Primary Singing Time Helps

One of my fun little singing helps is on a poster. It is a game called ‘HELP LESTER SING”.   Lester 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.

I know….he’s a little weird looking….he’s got a piece of red carpet for hair! 
Love my Stop and Go signs….kids love to come up and flip them as we sing…..

I used these Stop and Go signs all the time in my classroom singing and also in Primary.  On the back I would put GIRLS and BOYS.  So we were always switching it up and it keeps them guessing and involved in what you are doing.

This is a little flower poster I had that  you can make the spider crawl up to the flower
as the kids sing really loudly and wonderfully.  It’s a fun one.  Put a
slit in the top and bottom of the stem and then tie off a piece of string to go in front and behind.
You maneuver the string up and down from behind the poster board.  Tape the spider onto the string. 
My Grandbaby Josie at Christmas time. Isn’t she the Bees Knees? 

This idea was a cute one I found at Denley Music HERE. She used this and put it on top of a flat box as a “remote control”.  She would tell the kids that she was going to push one of the buttons (and show them) and they would do what it was she had pushed.  I would think you could also tape it to the chalkboard and push the buttons that way (less fun but everyone would be able to see!).

That sounds super fun.  Remote control your primary. They will love it! The SWAP means to change seats. Super fun, right?

Cute REMOTE CONTROL  GAME for a fun singing time…gotta love it!  
Here’s ME doin my thing in Primary!   (This pic is a year old…I’m actually much skinnier than this in person…NOT! )
Hope you have fun this month in Primary Singing Time!  
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Primary Singing Time 2012 with HULA HOOPS

I liked to do this every so often to get the kids up and moving so they don’t have to sit for the whole 3 hours of Primary.  Use some Dollar Store Hula Hoops for your singing practice!  


Have 3 kids come up at a time and try to hula hoop all through the singing of the song. As they drop their hula hoops they are out and have to stand still inside the hula hoop. The winner is the one who stays hula hooping and is still twirling the hula hoop by the end of the verse and chorus.  


Then the 3 kids get to go pick out 3 more kids for the next song.  Maybe even 4 kids. I think it would be even MORE fun to watch others hula hoop than to  actually DO IT!  (maybe because I’m very uncoordinated at hula hooping? hmmmmm…..yes)



This is also good for the songs you need to sing over and over again for them to get memorized. The kids don’t realize they are singing them so many times because the other kids are kind of “entertaining” if you know what I mean….

Here’s my whole family on Christmas morning……after all the chaos had subsided….LOL

I hope this year is going to be even better than last!  Happy New Year  all! 
My son and his wife are so cute, aren’t they? lol 

My oldest granddaughter can do the hula hoop really good! She loves it! 

Here she is doing multiple hula hoops for all of us. 

She had an audience. Your primary children will love it too! Hula Hoops are FUN! Get them from the Dollar Store. 


Too bad I could never hula hoop. I’m too uncoordinated still! 

High Fiving Thomas S. on Temple Square…..my new Fav picture….  Here’s to a high 5 year….Let’s have one!  
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New Years Day Singing Time 2012

Link HERE  for a neat yearly schedule of the main song and a worksheet for figuring out your year. I never was organized enough to do this as a 4 time Primary Chorister. But since a wonderful chorister from Primary Singing Time Ideas did do it we can all reap the benefits. WOO HOO!  I’m sure glad there are organized people in this world. I’m a creative person…. sadly…NOT one of the organized few.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT IS THE NEW PRIMARY THEME FOR 2012

The theme this year is CHOOSE THE RIGHT. I have always loved that song and theme. So for the first song of the year we need to cover “AS A CHILD OF GOD” page 28 from the outline.
A Copy of the song is HERE. The Sharing time will be on Agency and our right to Choose. So let’s let the children Choose snowflakes with song names attached after teaching the P. 28 song first. I would do the Wise Man and the Foolish Man for an activity song this week. The older kids know it and will help the younger kids learn it just doing hand motions.

I have saved lots of snowflake ornaments from my tree before I even begin to think of putting everything away I’m going to take these snowflakes and do a singing time with them.

