Month: July 2014

August Primary Singing Time

Most choristers are getting ready for the primary presentation coming up.  I always started to add my musical instruments about now. I always had a few instruments as accompaniments to the song. It adds so much.

I love this little trio of cuties…..my 3 oldest granddaughters; apples of my eye!

I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!  ALWAYS
add some funny songs into your weekly list. 

One idea is to use the older kids who can play the violin. I had 2 girls a few years ago that played alongside an easy, repetitive chorus of one of the presentation songs.

Most years I have used resonator bells to accompany a song. I love the wood block bells and they sound delightful tinkling in the background. You can use other types of bells too.

First Note 15 Note Wood Xylophone  
 One I recommend is a xylophone set for $20 bucks. The tones of these bells is very crisp and rises above the piano AND the singing. And you can get a child who has some piano lessons in his/her background to play a simple rythm or several children to do chords to add to the chorus of a song. The link is HERE for Musician’s Friend, where I bought mine.  The kids LOVE them. they have many other types of bells to choose from for around $25.00.
Rhythm Band RB2130 Plastic Resonator Bells  
Another thing to start is maybe a song with sign language. I tried to do this every other year. It is so moving to watch young kids sign a song. Love One Another has signs in the songbook.

Another instrument I’ve used in the past is a flutist. I don’t care if it is an adult or a primary child, it always adds to the meeting.


And lastly, I will add some solos and trios or duets.  Many songs have a harder 2nd or 3rd verse that the kids do not really master in time. If that is the case in your primary, then add an older group of boys  or girls or a mix to trio the 2nd verse.


It especially has worked well in missionary type songs. It just brings such a sweet spirit to the song lyrics to have individual kids sing them at the microphone.
Anyway, add some special things to your program this month, so you have time to practice and perfect the special musical touches. Happy Summertime!

http://feeds.feedburner.com/PattiesPrimaryPlace

July Primary Singing Time Mustaches and Games

Here Mr. Moss is at the Pioneer Day Parade floats. The hub’s face says it all (why does my wife make me take these dorky pictures with giant pioneer people? why!) haha.

Here we are at the Pioneer Day Floats after they went out to the Pioneer Day Parade on State Street in Salt Lake City. It was fun to tour around and see them all up close. These Pioneers were funny.

A really FUN idea for practicing those songs again and again to get ready for the Primary Presentation is to get kids to SING with all their hearts! Here are some GIANT ears to get your kiddos to SING LOUDER!!!
HERE at Delta’s Dazzling Costumes are some BIG EARS to use for the game “I CAN’T HEAR YOU SINGING!  They are $6.00. Another set I found HERE at Oriental Trading.

Put your ears on and walk around tapping the shoulders of kids who are singing their hearts out. It would be a lot of fun to wear these ears and walk around resinging songs and getting kids to chuckle while practicing some of the songs for the presentation coming up. Who doesn’t like a little comic relief? I DOO !
large-ears

Another fun thing to do would be to make up a set of mustaches on a stick. Have the kids come up and pick a mustache to use to direct the song or else just to wear and sing with you up in front. Behind each mustache can be the song to sing after they choose one. FUN! And wouldn’t they LOVE to take one home? You can get skewers (100 of them) at the dollar store to attach to.
Free mustache printable

HERE on Pinterest  are some  printables for mustaches to cut out. Just put them on wooden skewers or popsicle sticks. Or just cut out the shapes from black construction paper if you don’t want to print them out and use up your toner. Have fun RESINGING!

http://feeds.feedburner.com/PattiesPrimaryPlace

Pioneer Day Singing Time Cake Walk with Pioneer Children

Well Pioneer Day is this week, so I was thinking of some fun things you could do!  I found a cute thing I still think would be fun for next week. The kids will do something with their families on Pioneer Day if they live in the U.S. We always celebrated it when our kids were growing up in California. If they live in Utah for SURE they will celebrate with a rodeo or a parade or something fun like that.

Here is a cute Pioneer Day color and glue ACTIVITY page to send home for the kids to color and cut out and fill the handcart. It is found  HERE at Squigglebop.

Anywho…..a fun idea I got from Camillesprimaryideas.com was to use the little tone bells and have some of the older kids come up and play to her color chart while you sing
l. LITTLE PIONEER CHILDREN using this flipchart HERE for the words. Check out my blog a few years ago when we did a PIE Chart for PIE-O-Neers HERE.

Pioneer Day Singing Time Fun 

Then dress up in a pioneer hat and apron and bring 3 kids up at a time to do the bells while you sing. Her color chart where she uses a pointer and points to the color so the child with the corresponding bell can play it is HERE. Just copy this chart. Or if you are like me and don’t want to use up all your color copy ink, then just draw circles and color them in with markers the corrsponding colors.

Pioneer Day Singing Time…..Check these TONE BELLS out on my store or HERE at Educational Aides.

2. PIONEER CHILDREN SANG AS THEY WALKED 

Another cute idea was to do PIONEER CHILDREN SANG AS THEY WALKED. You could do a footprint cakewalk. HERE is a link  to some PRINTABLE SHOEPRINTS for the cake walk. You just start the music, kids get up (maybe a few classes at a time) and you have set out all the footprints (maybe 25 of them) in a circle around the outside of the room. They walk around as you all sing. Then the music stops. YOU pick a number between 1 and 25 and that person can have a pioneer treat of some sort (cookie, salt water taffy, lollypop or cupcake or mini Hershey’s candy bar wrapped in Pioneer saying etc.) It is fun and a good way to rehearse songs over and over that just need practice.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/PattiesPrimaryPlace