstorms of your
own to improve or add to. Even the teachers had a great time today with
this activity!!
Category: Shake, Rattle & Roll
1-- particular body parts (275)
2-- ability to be flexible (277)
3-- copy cat me (276)
4-- smart and unlearned grown boys (281)
Category: Get With The Program (songs from the program this year)
1-- Most Enjoyable vision of church-like building (95)
2-- to mimic a carpenter born in Bethlehem (78)
3-- I'm going down the straight and narrow (164)
4-- the young beating vessels did an "about-face" for their ancestors
(90)
** number 4 is not a true title to a song, but my primary kids don't
know the title to that song, so I did the first line**
Category: All In The Family
1-- Elated at my father's return (210)
2-- Related people are quite possibly bound eternally (188)
3-- A jovial group of relatives (198)
4-- while assisting we're jolly (198)
Category: Scripture Power
1-- Tales from sacred writings (118)
2-- Hunt, Think, divinely communicate (109)
3-- determined missionaries with global ideas (172)
4-- the shining dinnerware (86) (my personal favorite!)
Clothesline: take real clothes or using graphics print out clothes
then put the songs on the clothes and on the clothespins write a way to
sing. The kids pick one of each and hang them on a clothesline you've
stringed across the room.
Get the bugs out:
This is a cute technique to polish program songs. I made a tree on a
poster board and then I cut out apples that had the titles of the program
songs on them and 3 gummi worms on the inside - if they sang the song and
got the words right they got one worm out and if they sang it strong they
got another worm out and if they sang it while sitting up or standing up
straight and tall and facing me they got the third worm out - We tried to
fill our bug jar with the worms. When the jar was full the kids got a
worm.
Get the bugs out -- I went
to a "Party store/dollar store" and bought real looking plastic bugs.... I
think they cost me 8 for a $1. The kids got a real kick out of it... I put
them in a paper bag and had attached a small piece of tape to the bottom
of each bug. I had a number written on each so I could control which songs
we sang. The kids pulled one bug out or "caught one" and then had to hold
it while we sang the song. We then decided if the bugs had been caught so
we could put it in the BUG JAR (a big miracle whip plastic jug) that I had
decorated with bug stickers. If not, the bug went back into the bag. Great
for reviewing the CSMP songs! (the bugs symbolize the problems with the
songs)
Testimony Tammy or Tim:
This is a good singing time to do the week before a Fast Sunday or the day
of a Fast Sunday. Take a graphic of a boy or girl and print it out so that
the head is about the size of a piece of paper. You can use the whole body
or it can be just from the shoulders up. Then print out sentences that
would be appropriate for a testimony and print them in a speech bubble
graphic. Then put the testimony bubbles around the head graphic. The kids
can come up and pick a bubble - you can tell why that's a part of a
testimony and have a song that fits that sentence - for instance. I know
Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ - The Sacred Grove, I know Gordon B.
Hinckley is the prophet on the earth today - Latter-day Prophets or Follow
the Prophet, I know Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer - Beautiful
Savior or I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus, etc.
Music Mystery:
Come into the room for singing time wearing a trench coat, hat, dark
glasses and carrying a small notebook - tell the kids you're on a hot case
and are looking for clues and you need them to help you - before primary
hide clues around the room, under chairs etc. The clues can be big
question marks you've cut out from construction paper. Then for fun you
can print the clue in a tiny font so that the kids need to look at it
through a magnifying glass. On the chalkboard it can have a question that
you're searching for the answer. The answer to the clues will be songs and
the first letter for each song will be a part of the answer. My Heavenly
Father Loves Me, On a Golden Springtime, The Church of Jesus Christ; Help
Me Dear Father to Freely Forgive, Early To Bed and Early To Rise,
Reverence is Love. This example spells out Mother - but you can do
whatever fits into your theme.
Scripture Chase Singing:
Put the scriptures that are listed at the bottom of the
songs on slips of paper - have the kids look up the scripture - the first
one to find it reads it and then the kids try to figure out what song fits
that scripture. This is a lot of fun - but obviously best with older kids.
Blindfold Pick a Song:
On a big sheet of butcher paper write down titles to primary songs. Tape
it to a wall. Blindfold a child and let them pin a cutout of a musical
note on the poster, whatever song they stick it on is the song you sing.
Dice: Take a
cube shaped box and cover it in white butcher paper and then write a way
to sing a song on each side, on another cube write a number on each side.
The number will coincide with a list of songs you have prepared for that
singing time - this way you can use the dice over and over. J.C. Penney's
has the perfect box - if you're in there shopping they will give you them
for free when you show a receipt.
Word for the Day:
You tell the kids that anytime you sing a particular word today they
should stand-up. For instance when it's Valentine's time the word could be
love.
Heads or Tails:
Write down words from a song you're working onto index cards, let the kids
come up and pick a card and then flip a coin - if it's heads they have to
sing the phrase that came before the word on the card - if it's tails they
have to sing the phrase that comes next.
Pioneer Trails:
Around July 24, take a piece of butcher paper and map out the Mormon
trail. Then place wagon graphics along the trail - the kids can pick a
wagon and sing the song that is on it. Surprise them and have it say story
on a wagon - then be prepared to share a quick pioneer story - maybe one
that involves a song.
Find the lost sheep:
Make about 8 or 9 paper sheep - there was a good graphic in the Friend two
years ago. Write a song on the back and then hide the sheep in the room.
Tell the kids we need to be good shepherds and find the sheep and bring
them home - you can talk about how Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Another way
to do this is to only have one sheep and have a child leave the room while
the kids hide the sheep, then have the child come back in and sing a song
while the child looks for the sheep. The kids will sing louder when the
child gets close to the sheep and softer when the child is far away from
the sheep.
Six B's: Make
6 beehives and 6 or more bees. On the back of the bees have a song that
fits with one of President Hinckley's B's. Label the beehives one of the
b's. Then the kids can put the bee on the right beehive.
T.N.T.:
President Benson gave a talk about prophets and he said that a living
prophet has TNT - today's news today. So this is a fun singing time after
conference. Take an empty Pringles potato chip can and cover it with red
paper and write TNT on it, then stick a piece of string through the lid so
that it looks like a fuse. On slips of paper put things the prophet has
asked us to do then pick a song that goes with that direction. While the
kids sing the song have them pass the TNT when the song ends whoever is
holding the TNT opens it up and picks the next quote and song.
Rocket Songs:
On black or dark blue poster board glue circles of bright construction
paper - so that they look like planets label the planets the songs you
want to sing or the programs songs. Then take a rocket graphic and print
those out and glue them to construction paper to help reinforce them. Then
on the back of the rocket write a line from the song - the kids have to
figure out what song the line comes from and then make the rocket land on
the planet. This is also a good way to monitor your primary's progress in
learning the program songs - when they've mastered the song the rocket can
land on the planet - when all the planets have been conquered then they've
learned all the songs.
Bishop Singing Time:
Draw a man that looks like a bishop from the waist up on a poster
board - you could then wonder under a pocket where his shirt pocket should
go. In the pocket you place questions the bishop asks when we want to be
baptized or when we turn 12 and want to go do baptisms for the dead. Then
have a song that fits in with that question - like do you love your
family? -Happy Family, Do you believe Joseph Smith was a prophet? - This
is My Beloved Son; Do you believe Gordon B. Hinckley is a prophet? -
Follow the Prophet or Latter-day Prophets. Do you keep the commandments? -
Keep the Commandments.
Choosing
Helpers:
Write the kids names on Popsicle sticks - when you've picked them all put
them back in the basket or can and start over. You can also write their
birthdays ona stick and instead of calling names say - this person's b-day
is March 16.
Die-cut hands and write the names of the kids on the hands - Make a poster
board say - My Helping Hands. When you call on them put their hand on the
poster and when you've put them all up take them down and start again.
Music box:
You can buy at the dollar store or Big Lots fancy looking boxes or make
your own. Fill it with slips of paper that have songs on them. Pass the
box while the kids are singing - when the music stops whoever is holding
the box picks the next song.
