Pattie's Primary Place – Page 12 – Good Stuff for Primary Leaders

Primary Cowboy Singing Time

I have lots of neighbors around where I live in Utah who have horses, corrals and barns. These are true cowboys, not just posers like my husband and I when we want to wear our cowboy boots and hats and pretend….. snicker….

October Singing Time

So since we are having lots of scarecrow festivals around these parts, let’s get into the hay maze habit and do some cow ropin’ and yee hawing! It would be REALLY fun for the kids if you had a real cowboy from your ward come and show them how to swing a rope to catch something.

Cowboy Singing Time

Here is an idea from Jocelyn Williams… at this LINK HERE.
!

Looking at this guy roping the steer…this is how I’d do it…just taped onto the back of a chair….

Get a bunch of little ropes and cowboy hats, and if you can borrow a set of chaps that would be cool. Tell everyone you are going to go ropin cows for a song.

Lasso a steer for Singing Time!

A clip art picture of a steer bull you can copy off to make your cardboard bulls is HERE at Color Your Own.com. I would copy it on brown paper and then cut them out and glue them down on some cardboard. If you have 2 that would be enough. Put them on the backs of chairs like the picture above.
If they get the rope over one of the cow’s longhorns everybody has to stand up and say “YEE HAW”
and then they get to pick a horseshoe off of the board which will have songs on the back.

Older kids you could have questions for them to go with the sharing time lesson where they have to answer before roping one of your “cattle”. Have fun doin’ some calf ropin’ in Primary! Yee Haw!

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October Singing Time Fun!

Okay my FAVORITE HOLIDAY is this month! Yip Yip Hooray it’s almost Halloween! I don’t know why I’ve always loved it. Maybe it is the costumes and dressing up. Maybe it is the black and orange and all the icons (pumpkins, cats, Frankie, skeletons etc.) But I’m a Halloween nut. I’ve got almost as many Halloween Boxes for decorating that I do for Christmas….yeah I know….it’s an illness…..snicker….

October Singing Time in Primary is fun!

Use some decorations from home!

I’ve got gobs of them….

Can you tell I love Hobby Lobby?

Oh yes….and The Dollar Store! I got these both for one dollar!

Linens from Kohls…I always love their table runners….

And we can’t forget Taipan Trading? Oh no! Look at this cute plate I just picked up with a 25% off coupon!

Here’s my front entry….

Side table….There’s my little Marisa!

Coffee table is so creepy!

Another end table….

Use some of these cute decs for Singing Time in Primary!

Kids would love a few light up pumpkins or skeletons to choose a song from!

So this month be sure to do some fun Halloween singing time! There are plenty of things you could do; Halloween Tic Tac Toe with songs….. I found a cute handmade Tic Tac Toe out of popsicle sticks and pom poms HERE at Busy Bee Crafts. You could make it for Primary and bring if home for your kids to play with. They’d LOVE that!

.Halloween choose a black or orange balloon and pop them to find the song we are singing……

Kids love to pop the balloons to find out what song to sing inside…..

Or just bring in some Halloween Decorations and put a song number on the back of each one. It is fun for the kids to see all your cute decs. I usually ask a question about the lesson before they can raise their hand to come up and choose. That way you are doing double duty; a recap of the lesson and some fun stuff too.

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Conference Time

Wasn’t Conference Great? You could do a neat singing time next week on all the primary songs about temples and then do a little quiz about how many temples were announced and where they are being built!

Temples Singing Time

New temples announced for Provo, Barranquilla, Durban, Kinshasa, and Star Valley.Paris made official” taken from chuch website.

Link HERE to a great lesson with a temple mobile on the importance of temples by Robert D. Hales. It is short and easy to see how you could use it as a little lesson to do with singing time and temples.

Temples Singing Time

I’d use temple pictures from the library each with a song on the back having to do with temples.

The Lord Gave Me a Temple #153
Families Can Be Together Forever #188
I Love to See The Temple #95
The Hearts of the Children #92, 93
This is God’s House #30
Truth from Elijah #90, 91

Temples singing Time

A cute coloring page for the song is HERE. You could pass this out at the end of singing time for kids to take home and color.

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Jesus is called by Many Names

One of the best singing time ideas I’ve ever done is this one. Nothing ever goes wrong when you sing about the Savior. That’s just a given. So……

Get lots of pictures from the library of every kind– depicting the Savior. If you can get 10 pictures that would be great! Then place them across the chalkboard and on chairs and the piano with tape. Then make some words from the wordsearch with names of Jesus on 3 x 5 cards. Place those with tape or magnets onto the chalkboard during your preparation time.