A flip chart of the song is HERE at Sugardoodle. It just has a few words on each page highlighted so you will have to teach all the other words. Some finger puppets you can use to help kids sing the song are HERE at Enchanted Learning. I love that website and use it all the time as a 2nd grade teacher.

I have a box of these in silver and also a few crystal snowflakes and some  mirror ones.
I will tape them up on the board from the hanging strings and attach small clear tape to each one  with song numbers.
CHOOSE A SNOWFLAKE TO SING….IT’S ALWAYS FUN AND EASY. 

I found some cute rubber wrist bands for 80 cents that say Choose the Right on them.  It might be even better to get a bunch printed up for your primary if it is one of the bigger ones. I think you can get them done at Oriental Trading. It would be a fun giveaway for the kids maybe after giving a talk in primary.  But if you want the link it is HERE at LDS Greats.

2012 "Choose the Right" Primary Wristbands - Junior Primary Size

HERE at LDS.org  you can see the song list and listen to how the music is played and how the songs are sung if you are a new chorister or don’t know any of the songs.  It’s a very helpful site and I would refer to it all year long.  It also shows the songs being signed for American Sign Language, which is always something I like to add to one of the songs in the presentation. Check it out at the link above.

My little granddaughters at their dance recital last week were….. So cute….
if you wanna
 see a funny clip check it out below….
THIS WAS SO FUN TO WATCH….

Song Title MP3 Music Only MP3 Music and Voice
“I’m Trying to Be like Jesus”
(Children’s Songbook, 78)
MP3 MP3
“When I Am Baptized”
(Children’s Songbook, 103)
MP3 MP3
“Nephi’s Courage”
(Children’s Songbook, 120)
MP3 MP3
“Stand for the Right”
(Children’s Songbook, 159)
MP3 MP3
“Choose the Right”
(Hymns, no. 239)
MP3 MP3
“The Wise Man and the Foolish Man”
(Children’s Songbook, 281)
MP3 MP3
“As a Child of God”
(2012 Outline for Sharing Time, 28)
MP3 MP3

You will probably have LESS TIME tomorrow to sing since it takes awhile to get everybody to their new primary class. In my experience plan for shorter than your normal length of time to sing.  Happy New Year Everybody!

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Fun Action DICE for Primary Singing Time Songs

I was browsing around the other primary chorister blogs and found a cute post from Brittney  at Primary Singing Time for Leaders. LDS Primary Chorister Ideas
           
She made a cute PDF to color print and use with Primary Singing Time. The link for it is HERE.  Another one she made is HERE.  They are both free Google docs. Thanks Brittney!  I had a cute idea for using this PDF document.

At school I have a variety of activities where I use dice. But sometimes you want a GIANT DICE!  So what I’ve done is use 1/2 gallon cartons from Tropicana Orange Juice, which we love to drink at my house. I rinse them out and dry them really good. Then I cut them in the middle just so I have 2 perfect square halves of a whole cube. Then make a corner slit halfway down all 4 edges and then push them together. It makes a perfect, sturdy dice!

Or you could just push one half into the other half. Be sure the sides are perfect squares. It makes for a very sturdy cube with both cartons lending strength and heft to the edges. Then you can cover each of the 6 sides with a different color of construction paper and the little pictures for what to do while we sing.

 Then have kids come up and roll the dice……then do the action that the dice lands on while singing the songs. It’s FUN!

I’m busy finishing up all the wrapping of presents….Check out my post on
cute wrapping designs HERE at Patties Place.

I finally finished decorating for Christmas

Cute plate for the Cookies for Santa….

Snowman and snowballs……

I have a snowman collection….

And my 3 granddaughter’s stockings…I have to put their names on still…(1 more thing on the list…sigh)

Here they are in their Christmas shirts….so cute…
Merry Christmas Everybody! 
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Ideas on Leading and Conducting Singing

Conducting Ideas from other experts in music:
If you’d like to start out the new year with a few cute conducting ideas to keep the kids learning and interested, check out these posts by some music experts in the trenches of Primary Music.


Leading Sticks by Brooke Wakefield on Sugardoodle
It’s All in the Hands by Ali Katherman on Sugardoodle
A Conducting Wand on Sugardoodle
Conducting Elephant by Tifany Hoecherl on Sugardoodle

Getting Ready for a Wonderful New Year!  Sitting down to set some new goals since I have 2 weeks off from teaching school starting tomorrow!  Yippee!  Happy Holidays!

