Today I think a very fun activity is to play “CUT THE BISHOP’S TIE!” . There is usually a time in your month when the Bishop or a member of the Bishopric is scheduled to come into your primary to give a message and visit with the kids. Find out which week that is ahead of time and you can do something really fun, if he will agree to stick around for 10 minutes of your music time. That’s usually all I will do this particular activity for.
The next thing you need is a couple of your husband’s or dad’s or somebody’s old ties. Because you are going to cut them up and pretty much destroy them. So be sure they are ties with a spot or two on them. Then you call the bishop or the counselor up and you tell the kids you are going to cut his tie as they sing and do a really, really good job on the song. If you have words to the songs, or a flipchart, unhook it and give a phrase to each class in the room. Then get a really big pair of scissors, you are gonna have FUN WITH THIS!
 |
| My husband donated lots of ties over the years…. |
He’s our bishop.
He finds time to talk to me;
He’s our bishop.
Always kindly words he’ll say
To the children ev’ry day.
Let us help him ev’ry way;
He’s our bishop.
He’s our bishop.
He’s the father of our ward;
He’s our bishop.
He helps us to do the right
In our Heav’nly Father’s sight.
We love him with all our might;
He’s our bishop.
So then start singing the song. The kids know if they do a good job you are going to cut the bishop’s tie. Do it however you want, you can wait till the verse is over and then have a funny little chat asking the bishop if he thinks it was good enough? He can play along and say, no, not really, let’s hear it again. Or he can say, “Well it was okay, maybe good enough for one little snip!” and then go ahead and cut one inch off the bottom of his tie. The kids will absolutely LOVE this. It is so fun for them to see the bishop as a playful, loving guy, willing to come in and interact with them in a memorable way too.
I won’t take credit for this but I saw one of our music leaders do this and the children loved it. We took photos of our Bishop acting out the song. Around the time the music leader wanted to teach it, our Bishop was re-shingling his roof. His wife had a photo of him and his daughter (who was in Primary at the time) on the roof. We used that for “Busy as a man can be”. Then we posed him at the front of the Primary as if giving a bishopric message for “He takes time to talk to me”. We had photos of him doing follow the leader and the whole bishopric among other poses for different phrases. (Shared by Lisa in Murray, UT / Primary Music Yahoo Group) |
| CUT THE BISHOP’S TIE! |
Then go and do a few more tries on the most important song you are working on. Then you can end his time with you with the song “He’s Our Bishop”, just run through it once and cut the tie all the way up to the top on that one. It is a really fun activity to do once in awhile, maybe twice a year. Be sure it is another member of the bishopric next time, so the same relationship can be developed with a different member of your ward’s leadership. It’s always a fun singing time activity to motivate kids to sing their best.