He is our deliverer or our rock or savior

Then when students come in they will know what songs we are singing today; Songs about Jesus!
Here are some of my favorites:
1. Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam
2. Tell Me the Stories of Jesus
3. I’m Trying to Be like Jesus
4. Jesus Said Love Everyone
5. I Belong To the Church of Jesus Christ
6. Baptism (Jesus Said to John the Baptist)
7. If The Savior Stood Beside Me

Put the songs names and page numbers on yellow sticky papers on the backs of the pictures around the room. Add a few more that are your favorites.

Jesus is the shepherd who looks for lost sheep or the Lamb of God

bible word puzzle

A neat wordsearch I found could be the springboard for talking about Jesus and all the names he is called by in the Bible. It can be found here at Word Game World. Pass out copies to each class and they can work in partners. When they find a name for Jesus they can raise their hand.

Jesus is almighty, the Life, the Way, Son of God.

Now the object of the game is to have the kids find one of the names of Jesus from the wordsearch (they can work in partners using their chairs as desks). When they find one they can match it up to a picture and tell the group why they think they go together. Then you can put the 3 x 5 card with it that matches the word from the wordsearch. Then sing the song on the back.

Be sure to discuss what is happening in the pictures for those kids who might not know all the stories of the new testament and all of the miracles of Jesus.

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Primary Singing Time October

Autumn is starting to show around us. We live up in the mountains and the red maples are turning, the aspens are yellow leafed, and then we have the evergreen trees everywhere and wildflowers on the hills. It is a perfect time to do something with changing leaves!

Find some other fun Fall Songs and add them to leaves….

Get some construction paper and make up some red, yellow, orange, green and brown leaves. A great leaf pattern can be found HERE at Enchanted Learning. Then put songs on the back and tape the songs all around your blackboard, counter and on the piano. Kids can come up and choose a leaf. If it has a song behind it sing that song. If not, then the child (or the child’s teacher) can pick a favorite song. (You can also find silk colorful leaves at hobby shops right now, that might even be easier!)

Fall Primary Singing Time for October

Most of you have had your presentation by now. So the next few weeks can be doing some fun songs.

Another idea is singing the tune of “Oh What do You Do in the Summertime” on Page 245 of Children’s Songbook, but change the words to these words, written by Kristy Brinkman

Oh what do you do in the Autumn time
When all the world has changed?
Do you jump in some leaves,
Or swing in the breeze,
And watch all the birds go by?
Is that what you do?
So do I.

Oh what do you do in the Autumn time
When all the world has changed?
Do you sip hot cocoa,
And wish for some snow
As you watch all the clouds go by?
Is that what you do?
So do I.

Here’s another one….by me, Pattie Moss! Sing to the tune of
Once There Was a Snowman, Page 249 in the Children’s Songbook.

Once There Was a Leafman, leafman, leafman,
Once there was a leafman, blow, blow blow!
Swaying in the windstorm, windstorm, windstorm,
falling in the windstorm, FALL, FALL, FALL

(all fall down slowly till all on the floor) This would be good for the Jr. Primary. Older kids might like to do it but they may get silly with it. 😀

Fall is my FAVORITE SEASON! Have a fantastic FALL!

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Do YOU Bleed Blue?

Well FOOTBALL is all the rage now, have you heard? Here in Utah the Utes just played the Cougars and crushed them at the end. It was Cougars ahead for the whole first half. I hate when that happens to the Lord’s school. Wah!!!!

The big rivalry game was last weekend….as you probably know BYU got beat!

Well it would be very fun to get some brown construction paper, and make up 10 footballs and then make a goal post out of white poster board or even paper. Then get some good tape for the backs of the footballs.

I got this idea from Family Fun Magazine…the link is HERE for a Fun Football Game.

We got into the Football Spirit in my classroom too!

We had almost even bluebloods versus those who bleed red….

I have little nerf footballs I got from the Dollar Store. Now you can have the teams be Utes versus Cougars like I would here in Utah or just use some of your local teams or even the high school teams in your town.

BYU lover…..Go TEAM GO!

Throw the football out and whoever catches it gets to come up and play “pin the football between the goal posts”. Have them pick out one of your footballs (you could color them and put The U on some and BYU on others, just a thought.