Snowball attack:
This is fun with the senior primary. Give them a sheet of paper and let
them write their favorite song down on the paper - then let them crumple
it up and throw it at you - then you bend over and pick one up and sing
whatever is on it. I have found that kids minds go blank on song titles so
a good thing to do is to write down a list of songs to help them remember
the names of their favorite songs. Maybe you have a poster board where you
write down songs they know and then you could just pull that out for a
reference.
Musical chairs:
Set the chairs up in a circle - have the kids walk around while they
sing - when the song ends they sit down and whoever is sitting on the
chair with the star on the back picks the next song.
musical chairs (have a select number of kids come up to walk around
chairs, sing song, when piano stops playing, the kid who doesn't get a
chair has to sing/say the next line of the song. If they can't, they keep
walking, if they can, they can pick a new friend to take their spot
walking around the chairs--or vice versa--I tend to have them keep waking
until they can do it, so they go out on a positive.)
Motivators:
Chocolate Chip Cookies: make graphics to represent the ingredients used in
making the cookies. Make a poster board look like a recipe card (not
necessary but it would be cute)You could title the recipe - Super Singer
Sweets. If the kids sing super good you add an ingredient, when they've
earned all the ingredients you bring them a cookie next week (now this was
done in my sister's ward in Utah - where the entire ward is within a few
blocks and the chorister took the cookies during the week). If your
primary is anti -treat then you could deliver them during the week or
maybe you could wrap it up and staple it in a brown lunch bag and tell
them they can't open it until they get home. I personally think this is a
good one because it's a reward that takes about 2 months to earn - longer
if they're not always good. You could say that they'll get the cookie at
the next quarterly activity.
Thermometer:
Take a white foam core poster board and draw a thermometer on it. Sew a
piece of red ribbon to a piece of white ribbon - then you pull on the
ribbon when they're singing super good so that the temperature rises. I
have made a big thermometer on a poster board that said, "We're having a
heat wave, a musical heat wave, the temperature is rising, it isn't
surprising, we're learning our songs!" Then when we learned one of the
program songs I had a child color our thermometer in to the next degree
and on the side we wrote the name of the song and the date- this was fun
to see the progress.
Present: Fill
a box with a treat - one treat for every child, wrap the box really pretty
and put a ribbon around it for every program song. This is a good thing to
do about a month before the program. When the kids have mastered the song
- cut the ribbon off, when they've mastered all the program songs the
ribbons will be gone and then they can open up the present and find their
treat. You can buy little prizes at Oriental Trading Company.
Post Performance:
A fun thing to give the kids is a little card that says, "I didn't hear a
single sour note!" and then attach a sour warhead candy or some kind of
sour candy.
Weekly Super Singer Award:
I give out a super singer award each week. I have found cute little
die-cuts that look like award ribbons at Bennetts. I keep track in a
notebook who's won so that I can spread the joy..ha-ha-ha.
*I've also found stickers at Bennetts that say 'Ask Me What I Learned
Today' I have given these to the kids to wear on a day when we've learned
a new song in the hopes that their parents will ask and they'll get a
chance to practice at home.
Sometimes I will make up a bookmark on the computer that has a line from
the song or maybe the whole song. The kids like bookmarks and maybe it
will help them remember the song when they get home.
ENCORE: This
is based on a board game put out by Parker Brothers. The game is no longer
made. It's a really fun one for youth to play. I've looked all over at
garage sales hoping to find it. Anyway, for Primary choose key words such
as family or temple. Divide into teams. Choose a word for a "round". The
play goes back and forth between the teams with each team singing a
complete line from a song with that word in it. Score one point for each
song a team can come up with. After a "round", sing the songs you
want as a group and maybe pull the theme together with a scripture.
"You've got Mail!" with the kids. I used my daughter's plastic
mailbox and decorated envelopes with the song titles inside. The child who
chose the song got to help lead
with one of the primary's fun wands.
Review game:
Have all the kids stand up and pass a bean bag while singing. When the
music stops who ever is holding the bean bag has to tell the next word. If
they answer right they get a reward (candy) That child then sits down and
we keep singing.
5 star songs to review.
I made a poster with all the songs on it and then I made stars and
laminated them. I talked to the kids about what it means to be 5 star.
Then we try and sing our songs like 5 star songs. The kids love it. They
love to see how many stars they can get each week. I made a separate
poster for jr. and sr. so that they each had to work on it. I have had
parents ask me about our five star songs because their kids are talking
about them at home.
Bean bag Review
kids get in a circle and having them toss a
bean bag to each other. When the child is thrown the beanbag then they
have
to say the next word in the song. So each toss is the next word in the
song.
Or you could also toss the bag while singing the song and when the music
stops who ever has the bag has to say the next word.
Song hospital Items needed:
--"Patients"--CSMP songs typed out (can scan the top part from song book
where the picture is with the song title), put into sheet protectors, and
hung by ribbons
--signs that say: "The Doctor is In/Out", "Song Hospital", Waiting Room",
"Admitting/Check-in", "Therapy", "Check-out", "words", "melody", "spirit",
"volume", "watching/following"
--gift box with ribbons tied around it that match ribbons on CSMP songs
and a surprise inside for the kids
--scissors
--doctor/nurse gear (hats, stethoscope, etc.)
The room will be set up as a "Song Hospital." On the bulletin board (the
waiting room) will be the names of all the CSMP songs, hung up by ribbons
(which they can put around their necks). I will set up 5 chairs, where the
"specialists" (word doctor, melody doctor, etc.) will sit with cards
numbered 0-5. One of the children will come and pick a song to be
checked-in to the hospital while 5 children will be picked as
doctors/nurses. Each doctor/nurse will have a special area they focus on
(words, melody, spirit, volume, and watching/following). We will sing the
song, and the "specialists" will evaluate our song's condition, on a scale
of 0-5. If our song receives a 4/5 average from all the doctors, then it
goes straight to check-out, where a gift will be sitting with lots of
ribbons wrapped around it. The child then finds the matching ribbon that
is on the song and cuts it off the box. If the song doesn't receive a 4/5
average, then it is admitted to song therapy, where we will work on
whatever specialty felt help was needed. If our "words doctor" felt that
the words needed help, we will do a bean bag activity (pass around a bean
bag--kids say one word of the song and pass it on--so the song is sung by
all kids, one word at a time. If they mess up the word, we sing that line
of the song as a group and start the song over with that child) or "hot
potato" (pass the bean bag around until you stop playing, then whoever is
holding the bean bag guesses what words come next). If the melody needed
help, we will play with the string in the can, with a string that tells us
to sing or hum the song. If the spirit needs some help, we will share our
testimonies about the song. If volume needs help, I will hold up soft/loud
signs that they need to follow. If watching/following me needs help, I
will practice leading them in "fun" ways, and maybe use the boy/girl or
stop/go signs. I think I will have a specialist come up for sign language
on our two sign language songs as well, which will probably need some
reviewing. After some song therapy, we will have the doctors check the
song out again, in hopes it can be "checked out." If it can't, we will
admit it to the hospital--which means the song will wait until a following
Sunday, when we will work quite a while with the song. Eventually, all
songs should make it to the check out point, where matching ribbons will
be cut off the box. There will be one "big, fancy" ribbon on the box
though, that does not match any of the CSMP song ribbons--this is the
program ribbon. In order to cut through the biggest ribbon, they will have
to sing at the 4/5 level the whole program, the day of the CSMP. (They
will be able to track their progress as we do the program, since I will
show them by my hand what level they are singing at--last year I wore a
black glove with the numbers on it to show them...maybe I will wear it
again). Inside the box will be their "surprise" I have promised them. I
may also throw in some stuff like "medicine" for our singers (lemonade in
a squirt bottle that I squirt into their mouths) or a "contagious singing
pox" (red sticker dots) if we need some variety during the weeks.