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Christmas Singing Time

It’s time to get ready for singing a Christmas Song for Sacrament Meeting. This is always easy and fun. I usually pick Christmas Bells Are Ringing because it it sooooooooo easy to teach and it is pretty.  Everybody learns it really fast.  Then you have to pick another one that can be sung with it and this one will take most of your time.

“Christmas Bells are Ringing…Here What They Say to You….Jesus is Born…In Bethlehem…”

A PDF flip chart for Christmas Bells is HERE at Sugardoodle.  

Picture a Christmas is my favorite.  It is such a pretty song and the words sing of all the cast of characters in the Manger scene. So it is fun to get a children’s type of manger to use and have kids hold up that icon as we sing about them.  Another idea I’ve done in the past is to have the kids pass out the manger scene before the song and as we sing about the shepherds, or the angels, the child holding them come up and put them in the manger scene. By the time the song has been sung, the whole scene is back in place.

Bring in a handmade or child’s nativity set to sing Picture a Christmas…

A PDF flip chart for Picture a Christmas is HERE at Sugardoodle.

It is also a great way to help kids remember what comes next in the song…..they are looking at the little pieces of the manger scene to help them remember the words.

This would be a perfect nativity to sing the song ” Picture a Christ mas”  with.

Another one that I’ve done in the past is very easy; Away in a Manger.  I think it is so familiar to them you won’t have any problems getting it memorized in a few weeks to perform in Sacrament Meeting.

When Joseph went to Bethlehem
I think he took great care
To place his tools and close his shop
And leave no shavings there.

He urged the donkey forward,
Then, with Mary on its back,
And carried bread and goat cheese
In a little linen sack.

I think there at the busy inn
That he was meek and mild
And awed to be the guardian
Of Mary’s sacred Child.

Perhaps all through the chilly hours
He smoothed the swaddling bands,
And Jesus felt the quiet strength of
Joseph’s gentle hands.

And close beside the manger bed
He dimmed the lantern’s light,
And held the little Jesus close upon
That holy night.

Image Joseph and Mary
Joseph and Mary at the birth….”and awed to be the guardian of Mary’s sacred child”



A harder Christmas song is When Joseph Went to Bethlehem.  It’s harder because of the vocabulary. But it is a sweet song most kids will always remember because it tells the story from Joseph’s viewpoint. It is sweet and tender and one of my personal favorites.  A beautiful PDF document with pictures can be found at Jolly Jenn. The link is HERE at Jolly Jenn.

“Sing Praise to Him….remember HIM as we picture Christmas this year! “

 I would get started with these songs now so you will be ready to sing them possibly the week before Christmas, since the ward choir will probably be doing the music on Christmas Day.  Then the next few weeks you will have some songs to practice for, before starting all over again with presentation songs!

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Thanksgiving Singing Time

I found a cute crossword puzzle that talks about why we give thanks once a year to the Lord.
It’s HERE at Sunday School Kids.

This would be fun to make up the grid kind of large and then have the kids figure out what all the answers
to the clues are as classes.  Then sing a song in between each new clue.
The kids could come up and can pick a crossword number to do. Have their class help them.  Then sing a song could be sung after they have figured out the clue and you have written it down in the squares for them.

Another activity you could do is teach this new song that says Thank You in many languages.

Children All Over the World 

By Peggy Hill Ryskamp and Beth Groberg Stratton
Peggy Hill Ryskamp and Beth Groberg Stratton, “Children All Over the World,” Friend, Nov. 1975, 34–35
All over the world at the end of day
Heavenly Father’s children kneel down and pray,
Each saying thank you in his own special way,
Saying thank you, thank you in his own special way
Gracias, malo, wir danken dir,All over the world tender voices hear.
Some say tak, others merci,Okansha shimasu, we thank thee.
Our Heavenly Father hears them,
He understands each tongue.
Our Heavenly Father knows them,
He loves them, loves them, everyone.


