Memorial Day is this Sunday. I found some coloring pages of military men, all 5 branches of the military’s special seals and other patriotic symbols in blackline master format for copying. It would be fun to shrink them to 2 on a page and hand out one for each child as they come into primary or leave primary on Sunday.
The link is HERE for the blackline masters.
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| In honor of all our Veterans and relatives we’ve lost in wars and those still serving, let’s do a …..pop the red, white, and blue balloon singing time!!! I’ll write the song numbers on small slips of paper and roll them up into a thin tube and slip it inside the balloons and then blow them all up.  |
Then when I get to church I use some masking tape and tape the 6 or 7 balloons up onto the chalkboard that we have in our primary. It is on wheels. Then when it is time for singing, I pick a name from one of our sticks and they get to come pop a ballooon! And then we get to sing that song.
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| If you’re happy and you know it then your face will surely show it! |
Always try to include just some action songs, so they can stand up and get their wiggles out halfway through singing! I chose to do “If You’re Happy and You Know It.
On of my favorite websites to peruse Saturday night for ideas for Sunday singing is Sugar Doodle. They always have a flipchart to copy on the new song, or organization ideas. Or just the songs themselves are listed in ABC order to listen to and learn. Link is HERE.
Long time ago I made a fun little singing helper named LESTER. He is a wild faced little singer who’s tongue goes up and down as the kids sing better. It’s just something to keep them engaged, more or less. It is easy to make one of these.
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| The red tongue (red ribbon sewn to the white) goes up as you pull from the back….too funny! |
I just used poster board and a clip art of a wide open mouth. You could also do one with a flower that grows, a rocket that takes off, a temperature that rises, the ideas are limitless. Just use your imagination.
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| I would also bring some FLAGS to put up somewhere in my display with the red white and blue balloons for Memorial Day Primary Singing Time. |
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| Use RED, WHITE, AND BLUE BALLOONS THIS MEMORIAL DAY IN PRIMARY! |
Here are a few examples of what you could make on the poster board. For Lester I used just some red fur for his head. This would have been even cuter as a clown now that I think about it. The nose could have been a big, round red one and the clown eyes could have been, you know some big Xs. Oh, well, maybe next month for that idea. 
You just need a slit cut at the top of his mouth and at the bottom with an Xacto Knife. Then use red ribbon sewn onto white ribbon into a loop shape. Then feed it into both his bottom and top mouth and attach the pieces together a bit loosely and sew it carefully with a slip stitch. Then decorate the head of the clown, or Lester, or a rocket or whatever, with colorful markers.
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| This is a fun way to get kids to sing in Primary Singing Time. |
Here is another one with the spider that climbs towards the flower as you pull the string up and down from the back. It’s a little less wierd looking than Lester but the kids, for some reason, love LESTER! Hmmm…:D
When the kids all sing you can have the red ribbon or the spider creep slowly higher and higher as they sing to encourage strong, clear singing! It’s a lot of fun to make and to use and I probably bring one type of these out every 2 months or so just for fun.
Recap:
1. Rocket with the red strip being the fire and rocket fuel pushing the rocket to blast off.
2. A thermometer can have funny sayings on the side like: Gettin warmed up, RED HOT SINGING! Come on! Don’t cool DOWN! Something like that.
3. A Clown or Frog or Face with the red tongue coming up and up and up as singing improves! Have fun with it! (I was just thinking the balloons and the clown might go nicely hand in hand if you choose to do this one!!!) The frog could have a little fly on the end of his red tongue that goes up, that would be cute.
4. Flower can have a green stem (that grows and grows and grows) as they sing better.
5. A car or train moving up a steep hill.
In some of these ideas you would attach the rocket or flower or train to a strip of color and that would move up and down as you pulled it down or up from the back. Be creative! Use colored scrapbook paper with some cute designs or images on it if you are not an artist. Google your shape of choice, ie. train blacklines free, and then click on “images” at the top left side of the screen and see what comes up!
Have fun with your chorister calling! Remember, if the kids AND you are having fun AND learning, you are doing a good job. Pattie