Well, everybody is probably getting close to doing their Primary Presentations this month. So it is a month of review, review review. Here are a few of my favorite ways to have kids practice songs over and over that don’t get them TOO awfully bored.
1. I use fun charts like this with the songs so they see the “spider walk up the flower” when they are singing really nicely!
| September Singing Time |
2. Have a child go out of the room and hide a small object like a button. When they come in start the song and sing loud if they get close to the button and sing softly when they get far away from the button. Kids will be able to find the button eventually depending on how the song is sung. (hopefully)
| Find the Button Game for September Singing Time |
3. Each class stands up and sings a line of the song. Assign each class to a line of the song in some kind of order so they know who is doing first line, 2nd line etc. Then just point to the class and they stand and sing on the proper point cue. It’s fun to go over songs fast this way.
4. If you use the flip chart method to teach the song, just put up a few of the flip charts and cover up several of the words in each chart so kids are singing lines by themselves. This is great practice.
5. Have some kids come up and hula hoop during the songs (maybe 3 kids and hoops) and as they wind down and drop the hoop they just freeze till the song is over. Then they go pick 3 more people to try and hula hoop to the end of the song. Some kids will actually be able to do it!
| Hula Hoop for Singing Time |
6. Choose a leader. They are like the pied piper. You can call them that if you want. They get to walk around the entire primary picking people as you sing the song to come along behind them and follow them. We used to do this for Follow the Prophet, but I’ve done it since with any song I like. The kids love it and it is fun for them to watch the circle of kids walking round and round while they are singing.
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| Using Musical Instruments for Singing Time |
7. Bring in musical percussion instruments and have kids play while you sing. They can keep the beat. Bells, drums, chimes, anything that clicks and clacks or keeps a beat, tambourines, bongos. etc.
Have fun practicing for your Primary Presentation!
I love your site. Great ideas.
I have to share what we did today b/c it went so well. I wanted to practice having them stand and sit on signal, but wanted to make it fun.
So, I taught them some military hand signals/ marshalling signals. (Ex. Pump your fist twice for "double-time"/run. Fist up for "halt". For aircraft, cross your arms w/ fists for stop, raise hands palm up for helicopter to take off, down to land.) They liked doing these.
Then I explained that I can't talk during sacrament, so I will signal them.
Kids dressed in army hat, dog tags, army shirt, etc. and took turns watching how well the troops followed my signals, stood, and sang.
We did some program songs, but also did some march in place songs like Nephi's courage.
We ended w/ "If the Savior Stood beside Me" and my testimony that they can have courage to stand for the right b/c the Savior is with them.
It sounds just awesome! Keep it up girl! I bet they love having you as their chorister. Lucky kiddos.