Non-English words for thank you

Spanish—gracias (graw-see-aws)
Tongan—malo (maw-low)
German—wir danken dir (veer dawn-ken deer)
Danish—tak (talk)
French—merci (mare-see)
Japanese—Okansha shimasu (o-kan-sha she-mas)



Then while you are teaching the song, there are several questions you can ask to create repetition:
“What do these words mean? [thank you]
“Listen and count how many foreign languages are sung” [6]
Help children practice pronouncing the six words. Sing them several times
“Where are tender voices heard?” [all over the world]
“What do Heavenly Father’s children all over the world do at the end of day? [kneel and pray]
What does each child say in his own special way? [thank you]
Who hears them? [Heavenly Father]
What else do we learn about Heavenly Father [ that he knows, loves, and understands the language of every person]

HERE is a Flipchart  from Jolly Jenn that is very cute and colorful for this Thanksgiving Song. 


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Primary Thanksgiving Music

My favorite Thanksgiving Song is “I Know Heavenly Father Loves Me” the older version.
It is the one that goes like this….

Whenever I hear the song of a bird
Or look at the blue, blue sky,
Whenever I feel the rain on my face
Or the wind as it rushes by,
Whenever I touch a velvet rose
Or walk by a lilac tree,
I’m glad that I live in this beautiful world
Heavenly Father created for me.
He gave me my eyes that I might see
The color of butterfly wings.
He gave me my ears that I might hear 
The magical sound of things.
He gave me my life, my mind, my heart: 
I thank him reverently
For all his creations, of which I’m a part.
Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.

I remember being a Sunday School Chorister in a University of Utah Institute ward and I had the back row of big burly single adults come up and hold bits of a tree branch, a velvety rose, a silk bird etc. and I pointed to each visual aide as we sang the song through. It was fun. You could simply collect the main icons of the song and do the same thing. Kids will learn it so quickly.

Front entry table is ready for the big day! 

I made a fall arrangement of silks…

I’ve been collecting Thanksgiving decor for ages….It’s an illness…

I’d bring a few decorations with the theme of GIVING THANKS…..

This would also be a great song for the kids or a small ensemble to sing for Thanksgiving Sunday.

This is a great time to count our blessings. Find your favorite primary songs to sing about all that Heavenly Father has given us in this beautiful, bounteous world. In the meantime, find some things in your ward to be grateful for. Maybe somebody in the primary just had a new baby brother or sister. Or maybe you could invite the Bishop in and sing a special song “He’s Our Bishop”. The kids LOVE that!

Maybe a Cornocopia or some Indian corn….

We’ve got a lotta turkeys around my house….hehe…A song on a few turkeys would be fun….

Bring a pilgrim or a turkey or two…

We’ve got some Indians…

We’ve got some Pilgrims

Or maybe just have kids raise their hands about things they are thankful for. Then have them pick one of the Thanksgiving decorations you have brought with the name and number of the song taped to the back.

We made pine cone turkeys with colorful pipe cleaners….

Cute scarecrow from Shopko….

Fall Picture Wall decorations…cone and rod iron from RODWORKS…

Give Thanks….my cute turkey decorations

My grandkids’ table…

I would definitely use scarecrows and cornucopia this week, and maybe save the Pilgrims and Indians for next week, closer to the Thanksgiving holiday.

In the meantime, Happy Fall, Y’all!

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Winter Singing Time Ideas

Well, it’s about time we had a snowstorm in Utah.  So let’s get prepared to sing some fun songs about Winter. It is around the corner.  And let’s do some snowball activities too! That is always fun for the kids!

Here’s a Link for Ping Pong Balls. These would make fine snowballs…..

  My sister-in-law also gave me a fun idea to do after the primary presentation when the pressure is kind of off to do the required songs, and you have more freedom to do some new tunes.

You could also use styrofoam balls for snowballs…..

Give each of the kids a piece of white scratch paper. It could have stuff on the back, nothing fancy. Then tell them to write their favorite primary song on it and crumple it up. Then tell them it’s their once a year time when they can pelt you with snowballs! Yipee! They will love that.

Juggle your snowballs using old white socks tied in a knot or white marshmallows…giant sized! 