Walkie-Talkie I had 8 cards - each card listing one program song
and a location somewhere in the church. I brought my two-way radios and
gave one to another adult, and let the kids give her a code name (midwest
mama), then let the adult give us a code name (Billy Bob Joe). I let a
child draw a card, then using CB lingo, I would tell the adult over the
radio where to go (library, gym, etc.). We would sing the song on the
card, and then radio to Midwest Mama to see if she could hear us from
where she was. (Emphasizing to the kids the difference between singing and
yelling.) The children absolutely love doing this, and gladly sing their
hearts out.
The Choice is Right
Play a spin-off of the TV show "The Price is Right" to teach and review
the song. You could really use your creativity for this idea and make it
fun. Make a sign the says "BING" for the right answer and one that says
"BUZZ" for the wrong answer. Here are a few examples of "games" :
1) Race game-Place pictures or word strips from the song in the wrong
order. Choose a child (be dramatic) to "come on down" and compete against
the clock to put them in the right order. After they've put them in the
right order, they come back and put on a gold CTR crown (burger king) to
see if they have it right. If not, take the crown off, and try again.
2) Match game-Cut those word strips in half and put them all over the
board. Have a child or children race to match up the phrases as you sing
them
3) PLINKO--if you've made a plinko board, at the bottom you could put
different ways to sing the song, i.e., staccato, whisper, boys sing, girls
sing, etc.
4) Punch board--some of you have made punch boards for use in your
primaries. In the slots, you could have ways to sing the song, or
different rhythm actions (stomp, clap, pat, snap). As them pull them out,
put them in order and then have them repeat that action pattern as they
sing the song.
Flower windmills
at Michaels (it's about 2 feet tall and I just stuck it in a flower pot
with Styrofoam), the kind that look like a flower then on each petal she
wrote a way to sing. The kids spin the flower and when it stops they sing
the way the petal pointing to the stem says. and it worked great. I always
have western as a choice for how to sing and the kids love it. I just make
sure that we sing western style with fun upbeat songs.
Boulders & Blessings I drew it on a large piece of poster board.
The bottom row has 7 spaces. The game starts, here, on the bottom left
side. So, you have the 7 spaces, left to right, on the bottom. On the
last, left space, draw 1 space above it and then another 1 space on top of
that 1. From that 1, draw 6 more spaces (7 in all) right to left. Draw
another 1 above that and (you guessed it) another 1 above that 1. Draw six
more, 7 in all, left to right. Draw another 2 above your last one on the
right. Draw 3 more over, 4 in all, left to right. 2 more above that 4th
space. That last space is the FINAL one. Her WC stands for Wrong Choice. I
changed the CTR to Blessings and the WC to a Boulder. I cut out gray
construction paper for the boulders. I also placed a picture of the Savior
at the finished area.
I also made 21 card, 3 different colors. Yellow cards are one space, red
cards two spaces, blue cards 3 spaces. If they can't answer the question,
we will sing the song and ask it again! http://primaryetc.com/BlessingsBoulders.html
(picture of it)
Crack the Code
code concept, a)put the letters in reverse order. b) the second letter of
each word, or c) the last letter of each word. Depending on the number of
vowels in the first-letter "code" line, it also might be possible to use
of the on-line anagram generators to come up with words made from those
letters.
Reverence For Jr primary when it gets out of hand I have a favorite
poem I do that really seems to quiet things down.
Touch your nose,touch your chin,
that's the way this game begins.
Touch your eyes, touch your knees,
Now pretend your going to sneeze. (Achoo)
Touch your hair, touch one ear,
Touch your two red lips right here. (like your saying Shh)
Touch your elbows where they bend,(if you do this at the same time
they should be folding their arms)
That's the way this touch game ends.
I also to Tommy Thumbs
Tommy Thumbs up and Tommy Thumbs down, Tommy Thumbs dancing all
around the town. Dancing on your sholders, dancing on your head,
dancing on your nose now tuck them into bed.(fold arms)I'm sure you
can figure out the actions. We also do, pointy finger and pinky
finger.
Open them Shut them is a good one to.
Open shut them, open shut them
give a little clap, clap, clap
open shut them, open shut them,
put them in your lap. Open shut them, open shut them
give a little clap, clap, clap
open shut them, open shut them,
put them in your lap.
For senior primary I just start singing the song We Are Reverent CSB
page 27. Then I ask them to try to be as quiet as a shadow or
something like that. If I point out that they are out of control and
that they are acting in appropriate in Heavenly Father's House they
will quiet down.
Musical Chairs but a more reverent version. I had taken words from
the song (I think I had 24 words--it ended up being more words than kids,
but that was fine, since I just wanted to be sure there was at least one
word per kid.) I took the words and made one set to lay on the floor in a
circle, the other set in a brown paper bag. The kids got on the circle of
words on the floor, facing clockwise, and when the piano played, they sang
and walked. When the music stopped, they walked quietly to the closest
word (reminding them that it was okay--there was a word for everyone).
Then I pulled a word out of the bag--whoever was on that word picked their
word up from the ground and came to me to get a sticker (the sticker said
"Behind this sticker is a very special kid"--this worked because we have
been talking about how special they are since they all chose to follow
Heavenly Father's plan, and I reminded them of that as I placed the 1st
sticker on the 1st kid). Then the child who was now sitting would still
help sing, and as they sang, they
listened for their word in the song, then would stand up whenever they
heard it. This worked even for the non-readers because the teacher walked
with her class in the circle to help them learn their word, and then once
they had their word called, they remembered what that word was because it
was their "winning" word. They all walked out of primary feeling like
winners and they sang the song through for the whole entire 20 minutes we
had today (we must have sung all three verses at least 5 times each
today).
Wagon wheel of fortune
- I think I'm going to use something like that again for the sr. primary.
I will have the choices on the wheel be ways to sing the song or a number
and the number will be how many notes they get to hear to guess the song.
Then I'll have a phrase or word they have to figure out - I'm thinking of
using "Chimney Rock" and then at the end of singing time when they figure
it out I'll share with them a story about the pioneers at Chimney Rock.
Shell Songs I
stuck a piece of masking tape on each shell and numbered them, then I took
a clear rubbermaid rectangular storage container and buried the shells in
sand, then I let the kids come up and dig out a shell and we sang the song
that went with it - I have used a beach pail too but it was too cluttered
- so now I let the kids put the shells they find in a beach pail.
Watermelon -I
took a big piece of red poster board and a cut it into a semi-circle, then
I put a green border around the curve so it looked like a big piece of
watermelon - I cut out a bite along the top- then I cut big black seeds
and put the names of songs on the back of the seeds - this is a good one
to keep on hand for a sub.
Firework singing
time last year - I took a black poster board and then I took black
tissue paper and glued glittery looking fireworks bursts on the pieces of
black tissue paper, I taped them onto the poster board. Then the board
said something about Sparkling Singers or something like that - it's also
a fun way to do a punch board for summer - over each whole you tape the
tissue paper firework then the kids punch through or burst through the
fireworks to get the song.
Camping -
fill a backpack or suitcase with things you need for a trip and pick a
song that goes with it. Then you can blindfold the child and let them dig
something out of
the backpack or suitcase - they'll pick quicker if they're blindfolded.
Giant cootie catcher
out of poster board. For November, Under each flap was a song from the
program or whatever. I had each child tell me one thing he/she was
thankful for - then I would spell it and do the cootie catcher
accordingly. This time, I decided to use the cootie catcher as a review
tool for verse 2 & 3 in "I Lived in Heaven" My primary kids seem to be
getting the first part of the phrases and then mumbling the rest. So -
instead of putting a song under each flap - I put the first part of each
phrase in the 2 & 3 verses (there ended up being 8 phrases which was the
number of flaps I had). For example - under one flap it would say, "Father
said He needed someone....." or "Conquering evil and death through....."
or "There was another who sought...." As each child came up and picked a
numbered flap - I would have them try to finish the phrase (they could ask
for help). Then we would sing the phrase.
