Month: April 2012

Primary Mother’s DAY Singing!

I always LOVED it when the primary kids would sing to us, their moms, on Mother’s Day. I still have memories of one of my kids picking their nose right up in front of everybody. I was just filled with pride!  snicker….

Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival 2012

So I loved to plan the Mother’s Day singing so the children can get up in front of everyone and sing their hearts out. It is always so tender and memorable. And it brings the spirit into the meeting right away. And lots of sniffling too…..sniff….

I wish my garden looked anything like theirs….sooooo breathtakingly beautiful. 

Well, I truly was filled with pride last Friday attending the BYU  commencement ceremonies for one of my kiddos. Afterwards we had a family lunch at Texas Roadhouse and then me and the hubs stopped by Thanksgiving Point to see the Tulip Festival in full bloom.

Tulip Festival….Isn’t it something? So colorful! 

There were dozens of different gardens with different color combinations…

I loved this one a lot…I love Thanksgiving Point a lot too! 

A really easy one to teach is Mother I Love You, Mother I do….   It is sweet and easy and most of the kids can pick it up quickly.  Another one I love is I Often Go Walking in Meadows of Roses….both are my favorite Mother’s Day songs. But pick whichever one you like.

Then I saw this one….Purple and pinks 

Well, then I changed my mind and thought this one was the very favorite….. hmmm…..it’s all good. 

A cute activity to do for mother’s Day is Queen For a Day from THIS BLOG. She has many cute ideas.

She has a mom come up and sit in a chair (throne). And on her head she places a crown. Then she picks a child and has them come up and choose an item from a bag of things moms use all the time. And she explains why moms deserve to be Queen for a Day.  The list of items is from her website (Adventures of a Primary Chorister).

I still love being made QUEEN FOR A DAY!  



Have the child/teacher place the item on the “queen” and explain how the item relates to moms, then sing accordingly: 
• FRYING PAN-Moms cook and bake for us: sing like bacon- (sing staccato short and choppy, bob up and down on chairs as if they are a hot pan.
• BATH TOWEL-Mom’s do our laundry: do the twist while singing
• KEYS- Mom drives us wherever we need to go. Sometimes mom is in a hurry: Sing fast while driving
• BOOK-Mom reads us stories: sing through hand puppet
• JUMP ROPE- Moms tries to keep in shape: jogging or jumping invisible rope while singing
• POM-POMS- Mom goes to our games and cheers for us:clap hands to the beat
• COWBOY BOOT – Mom likes horses/helps on the farm:sing like a cowgirl/cowboy
• HEART PILLOW- Mom prays for us: sing reverently and softly with eyes closed
• SONG BOOK: Some moms play the piano, some don’t:sing without the piano
• BABY DOLL: Mom loves her children: sing like a baby
• CLOCK or WRISTWATCH- Mom stays up all night with sick children: Sing without blinking
• POWER DRILL-Mom helps solve problems and she can fix anything: pat head and rub tummy
• IPOD-Mom likes good music: sing with ears covered like headphones
• HANDKERCHIEF – Sometimes moms cry: cry sing
• SWIMMING GOGGLES- Mom takes us swimming: sing with nose plugged


You can sing all your program songs and fit in the Mother’s Day songs additionally. It should be a very fun activity leading up to Mother’s Day in a few weeks. Get on that because the time is short!  It’s a favorite performance for the Primary to do.  Everybody loves hearing them sing on Mom’s special day! 

I’ll always think of him this way…being silly…..He was such a sweet kid.

 I had a mom payback day  My 2nd son graduated from the Marriott Business School with his Masters Degree. Here he is in all his cap and gown glory.

Hard to believe he’s all grown up and starting his first job in Chicago….why do kids have to grow up and move away like that? Is that FAIR?  (no, it’s not!) 🙁


This Polynesian kid was really feelin’ the Family Love…wasn’t he?  I had to snap this pic. 

One of my favorite shots of the day…the 3 generations of men in my family….so cool.  



  It was such a great day.  Especially the part where they had the 500 plus grads stand if they had served a mission and literally almost all of those 500 kids stood in this big blue “whoosh!”. The whole sea of graduates then stood again when asked how many had learned a 2nd language.  It was breathtaking and very moving for anyone present.  

I did it mom!  Woo Hoo!  (I still remember him giving talks in primary and singing  a  primary song
duet with me in church.  Sniff…..sniff….)



  Love that boy!  Hope you all have a Happy Mothers Day coming up here real soon! One more thing….
It’s all worth it. 😀

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Primary Singing Time April “Which Class Sings Best?”

I would start working on a Mother’s Day Song this week. I usually chose “Mother Dear I Love You So” as it was so easy to learn for the kiddos. Then the other one would be a harder song. I have my favorites but whatever you choose will be heartfelt and darling, even if the kids don’t sing it perfectly. Moms will still be sobbing in the congregation, am I right? Yes I am.

Me and my littlest grandbaby on Easter Sunday….

One fun idea I had a while back was getting different classes to sing different lines of the songs. It is a good way to get them to learn fast because everyone will be listening to see if they get the words right. This will be so helpful as you lose so many kids that just can’t stay focused unless they are very involved in what’s going on.  So try this one of the weeks in April.

Each class sings a different line of the song.

After you introduce the new song and have sung it through a few times to your flipchart.  Then give each class one of the flipchart pages to practice as you sing the song for them along with the piano. When it gets to their part you can point to them and they will start to sing it along with you. Do this several times till you feel like each class is getting the song. And it is so fun to make a big deal of pointing to the class that is singing. They will crack up a little at first and then tentatively sing along.  Everybody gets into this fun activity.

Easter French Vanilla Cream Puffs I made….yummo….check them out  HERE.

The grandkids after the Easter egg hunting was over…..lotsa loot!  

Then have the kids classes do it by themselves while you go around and simply point to the class. They can read the words on the chart. It’s a lot of fun introducing things this way. And afterward you can decide which class sang the best and give them a little page of stickers to pass around and everybody put one on their shirt or dress. Kids LOVE stickers and will work hard for one.

The hubs and my oldest granddaughter…she LOVED all those Easter eggs….

Now a variation on this can be done next.  Have the first line people then sing along with the 2nd line people.  The best way to do this would be to have one person from each class come up in front holding the flipchart page. Then when it is their classe’s turn they hold it up high and sing along. Then they sing along with the one next to them going around till everyone is singing the last line.  Here is how it would look;

    Primary music is so much fun!
  • The first group to start singing on the first line of the song.
  • The second group joins in singing on the second line of the song.
  • The third group is to join in singing on the third line of the song.
  • The fourth group is to join in singing on the fourth line of the song.
  • If the song then has a chorus everyone will be singing together for the chorus.

Have fun this week!  Hopefully you have drafted out the program songs by now and made all the decisions.  I was released a while ago, but I would try to think at this point of musical instruments you could add, (flutes, violins, etc.) maybe a sign language addition to one of the songs, duets or trios you could have for 2nd verses, that adds a lot the the program. Spice it up a little bit now, while you have the time.  Good luck!

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