One class at a time can go and throw the snowballs at you. Then you reach down and pick one up! Whoever’s snowball it is you will then sing their favorite song however you want to. Maybe they could try to “juggle” 3 snowballs while you get everyone to sing. (these could be white beanbags made with old white socks filled with rice or dried beans or popcorn, then tied in a fat knot and cut off. OR they could be some of those giant marshmallows they sell for a dollar at the market!  Or you could use ping pong balls. They are only a few buck at Walmart or Target in the sporting goods section. That is always fun! Or white whiffle balls would work great too. I’ve bought sets of 4 of those for a dollar at the Dollar store.

Whiffle balls could also be white snowballs! 

I thought you could be prepared with a fun little song taken from Primary-to-Go. Let’s do a fun rendition of Popcorn Popping called “Snowflakes Falling”

 Popcorn Popping with a little WINTER TWIST!  

Snowflakes Falling on the Evergreen Trees…..

I LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW AND WHAT DID I SEE?
(Put your hands in round circles like binoculars around your eyes)


SNOWFLAKES FALLING ON THE EVERGREEN TREE.
(wiggle fingers from high to down low like snow falling)


WINTER’S BROUGHT ME SUCH A NICE SURPRISE,
(close both fists, then flick them open on surprise)


SNOWFLAKES FALLING RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES. 
(wiggle your fingers above your head and pass in front of your face)


I CAN MAKE A SNOWBALL, I KNOW I CAN,
(motions of making a snowball with both cupped hands)


THREE SNOWBALLS MAKE A BIG SNOWMAN.
(motion your arms to make the outline of a 3 circled snowman)


I KNOW IT’S REALLY SO, AND I’M GLAD TO SEE,
(nod yes, at the same time you  point to your smiling face)


SNOWFLAKES FALLING ON THE EVERGREEN TREES.
(wiggle your fingers from high to down low like snow falling).

Once There Was a Snowman…

Here are the guitar or autoharp chords if you want to play them instead of piano. 

  Another good song is Once There Was a Once There was a Snowman. Link to my post with pictures I did last winter.  Snowman Link. I made this above last winter. It’s made from an old sheet. I choose a child to come up and scrunch down really little with it in their hands. Then when we sing tall, tall, tall, they make it grow. When it melts then the opposite of course. They let the snowman shrink back to a puddle again.

Have some fun when the weather changes again! In the meantime I’m gettin my new winter coat ready!

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Musical Chicken Pox

I have heard of Musical Measles. Well how about Musical Chicken Pox? If you can get some sticker dots from Walmart to use as  “chicken pox” (I think they are about $3.00 for a pack of a few hundred).

Here are the dots I would buy. I’d probably give each teacher a half sheet.

Then before you start singing time you can ask all the teachers to help you by listening and watching for some good singing by the kids in their classes. Then you can give them each a half sheet of stickers. They can help by putting  sticker dots on kids’ faces in their primary class as you all sing.

I’d probably try making a chicken “hat” like this from an old baseball cap and felt. 

Then ask the kids, “Do YOU want to get musical chicken pox?” if they want to get chicken pox too they need to really sing for you! Then sing your first song. Tell the kids you will be watching for good singers who might be catching the musical “chicken Pox”. Tell the teachers to watch and add pox as they want.

Fuzzy Chicken Child Costume
But if you had a chicken costume,  it might be really fun to “be” the chicken too! 

 You could put a chicken hat on if you can find one (since it IS HALLOWEEN TIME after all!). Then go around and put the “pox”on teacher’s faces as well as kid’s faces.  As you see more and more kids singing their hearts out, you will be able to add “pox”. Don’t leave out the presidency or the pianist. The kids will love seeing that.   At the end of the song pick a teacher  to choose one of their “pocked up” kids.

HERE’s a LINK to a cute chicken head for $15.00 if you also need a Halloween costume for this year! The picture is below.

I LOVE this hat. I’d buy it just for Halloween it’s so cute!  You could probably make one though with just
a chicken stuffed animal from the DI and a baseball cap and a glue gun. 

The one with the most “chicken pox” from that teacher’s class gets to come pick the next song.  I think I would put the songs on round circles on the board just in keeping with the “chicken pox” theme.  Am I spelling pox right? Ah, who cares.  LOL.  Happy singing!

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