Bean Bag/soft ball
put all the chairs up against the wall and having them sit in a circle
with a soft ball or beanbag - sing a line, toss the bean bag, and whoever
catches it has to repeat the line, then everyone has to sing it before you
throw it again for the next line. Next time through, see who knows the
line without your help and toss it to them.
Follow the leader set up another room special you give instructions like:
stand up fold your arms face the door
when I point to your row follow Sister . . . (who will be assigned to
lead them out the door, down the hall to the other room you have
prepared in a special way)
Sing what I sing (sing a line)
give another instruction - touch your nose
Sing what I sing (sing a line)
Turn in a circle
Sing what I sing
Put your hands on your waste
Sing what I sing
and so forth.
Kids act out the song and it worked great. I called one child up at a time
and they made up what they wanted to do for that line then the next child
etc. until the first verse was done. Then we sang the song all the way
through with those children still standing up
front acting out their lines. After that everyone stood up and sang and
acted out the song together.
Bag of dress up stuff. After each time they sing I will choose a good
singer to pick out (one thing for thing for ok job, two things for good,
and 3 things for outstanding job) out of the bag and put them on me.
Hide the musical note a heart (February), snowman (January), Christmas
tree (December), etc.
Let's have a
"paper orchestra"!
How many different sounds can be made with a sheet of paper? You might
be surprised! Give each child a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Instruct
all to follow your directions.
1. (this can be done with ANY song) First practice singing "We Thank
Thee Oh God for a Prophet" by having everyone roll their paper into a
tube shape. Going through the song once sing the first line and "toot"
the second through the tube, repeating through the verse:
We thank thee Oh God, for a prophet
"toot-da-doot toot-da-doot- toot-da-doot"
We thank thee for sending the gospel
"toot-da-doot toot-da-doot- toot-da-doot", etc.
reverse tooting and singing on second time through:
"toot-da-doot toot-da-doot- toot-da-doot"
to guide us in these latter days, etc.
2. Show the children how to hold the sheet of paper loosely between two
hands and then pull hard, but not too hard to tear it, and a very snappy
"pop" can be heard.
3. "The Wise man and the Foolish Man" p. 281. Lay the paper across
yourlap with both feet on the floor and knees together.
slap (slap hands on knees)
tickle (wiggling all fingers on paper)
rub (slide flat hand across paper)
(slap) The wise man built his house upon the rock (repeat two times)
and the rains came tumbling down
(tickle) the rains came down and the
(rub) floods came up (repeat two times)
(slap) and the house on the rock stood still.
(rub softly) The foolish man built his house upon the sand (repeat two
times)
and the rains came tumbling down
(tickle) the rains came down and the
(rub) floods came up (repeat two times)
(wave paper through air) and the house on the sand washed away.
4. Holding the paper by the two short ends, crumple it and pull it out
(but not too hard) with the rhythm of each prophet's name. (No crumpling
during the other words!)
5. Hold the paper between two palms and clapped, this was fun because
you can try to keep the paper air borne and catch it on the clap.
6. Hold the paper tightly between your hands and blow with your lips
tight and make a squeeky sound. Follow me to see when to make noise
and when to sing the words.
7. We also rubbed palms together with the paper in-between them. On
the last time through we started at one edge and tore a strip off,and
then another until we ran out of paper. About the time you get to "if I do
it fast" you can really rip into it. Then pass around a garbage can and
clean up the papers.
You Making mistakes. Put something in a jar. Smarties, cause they are so
smart to catch you when you make a mistake or Dum-Dums lollipops. When
it*s full the kids get them. You could use marbles and then when the jar
is filled you could give them stickers or a pencil or a special treat at
the next activity day.
Music machine
Children sing well during singing time then they get to swing the top open
(desktop trashcan and see if there's a surprise in the machine. stickers,
sometimes a hershey kiss, a bookmark.
Wiggle songs
Head Shoulders...
*We do this song by wiggling the body part mentioned instead of
pointing
*I also have pictures of the body parts with magnets on the back and
have the children come up and mix up the order we sing it in
*Do the song like the song BINGO. Each time through leave out a body
part but still point to it.
Speed up and slow down from phrase to phrase and the kids will have to
match her.
Do as I'm Doing/If Your Happy and You Know it:
*I made flash cards with actions already on them and attached magnets
to both sides. A child can pick the actions random. This works
better for me because I know the actions are appropriate and fit the
rhythm of the song.
*I also took an old toss across and taped on one side actions for do
as I'm doing and the other side actions for If your happy and you
Know it. This was great for a primary activity and my kids love it
for family home evening.
"Primary Mess"
I made up a story that a friend of my was called to be a primary music
director and needed our help. I told them that since Sister Smith (or
whoever you want to call her) wasn't really familiar with the primary
songs and that she knew part of the song but not their actual titles. I
made up really crazy names for our primary songs and they had to tell me
the actual song that had the words/idea behind the song ie... Frosty has
melted for once there was a snoman...or apricot popcorn for popcorn
popping...etc. Anyway the kids had 1 minute to figure out what the song
was...I thought the Jr were not going to remember any of the tittles but
was I ever wrong...I think they got them faster than the Sr.
Flashlight for SR and JR primary. When they are "letting their light
shine" it is on. When they are not, the light is turned off. When the
batteries run out, I have prepared little treat bags (pencils, bookmarks,
stickers, candy) that they will get.
Chaos & danger -- This game came from teaching *Keep the Commandments* You
plan in advance to have the pianist play a different song than you*re
singing. The kids realize how important it is to STAY within the
guidelines the Lord has given us. They have to figure out which song the
pianist played and which song we were singing.
Squirt gun/crying Mother poster -- I use this poster for Mother*s day and
for after the program. I drew a picture of a mother*s face, big on a
poster board. I cut out her eye balls and hold (usually ask for help) two
squirt guns in the holes. As the children sing beautifully, the mother
(cries) as she is touched by the beauty. This can get out of hand easily,
but each time I have used it, the spirit is strong and the kids try really
hard to sing beautifully. I tell them sometimes, they bring tears to my
eyes*. This has to be done in *good taste!*
Pin the bee on flowers poster -- This is just like pin the tail on the
donkey game, however I have a poster board full of flowers. The flowers
have #*s on them. The kids pin the bee on the flower and that tells us
which song to sing, or if we*re working on a song, how many times in a row
we will sing it. Of course we use a different *voice* each time. (cowboy
voice, opera voice, MoTab voice, Mouse voice, boy voice, girl voice, etc.
What Song am I? Game -- This is a poster that has big colorful musical
notes on it. 8-9 in all. The poster is sat on the ground and the child or
I throw a beanbag and whichever note it lands on tells us either a phrase
from a song, a # of a song, or tells us three words in a row in the song.
They have to tell us which song it is, then we sing it.
Birthday cake too many candles I made up birthday cake the size of a
poster board. I filled it with candles. I tell the kids, I*m getting WAY
TOO OLD! And I need them to help me get some of these candles off. The
candles have the #*s and ideas on them. The kids love to help me not be so
OLD. Can also be turned around and made to put the candles on the cake.
The candles are separate and can be taped on and off as everything is
laminated.
Boy with backpack * This is a poster of a boy facing away and we*re
looking at his back. He*s wearing a backpack that I*ve slit the top of. I
attached a large gallons size Zip-lock bag onto it. Inside I have pictures
of books, ruler, pencils, erasers, ect* things you use for school. I have
used to to *fill* the backpack to get ready for school and to empty it for
Spring break or the end of the school year. On the back of each of the
items are the #*s or ideas for the songs we*re learning.
Silly hat singing time -- I went to a thrift store and bought a small lamp
shade. I turned it upside down and attached the ugliest 3* ribbon I could
find. The lamp shade is brown gingham, the ribbon is colorful circles. I
cut musical notes from construction paper and laminated them. Whichever
class is singing the best their teacher has to wear the *hat**. I start
out wearing it first. I have also turned it around and let the child
singing best and sitting reverently wear it and lead the next song. The
kids love to have their teacher be the one to wear the hat!
