November 2015 – Pattie's Primary Place

I have always done some Christmas songs and performed them in Sacrament meeting when I was a primary chorister during all 4 times I have had the calling. Christmas music brings the spirit into the meeting every single time it is sung. But to have little children singing songs of the Savior’s birth, well, that adds a special feeling all its own. And you can use some pretty tone bells, or get one of the kids to play their violin in a simple way. These things add so much to the meeting.

Or you could Borrow a few resonator bells from your neighborhood elementary school for the older kids to chime to the beat. It will add a lot to the songs to have bells chiming, especially during the song Christmas Bells are Ringing, one of my favorites.

Christmas Bells are Ringing Flipchart at Sugardoodle!

Or you can buy one of these xylophones that are a total STEAL at $20 bucks. I have used these for years in my classroom and primary presentations AND school musical productions. They are very high quality and pretty tough even with all the kid use they’ve gotten. I love them and have 3 of them. I highly recommend them. They come in a cool case with 2 little mallets.

I use both of these types of musical instruments in my classroom and I used them often as a chorister. The kids LOVED to come up and use the mallets and keep percussion during singing time.

I just wanted to share that I found a bunch of my relatives on Family Search.com and my hubs and I went to the Draper, Utah temple and did baptisms for them. It was neat to have my hubs baptize me and do the confirmations too. I loved being there.

We both used to be temple ordinance workers for 3 years when that temple first opened and before that were ordinance workers at the Jordan River Temple. I miss it. There is no place like being in that peaceful, otherworldly place.

It is always fun to have the children singing in sacrament meeting sometime in December. You can choose easy songs to teach so they memorize them quickly. I loved to do CHRISTMAS BELLS ARE RINGING and AWAY IN A MANGER because they were both so easy to learn.

Picture a Christmas Song When Joseph Went to Bethlehem Song

But I’ve also done PICTURE A CHRISTMAS and WHEN JOSEPH WENT TO BETHLEHEM too. It’s not too late! Do a Christmas number. The parents love it and it special music always adds to the spirit of the meeting.

“You are called of God. The Lord knows you. He knows whom He would have serve in every position in His Church. He chose you. He has prepared a way so that He could issue your call.You are called to represent the Savior. Your voice to testify becomes the same as His voice, your hands to lift the same as His hands. His work is to bless His Father’s spirit children with the opportunity to choose eternal life. So, your calling is to bless lives.There will be times when you will feel overwhelmed. One of the ways you will be attacked is with the feeling that you are inadequate. But you have access to more than your natural capacities, and you do not work alone. The Lord will magnify what you say and what you do in the eyes of the people you serve.”

Pres. Eyring

This is why Pres. Eyering is my very favorite. He was my Ricks College President back in the day when I was in my very first year of college. That was a long time ago!!. He was so kind and loving then and he is just as nice now.

If you ever feel overwhelmed or inadequate in your calling, come back and read this again. It simply makes me feel joyful. So for December Primary Singing Time, sing songs that make you joyful!

Enjoy the beautiful music of Christmas this December. And enjoy getting ready for the holidays.

Our family Nativity a few years ago at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. HERE is a copy of my Program that we do. Remember the reason for the season amidst all the shopping and gift giving. He gave us the greatest gift of all, his life and Atonement. Enjoy the beautiful music of Christmas this month.It is fun to get the adults involved in the nativities too. December Primary Singing Time. Remember the joy of Christmas music and to include some familiar songs into your teaching this month.

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I have been a teacher for 22 years in 1st and 2nd grades and kindergarten. I always peruse the artsy blogs for cute art projects for young kids to make. I absolutely fell in LOVE with this one. It is coloring pages for a children’s nativity! What a great fun thing to do one of the Sundays for Primary Sharing Time Christmas Nativities! The one I would print out for the kids is
HERE which is the K-5 Nativity Coloring Page on the bottom right of the website.

It would be sort of messy to do watercolors like I’m planning to do in my classroom. But you could get boxes of crayons and have kids color them on their chairs. Then tell them that when they get home they can cover a shoebox with brown paper and use it placed sideways so the opening is facing you and make the manger.

Then they could cut up newspapers or yellow paper for the hay on the bottom of the manger. Then tape on their individual little people for the Nativity set. They could glitter the star and some of the halos with parent’s help. Then they could cut out the quotes on either of the downloadable “cards” and place that somewhere above the nativity set.

This is a wooden Nativity set I got years ago when my kids were little. I bought it from Deseret Book. It was a good one to keep on a low table for the kids to play with, without danger of breaking off the head of a shepherd, which happened to almost all of my other Nativity sets. I still have a headless poor shepherd.

Nativity Printables from www.biblestoryprintables.com has this individual characters in the Christmas story you could copy and pass out. Or just the “scene” which can be found at their website HERE. They have cards too, these could be made for parents for a gift too. They say “Happy Birthday Jesus” on them. Any of these would be such a darling project for sharing time maybe after reading the Christmas story from Luke.Thanks Bible Story Printables! What a nice gift. Thanks for sharing!

Lindon, Utah Stringtown USA train ride at Christmas time. It is another one of our family traditions.

An outdoor Nativity scene in the snow in Lindon Utah. We take the little kiddie train every year in the Lindon Polar Express with the grandkids. It is a fun tradition if you live in the area. The website is HERE at Stringtown USA

These cards could be an activity to do with children on Christmas Eve or if you have a family gathering. Just use crayons or colored pencils and you have a time consuming activity for kids so that parents can sit and visit.

My two oldest granddaughters a few years ago playing shepherds in our family nativity. I made up a downloadable Luke 2 readings and songs we do in our family for the Christmas Party. It is always a neat tradition. It is HERE. Enjoy!

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