Leprechauns & shamrocks -- This is a poster to help us learn songs. In
each of the leprechauns hands are shamrocks that have phrases from the new
song. I have also had the letter from each word on the shamrocks and they
have to put them in the right order.
Pictures that they choose the song that matches * I got a bunch of
pictures from the library, put them in a box. The kids choose a picture
and tell us which song it reminds them of. Then we sing it. This is great
for taking a break after learning a new song.
Singing in a can * Cover a Pringles/peanut can with cute paper or musical
notes, make papers that give directions to sing such as: Sing with your
eyes closed, Humming only, Sing with your favorite Accent, Sing Standing
Up, Sing with your Nose plugged t. If you have a gerbil don*t sing, Sing
every other word, Sing with your mouth closed etc
Shakers --(toilet paper tubes/rice) I made shakers out of toilet paper
tubes filled with uncooked rice. I wrapped them with wallpaper that I got
free from a yard sale. The kids love to keep time or match the rhythm to
the songs. Make sure the paper you wrap them in is pretty sturdy or you*ll
have rice everywhere!
Envelope game -- Print out the words to the song and cut them out. Make
enough envelopes with song lyrics for groups of 3-4 children. I use
pictures for Jr. primary since they can*t read. As you all sing the song,
they put the words (or pictures) in the correct order. Good way to learn a
song.
Target game -- I made a huge cardboard target (could draw on chalkboard)
and made 8 sections. I had the children made paper airplanes. As the sang
the songs I picked the one sitting most reverently and smiling while they
sang. They got to fly their paper plane at the target to see which #
(song) we would sing next. Tons of fun! At the end of singing time, I let
everyone fly their plane at the target.
Memory game -- There are many variations to this game. Use your
imagination fo this one. I had to boards, pictures that depicted songs.
They turned over one from each board, if they matched we sang their choice
if they didn*t we sang my choice.
Singing Baseball -- Draw baseball diamond on chalkboard. Divide group into
two teams. Coach has a player in the warm up box and one in the batters
box whenever their
team is up to bat .Player steps up to pulpit when at bat. The Questions
are "Pitched" (read) to players and score is kept according to value of
question. Paper hats are moved around bases according to hits and runs.
Each team only gets two "OUTS" per inning. After two RUNs, change team up
to bat A"Bell" is rung every 3-4 minutes, then it's time for a "MUSIC
QUESTION." Sing the song when the question is answered correctly.
Erasure Pass * Preparation: On the board are a list of words in groups of
three. Each distinct group includes one word from the song being taught
and two words that mean the same or opposite. Example: The song being
taught is Seek the Lord Early. I would choose SEEK as my first word and
with it place the words LOOK and SEARCH. My next group might be for the
word YOUTH. With it CHILDHOOD and ADOLESCENCE. Another group might be
FATHER, MOTHER and HOLY GHOST. Stand in front of the children and state
the rules:
1: No talking
2: No Throwing the eraser
3: Give the eraser to someone who hasn't had it.
4: Erase only the words NOT in the song (we want the words that remain on
the board to be the words in the song in the order they appear in the
song).
Hand the eraser to a child and start singing the song. DO NOT STOP
SINGING.
You may go through the song 10+ times before all the wrong words are
erased.
The children them come up one at a time and erase one word not in the
song.
Teachers may help non-readers, or you may need to prompt when few words
are
left. Make sure you keep the rules in effect. If a child erases a wrong
word, be prepared to write it back on without stopping your singing. After
all the wrong words are erased, have the children sing only the words on
the board. Then switch and have them sing all the words except the ones on
the board.
Song taboo * This is the same as the game Taboo; you make up cards for the
children to pick from. They have to guess the Song Title without saying
the words on the card. Then you sing the song ie:
I Am a Child of God
Heavenly
Father
Parents
Children
Yarn singers * I took 3 colors of yarn and cut them different lengths. I
tied them all together in no particular order. I wound them up and put
them in a paper sack decorated really cute. As the children sang a child
pulled the string between their hands. Each color as it went through the
space between their hands depicted who would sing, one was for boys, one
for girls and one for everyone. As the string was different lengths it was
fun to see the *change*.
Quick draw songs -- When the attention is wandering or I just need to
bring them back, I tell them we are going to do a "quick draw". Everyone
think of your favorite song. Put both hands on your knees. When I say
"go!" raise your hand. The first one I see gets to pick the song. "on your
mark" "get set" "Go!" This can also be like Pictionary where they draw a
picture on the chalkboard of the song they want to sing.
Scarf Movement -- I bought a bolt of material at a sale really Cheap! I
cut it into squares. Each child gets a square or scarf. You paint with the
scarf by moving them through the air. Such as: move it gently, it*s so
gentle just like this song & just like Jesus.
Clap/snap/stomp * Use it individually or with partners *Can your hands
follow my hands?* Or use body rhythm pattern such as clap, clap snap,
snap, stomp stomp. Partner Rhythm pattern such as patsch (pat thighs),
clap, cross touch to elbows.
S-i-n-g-o- game -- Take a piece of foam core board or poster board and
make a grid on it like a bingo scorecard. At the top instead of writing
bingo you write singo. In each square you put a small piece of one side
(hook) of velcro. Then you make two sets of markers--one for them to draw
out of a basket and one that will be on the board. I laminated these. I
made mine different colors so I could easily keep them straight. One side
can say anything you want--I put "you're a singing superstar" on mine and
the other side will have different categories on it. You then put a small
piece of the other side (loop) of Velcro on EACH side of the board pieces.
To play you put the markers on the board with the category side facing out
and a child draws a marker from the drawing set. They then have to choose
a song to sing that fits the category they have drawn. If the group can
sing it well enough in your opinion then they get to turn the matching
piece around on the board. The goal is to get a straight line just like in
bingo. For the free space, let them have a free choice marker.
*SINGO Take a piece of foam core board (if you want it to last forever so
you can play this game often) or poster board and make a grid on it like a
bingo scorecard. At the top instead of writing bingo you write singo. In
each square you put a small piece of one side (hook) of velcro. Then you
make two sets of markers--one for them to draw out of a basket and one
that will be on the board. I laminated these. I made mine different colors
so I could easily keep them straight. One side can say anything you
want--I put "you're a singing superstar" on mine and the other side will
have different categories on it. You then put a small piece of the other
side (loop) of velcro on EACH side of the board pieces. To play you put
the markers on the board with the category side facing out and a child
draws a marker from the drawing set. They then have to chose a song to
sing that fits the category they have drawn. If the group can sing it well
enough in your opinion then they get to turn the matching piece around on
the board. The goal is to get a straight line just like in bingo. For the
free space, I put a free choice marker. Or you could just give them that
space for
free.
Some of the categories that I used were: Holy Ghost, Following Christ,
Love, Testimony, Missionary work, Friends, Plan of Salvation, Temple,
Prayer, Families, Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, Tithing, Obedience,
Service, Courage, Gratitude, Honesty, Choosing the Right, Prophets, Book
of Mormon, Articles of Faith, Baptism, Priesthood, and Free choice.
Singing Olympics * during the Olympics in SLC we opted to *pass the torch*
in Primary as well. I made a torch out of a flashlight with red cellophane
paper over it and we passed it around the room. When our song finished the
next person got to pick the next song. We also had 4 different games going
for our Olympics.
Cooking up a song -- Take kitchen containers, a mixing bowl and spoon, and
an apron. Tell the kids that we were cooking up a song. I had a volunteer
put on the apron and choose a container (empty cool whip, etc.) and add
the "ingredient" to our mixing bowl. Each container has a slip of paper
that says either line 1,2,3,or 4. While they are stirring, we have to sing
that line 5 times to help it cook. Believe it or not, this really worked.
They all wanted a turn, and I told them lots of stuff about how their
singing helps it to cook. You decide which order to put the ingreds. Into
the mix!
Stand up Sit down -- Print the key words to the song out. As you pull out
the key words you stand up and sit down when those words come in the song.
This is great if the children are getting restless.
Puzzle game * Make up a crossword puzzle for the song you*re learning. The
clues would be the key words to the song.
Stop and Go * Make a traffic light out of 2 black poster boards. Cut out 2
traffic lights and put red, yellow and green cellophane in between where
the lights should be. I let the children come up and shine a flashlight
through the colors. We sang on green, stopped singing on red and did
something different every time on yellow (girls, boys, clap to rhythm,
hum, etc).
Ball Toss * This is a mini basket ball hoop with a miniature basket ball.
Depending on how many shots they make tells us which song we sing. If they
can*t make any, we sing what the pianist wants to sing. (she likes to pick
once in a while)
Song (word) search -- Make word search puzzle with song titles hidden in
it. There are many sites on the web that will do this for you. All you
have to do is print out and blow them up.
Fishing -- Attach paper clips to song titles, have a baton or play fishing
pole with a magnet at the end for the *hook*. The children fish for the
songs to sing or how many measures you will go into the song.
Magnetic letters -- Use the magnetic letters that you use on the fridge.
Put them in a bag or appropriate container for the season. The children
draw out a letter and choose a song that starts with the letter they
pulled out. For the sake of time, I use the letter that correlates with
the number in the alphabet the letter is. 1-26 (make a list ahead of time
and you CAN use the songs over and over)
Concentration --Put pictures or words up on the blackboard, and cover each
with a piece of paper. Take turns flipping the paper. I flip one, and the
children flip the other. When they match one we sing that song.
Detective clueless -- Make up a question for each phrase of song....
reduce font to smallest size possible. Envelope: "Classified Files"
containing questions ; Dress as Detective with trench coat/ hat/
sunglasses.... Bring a magnifying glass Make five question marks labeled
with the five W's - laminate, stick magnetic tape on back to place on
chalkboard. Five Important "W's"
All detectives (or reporters) know that they need to ask these questions
when looking for clues to solve a case. WHO -- WHAT -- WHEN -- WHERE --
WHY
For each question, call up a child (assistant detective) to read a
question with the magnifying glass.
Yearly theme game-- Take the theme of the year and make up a song to go
with each letter in the words or a song for each word. Let the kids pick a
word and sing the song that correlates with it.
Book of Singing Stories *Make a book with poster board. On each page have
a picture or *clue* depicting a Primary song. The kids get to turn the
page to the song they want to sing. I have several pages that I can change
out. You can use color copies of the GAK pictures, they*re lovely!
Celestial Challenge -- This idea is from The Primary Page. It has a gold
sun, silver moon, and white stars, all on a black board. Each is labeled
accordingly - celestial kingdom, terrestrial kingdom, and telestial
kingdom. On little squares of poster board, I have made up "icons" for
each program song - a picture and the name of the song, for both the older
& the younger children*s benefit. They are taped up in "Outer Darkness" at
the beginning of the year, then once a month, we have our "Celestial
Challenge." I have them sing each song, and the Presidency tells them
whether they have sung it well enough for the program (Celestial
Kingdom/sun) or maybe it needs some more work. The goal is to get them all
on the sun (Son)!
Toilet tissue Unroll-- Unroll a roll of toilet tissue and write song
titles on random squares and re-roll. Then let each child take off one
square and the ones with song titles get to lead their songs.
Fabric mouse that is on a stick and he hides inside a piece of cheese.
When the kids sing loudly (but reverently) He comes up out of the cheese.
When they aren't singing as well he goes back inside the cheese.
Music box (it's a gift box that I've decorate) and in the box I have the
names of songs. The kids pass the box around while we sing a song and when
we stop whoever has the box opens it up and picks the next song.
"I CAN" can (it had those words pasted on it) for when the children were
tired of learning songs. It had slips of paper with the names of the songs
the children already knew. It was our 'first aid' kit to get rid of that
'having to learn' feeling.
Vocal exercises (anything you've done in an adult choir that is meant to
improve blend, or attention to dynamics, or breath support is great.
Choir books made for my seniors because we did all 4 verses of the Spirit
of God in our program. Just a piece of construction paper with a copy of
the song stapled inside it. I figure that if the ward choir can't do
anything memorized, why should the primary have to do everything
memorized.
Floral hat and as we reviewed a song we were learning, told them that
whichever class sang the best, I would have their teacher come up and
model the hat while we sang the song again.
Sing-o-meter that measures how well they are singing, and they like to see
the arrow move and make it to fantastic during the song.
"Never louder than Lovely*. The kids sing loudly (but reverently. The kids
know what it means and it is easy for them to remember.
Instruments Our kids love accompanying their singing with whatever rhythm
chances I can come up with (many learned here, thank you)We are a large
Primary, so only a few get a turn at time:
jingle type bells strung together
2 wooden blocks tapped together
2 pencils clicked together
lead the rhythm with fabric scarves
lead the rhythm with a pencil
film canisters with beans inside shaken to the rhythm
I usually only have them use 1 or 2 kinds of sound at at time so it
doesn't sound chaotic. Of course I try to get them to follow the rhythm of
the song.
Top Ten: we've gone into RS and Priesthood to sing the top song for them,
and then we post the poster at the church exit so all could see it. People
love to see where their "favorite" ended up.
Sent a form around to each of the adults in the ward to list their
favorite Primary song and a short explanation as to why. I would read the
explanation and the children would have to guess who it was who had wrote
it. On Mother's Day we used the forms from the mothers; on Father's Day we
used the forms from the fathers... Often I would pull the form of the
parents who were visiting to help children with talks and
prayers. And we always sang the bishop's favorite when he came to visit.
It was great fun and the children loved finding out all the grown-ups'
favorite songs.
"Trivial Pursuit" game, where I would write up trivial clues similar to
scripture chase clues, and the children would have to guess the song
and/or the specific line in the song that gave the answer.
Brown bag filled with some small pictures in my primary bag (i got the
pictures from an old friend magazine)--I never take it out--it is my
"emergency activity." Any activity would work, I just chose this one
because it is small and doesn't weigh a lot or take up a lot of space in
my bag. If I end up finishing my activity early in primary (which has yet
to happen! Lol) then I would take this bag out, have them pull out a
picture (there are pictures like sacrament meeting, B of M, Jesus, temple,
etc.) and have them tell me a song we could sing that matches the
picture--if they can't think of one (jrs have a harder time with that)
then I let them pull the picture, and the first song that comes to my head
that matches the picture is what we will sing.
Brother Potatohead*put parts on to Bro. Potatohead*each part has a
matching song/phrase that makes up a member of the church.
Body*I Like My Birthdays, pg. 104 (Baptized a member of the church)
Eyes*Search, Ponder, and Pray, pg. 109 (Read Scriptures)
Ears*Stand For the Right, pg. (Listen to what the prophet says and do it!)
Nose*The Lord Gave Me a Temple, pg. 153 (Our body is a blessing from
God*we need to take care of it!)
Mouth*When We're Helping, pg. 198 (When we do what is right, we are happy
and kind to others)
Feet*I Hope They Call Me on a Mission, pg. 169 (Service to others and
Missionary Work)/Trying to Be Like Jesus, pg. 78 (Follow Christ's Example)
Arms*I Pray in Faith, pg. 14 (Fold our arms and pray)
Yellow posterboard (golden plates) and make a "Book of Mormon Stories"
with each page we will tell a quick story and sing a song that fits that
person or story, the first page I will have a
picture of Nephi - and the scripture in 1 Nephi 3:7 and then below that it
will say Nephi's Courage, the next page will have a picture of Enos and it
will say "If With All Your Hearts", then we will have King Benjamin and
probably "I Will Be Valiant", then a picture of Alma and then we'll sing
the Alma verse of Book of Mormon Stories, then a picture of the stripling
warriors and the song "We'll Bring The World His Truth", then a picture of
Samuel and the song "Samuel
Tells of the Baby Jesus", then a picture of Jesus with the Nephites and
the song "Easter Hosanna" and then a picture of Joseph Smith and the song
"An Angel Came to Joseph Smith". I might also add a picture of Ammon and
do that verse in the Book of Mormon stories and I love "Had I Been a
Child" so I might use two pictures of Jesus visiting the Nephites and do
that song too. You could make this short by not going into the stories and
not doing a whole lot of songs - or you can stretch this out by telling
the stories.
Unscramble the words to a line from a song we have learned this year.
Raise your hand when you have figured out one of the songs. Now come up
and lead us as we sing that song.
Huge apple (out of poster board) in front with a worm (your hand in a pink
sock) and have the worm poke his head out when the sing well and know the
words and then poke his head in when they miss or are unsure of a word.
Then stop review that part, have the worm appear happy and continue on.
"Clues" about the songs * clues that were simular to the clues used in
scripture chase- the clues would be doctrinal in nature so I was making
sure the children were learning what the song
was teaching. When a child guessed which song it was about, I then let
them choose which class got to sing the song to everyone else. (I would
make sure one or two classes did not get picked on more than the
others.) Being able to choose which class was to sing it kept everyone
involved as they all wanted to make the other classes sing.
Tape recorder review. I recorded the children singing (they loved that!)
and then I played it back for them. I asked them some questions like; What
things were good?; What things needed improvement?; Then we would sing it
again and record it. Were there improvements made?; Did you know the words
better? Then we would talk about distractions, both ones you could hear
and visual ones. I always remind the kids that these songs are prayers to
our Heavenly Father.
Judging numbers make them around the half of a page of cardstock size.
Iset my page layout to horizontal so I could fit 2 to a page. I made some
real simple borders to frame the numbers and then made the numbers large
enough to almost fill the entire space. Then I printed them off onto
cardstock, cut the pages in half and laminated them. I used a double hole
punch in the top of each page and then put a loose leaf binder ring into
each hole. This made it so I could flip the numbers easily. I was able to
hold it with one hand and lead with the other. I pretty much held it up
and changed the numbers from 8-9-10,
occasionally a 7, depending on how the kids were singing the song. They
would begin to "slip" and get softer if I left it on the 9 for too long! I
also had the numbers on different colors of cardstock so that if they
couldn't see the numbers, they knew they needed to get to the red color
because then they were "Hot". The 9 & 10 were that color. The 7 & 8 were
an orange color, the 5 & 6 were yellow and then 1 to 4 were blue...meaning
really cold!
Judges Then I had two presidency members and one teacher (the third
presidency member had to cancel on me last minute!!!) sit in the front and
be my judges! I told the children what they were being judged on (and had
it posted on the blackboard) (volume, melody, words, reverence during
songs, reverence in between songs, how well they stand up together, if
they are watching me) and divided the things being judged (volume etc)
among the judges. so they each had about 3 or 4 things they were judging.
I made the judges each a big flipbook of the numbers 1-10 and they used
those to rate the kids!
I told the kids that if they got to a certain number of points in these
two weeks that we would do some sort of treat.
The kids haven't sung this well in a VERY long time!! They were great!
They were all watching me and singing loud and even the kids who never
sing were singing!! (even my troublemakers!!) The presidency was right up
front and kept the kids in line.
When they gave the kids a score for the song...they explained why they got
the score (i.e. I gave you a 8 because some of you were not singing...)
the judges were good and hard on them but it made the kids sing really
well!!
So I will do this next week and give them the treat...and then I will tell
them that during the program I will be judging the same things! And if the
earn so many points during the program then they will get another treat! I
am thinking about making temple cookies!! And then instead of singing time
I will just let them eat cookies and socialize.
Name that tune, I had a poster with fall leaves on it and different songs
listed on the back. But anything like that would work. When they choose a
leaf, the pianist play just the top hand. She played four notes. If they
could not guess it, then she played 5 notes. She played from any where in
the song so it made it harder.
I have done this a few different ways. Sometimes I have them throw a Koosh
ball into a bucket and they can stand from a really close line good for 1
note, a medium distance line for 2 notes and a further away line good for
3 notes. I let them have 2 tries so they could get as many as 6 notes.
I have also given them a clue with a phrase from the song or info. about
the song and then let them bid on how many notes they thought they could
guess it - if they got it right good, if they didn't than the rest of the
kids could hear the song until they could guess it
Another fun way to do a tune guessing game is to have them wear a headband
or hat then have names of songs with velcro (it will stick to one of those
terry headbands)on the backs of the song cards. You put a card on their
forehead/hat and the primary kids give them clues or you can do it like 20
questions where the person with the hat asks yes or no questions and tries
to figure out what song he's wearing.
I would have a short description of what the song was about, or a trivia
question about the song (I'd already given them the information in an
earlier Singing Time), or an historical description of the song (again,
I'd have already told them the answers in previous Singing Times). The
kids would be able to tell me how many note they would need to guess, and
the pianist would play that many notes. After they guessed the song we
would sing it.
I did this at Christmas time, and I had a big poster of a christmas tree,
and whoever guessed the right answer got to put a decoration on the tree.
The class that guessed the most correct answers got to put
the star on the tree. Because we were doing just Christmas songs, I used
the book "Our Latter-Day Hymns: the Stories and the Messages" for most of
my clues, and we stuck with the Christmas songs in the
hymnal or in the Children's Songbook.
I have also done it with the songs we were learning for the Primary
Presentation. That time I had easy doctrinal statements about what the
song was teaching us. I knew the kids were really tired of the songs (this
was the month before the presentation), so I had a drawing of ME on
posterboard, and as the kids guessed right, they put pieces of a cloth to
cover up my mouth (on the picture). My primary president
giggled over it too much to tell me I shouldn't have used a picture of me,
but it releived a lot of tension in the kids to be able to a grown-up
Primary worker to hush up about the songs they were tired of.
"Top ten" countdown. I don't know when your program is because this idea
requires a little prep time. What I did was go through the Children's
Songbook and make a list of all the songs the kids know. Then I
photocopied the page and had each child go through and choose their top
ten songs, with a star by the top three. Then I tallied the votes and on
the day of the program we did a countdown, from the 10th most popular to
the 1st.
Quick draw
Count Your Blessings!
Cut out several sets of numbers 0-9 as needed. Color them the Primary
colors. Laminate if desired. Place these numbers onto a flannelboard in
different combinations, ie: 321, 84,6,1, 5086, 67, 38, 47, 17, 9,23,
602,etc...
Prepare a song title poster for each of the 6 songs you choose to sing
from the suggestions below. to begin the singing time activity, tell the
children that you are thinking of a special hymn that will be the last
song you sing during singing time. Tell them that you will give them clues
to help them guess which hymn you are thinking of. Tell them you do not
want them to say their guesses out loud but you will tell them when you
want them to raise their hands if they think they know what hymn is the
correct answer. Place the flannel board where all the children can see it
and tell them that this is their first clue. Then post each song title on
the flannelboard as the children sing it. Remind the kids you are looking
for one hymn that has to do with numbers and with the songs you are
singing. If necessary give more verbal clues. When all of the songs have
been sung, ask the children what hymn all of these clues have led to. The
answer is:
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS HB 241.
Song suggestions:
My Heavenly Father Loves Me CS 228
All Things Bright & Beautiful CS 231
Jesus Once was a Little Child CS 55
I Feel My Savior's Love CS 74
A Happy Family CS 198 or Families Can Be Together Forever CS 188
For Health & Strength CS 21
I Want to Live the Gospel CS 148 or The Church of Jesus Christ CS 77
Our Primary Colors CS 258
Christmas in July. Helps keep the songs in their minds. I come in wearing
a scarf, mittens, cap and the kids love it.
Roller box to teach a song.I took pictures from old primary lesson manuals
of the things mentioned in the song and glued them on a long sheet of
butcher paper with the words beside or below the picture. Then the kids or
myself crank the dowel to turn the picture. It's great. I took the time to
make a nice box and have used it for several other songs. They love the
moving pictures.
Make a book. Cut posterboards in half and join the pages with metal rings.
Use pictures or flannel board figures with the words or key words. You
could also put the first verse on 1/2 a piece of posterboard and then
connect it to the top of a whole posterboard that has the second verse on
the top 1/2 and the chorus on the bottom 1/2 that way if you connect the
two you can see the chorus for the first verse and then flip the first
verse over so that the second verse and chorus are visible. I did this for
when I taught 'Families Can Be Together Forever'it worked great. I
connected the two boards with 2 metal rings.
Primary Squares with my kids. I did it like Hollywood Squares- I ask the
children a question and if they answered correctly they could place an X
or O on the board( I used pilgrims and turkeys instead of X's and O's but
you can substitute anything). If they got the question wrong, the other
team got a chance to answer and place their piece. Hope this helps.
Gratitude word game
G =Give said the little stream (I'm small I know but wherever I go)
R = choose the Right way (I am learning the teachings of Jesus)
A = dAre to do right (you have a work that no other can do)
T = my counTry (it's here where my home and my loved ones are found)
I = nephI's Courage (laughing and mocking they said he shouln't try)
T = i Think the world is glorious (the birds and bees and blossoms...)
U = the church of jesUs christ (I'll follow him in faith)
D = holD to the rod ('tis strong and bright and true)
E = childrEn all over the world (he understands each tongue)
Have your pianist play a song and for thanksgiving I'm going to have the
kids listen
to the song and figure the thing the song talks about that we should be
thankful for. So for instance if she plays Book of Mormon Stories - then
the answer would be Book of Mormon or if she played Head Shoulders Knees
and Toes - Our Bodies, or if she played Latter-day Prophets - Pres.
Hinckley, or if she played I love to See the Temple - temples, or Daddy's
Homecoming - dads. etc. I think it sounds like fun. It also is a different
way of doing name that tune only I guess you could call it name that thing
to be thankful for.
Mr. Slinky is a little slinky that you use and the kids have to watch you.
As you make the slinky longer, they sing louder, as your make it shorter,
they sing softer.
Happy Singing Pills (Skittles) in a bowl and halfway through when they
started to get restless, I had a member of the presidency pass them around
and let each child who was singing well take two "pills." They got
excited, it wasn't messy, and it was a nice break.
HUGE board game out of different colored pieces of paper. I made one long
stretch of the game down the center isle and at the end the game board
split and went in two different directions. On each of the game pieces I
had mostly songs to review. but on some of them I put "roll again" "go
back 1 space" and on one I even put "practice standing up!"
I made one large die (singular for dice??) and only put 1, 2, and 3 on
it(so they wouldn't get too far too fast!!) (I had about 38 game pieces in
all...but if they were getting all 6's and 5's they would have been done
with the game in two turns!!!)
Pin the Note on the Song (a big target looking thing, divided by colors
and numbers--found the idea on a website--where they pinned notes on it
while blind folded to pick what song to
sing).
Wiggle Worm Songs I then went through the CSB and chose songs that would
be great to sing when the children get the wiggles. I typed those up and
copied them onto 4 different colors of bright cardstock--each song is only
in the jar once, though. I then cut the song names into strips, rounded
the ends, drew smiley faces on one end and then crinkle folded them and
put them in the jar. It turned out really cute. I will give my pianist a
list of the songs in the jar so that she can be prepared to play them
whenever we need it.
Ice cream sundaes: keeping the Sabbath day holy. Add things that don't go
on a "Sundae" (i.e.. pickles, mustard, ketchup). And then things that do
go on a "Sundae" (hot fudge, whip cream, etc). We will have already
prepared some small sundaes for the kids for the end of the sharing time.
This way, we can share a treat with the kids for doing well on the program
as well as take care of a sharing time message.
If you can hear put your hand on*.. game to get them ready for closing
Exercises, but I used these actions, saying no words, playing no music,
just singing in my mind and doing the actions, They caught on a eventually
had them all doing the actions as the seniors didn*t know them then, then
they caught on and started to sing the words.
Missionary game. I brought various items, including name tags, clothing
and scriptures to primary. I picked one child from each side of the room
and made 2 teams. Each child represented their team. Then we would sing
various songs for both the program and some fun ones like "I hope they
call me on a mission". The team that sang the best got to 'dress' their
missionary then the team that had their missionary dressed the most when
time was out won. I didn't do anything for the winning team just said
congrats. Throughout the entire time we talked a bit about things
missionaries can do to prepare and most of the songs related to
missionaries, ie Latterday prophets, Spirit of God, ummm not sure what
else and I threw my list away.
Special Singing Tie We had the bishop come in to hear Jr. Primary sing all
9 songs. I had him sit in the front facing the children and put a very
ugly tie on him which we cut as we sang. The children really enjoyed it
and we ended up with a good assessment of each song (the Primary Pres.
kept a scoreboard) and a tie in ribbons!
Also, we were trying to get them to sing louder, so I made previous
arrangements the 2nd counselor in the bishopric and I bought a tie from
the DI for $1 and gave it to him before primary started. He then came in
as sharing time started. After they sang the first song, I brought out my
scissors and said I was going to do something I had wanted to do for a
long time. I am going to cut someone's tie. A kid quickly took his off and
hid it, scared I was going to cut his tie. But I went to the back and cut
the counselor's tie. Then I had him come up to the front and he hammed it
up good. If they didn't sing as loud or if they didn't all sing, I did not
cut the tie. He wiped his forehead and said thanks. After that, the kids
all sang very well. They wanted to see his tie cut. I had the whole
sharing time when I did this. We went over all the program songs and they
made a lot of progress.
Get the bugs out idea with the gummy worms for the past two weeks as we
had our final rehearsals. The children all loved eating the gummy worms at
the end of rehearsal. I put several large paper insects on the bulletin
board. Each insect had the name of a program song on the back. I asked the
kids if they knew what it meant to "get the bugs out" of something. They
understood that this meant we were going to fix any little things that
were wrong with something. Then I told them that although we know all the
program songs, today we were going to "get the bugs out". I told them of
four areas that we would be working on:
1. words (fix any word problems)
2. sing (make sure everyone was singing in their best voices)
3. watch and follow...I told them they must glue their eyes to me as soon
as they heard the piano intro. We practiced doing this a few times. We
also practiced standing up and sitting down.
4. Reverence (no talking...arms folded...feet quiet) The children chose a
bug and we sang the song on the back. I reminded them of the four things I
was looking for. If they did the song correctly then we got to put that
"bug" into a big jar. If not, we left it on the bulletin board to work on
some more. The junior boys especially liked this.
get the bugs out - only I used worms. I made a poster that had a tree on
it. Then I die-cut apples and I glued 2 together except for the top and I
filled the apples with a couple of gummi worms. If they sang the song that
was on the apple program perfect we took the worms out and at the end of
singing time I gave them each a worm. I then told them that if they sang
really super duper spectacularly then I would eat a real worm.
Today, I brought all of my children's ample supply of plastic insects and
told the children that now that we had all of the bugs out, we were going
to play with them for a while. I got the idea from a birthday party type
booklet to have the children take turns standing on a chair and dropping
insects down into a small tin or wide mouth canning jar.
I gave the child 5 bugs to drop and for each bug that made it into the
tin, I counted that many more children along the row to determine which
child would come up to choose our next song.
I had made up a poster size maze with bugs placed liberally around in the
labrynth. At each point in the maze where a choice of direction had to be
made, I placed a large number. I had also previously prepared a list of
all of their favorite songs and assigned each one to a particular choice
point and option along the way. Example: Choice point #1 had the
possibility of going right or left. Choice point 2 had the choice of going
right, down, or back where they came from, etc.
For the Junior Primary, the selected child came up and chose the direction
that we would take from each choice point. We then sang the song
associated with that choice. For the Senior Primary, I made it much
harder. They got to a choice point and then I gave them the list of songs
[for that particular choice point] to choose from but did not tell them
which direction their choice would take them. ... We had such a blast. The
Senior Primary particularly got into the dropping of the bugs.
Million Blessings
|
"Choose
you this day
whom ye will
serve
but for me
and my
house we will
serve the Lord "