UTE Lover….Rah, Rah! Aren’t those pom poms cute?

Turn the football over and sing the song on the back and pick kids out to throw the football back and forth during the song or run in place or practice “kicking” during the song, anything if you need some activity. Or else just sing.

Then, comes the fun part. Blindfold them, turn them around and then let them go. It should be fun to watch and see if he can make a touchdown goal, blindfolded. Then start again and throw the nerf football out. If you can think of other actions relating to football to do during the song, that would make it more fun.

I think it would be a “hit” to play this during the beginnings of football season. Everybody around these parts really gets into it. Go Cougars!

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MATCH THE SOCKS GAME

I found a cute MATCH THE SOCKS SINGING TIME idea from Bella Online’s 10 Singing Time Ideas. She sure has some good ideas.Anyway this “Match the Socks” game can be played with socks from home. The more wacky and colorful they are…..the better!

Just bring a small laundry basket in and have it filled up with 10 or 12 pairs of socks.

Match the Socks Primary Singing Game

And inside each one put the names of the same song. Kids can come up and “find a matching pair” of socks and then when they do they look inside one of them and find what song they are singing today

As the kids match up the socks and find what song they are singing…
put the socks together in pairs…..

It would be easy to adapt it at HOLIDAY TIME time wouldn’t it? Having some cute RED WHITE AND BLUE stockings? That would be fun. You could do the same idea, only with scrapbook or wrapping paper “socks” and have them match socks and then sing the song inside.

I’d try to get a few wacky looking pairs of socks in your selection of Match the Socks Game

Here’s some funny pics I took of my kids and grandkids and a bunch of Hula Hoops

Marisa is the only one who is any good at it, she just turned 6!

She can twirl a few at a time and she’s good and proud of it!

She’s so funny and fun to hang with. I love them all.

In the case of paper socks, you’d have to have more than 10 pairs or it wouldn’t be very challenging. Maybe cut 4 inch long socks so you can make several sets (like 4 socks) out of each sheet of scrapbook paper. Then they could find matching socks but if the songs inside did not match, someone has to choose again to get the right “perfect pair” of socks.

Match the Socks Game

I think this is a fun idea. I’d try it first with just a bunch of socks from your kids’ drawers. Just some striped, fancy lace, black dad socks, white sports socks, colorful kneesocks and soccer socks. Have fun with Match the Socks Game. Summer is off to a great start!

Pattie

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Primary Presentation Tips

Most of you are getting ready to do your Primary Presentation in September. I’ve probably done 7 or 8 presentations since I’ve had this calling 4 times in different wards with different primaries over the course of my life. It is not too late to add a duet musical number if you find that you are not filling up the entire time. Some smaller primaries sometimes have this problem.

Getting it all put together for the Primary Presentation can be stressful!

I have added songs where just a group of 4 kids sings the song together and they can practice outside of primary with you or after church for a few Sundays. Or if one of your numbers is not coming together, get a small group of older kids to sing the 2nd verse together at the microphone. It’s better than you singing a solo on verses they don’t know.

I picked these up for 1/2 price…great for having kids in a primary class come up and lead the song for you…

If you need a little more “ZIP” in what you have planned I have added musical instruments to my presentations. There are usually people in the ward who play violin or flute who would do an intro and an interlude for you and then play with the kids on the last verse and during the choruses. It always adds a lot to the meeting when there is something extra here.

My husband and I worked for 3 1/2 years as temple ordinance workers….I really do miss it.

Another thing I have done is add resonator bells. These are like chimes but they are wooden blocks with the metal chime on top. Sometimes during a really repetitive song you can have 3 kids do chords and play to the beat during the chorus just playing the chords with the pianist. We did it last year during “Follow the Prophet” and it added a lot.

Here’s my granddaughter singing out of the wrong side of the play microphone…so cute!

Of course everybody adds some kind of audience participation maybe on the last song’s chorus. That really helps for everyone to feel a part of the spirit of the closing number by having the congregation participate in singing either the last verse or the last chorus of the last song. I’ve probably done that in most of the presentations I’ve done. Anyway, it’s not too late to add a duet, quartet, or musical instruments.

Some songs show the signing motions right in the Primary Songbook

Another thing I’ve done is add sign language on the chorus of a song. This is always a very interesting thing for the congregation to watch and it is very tender to see young children signing. I have always love watching it and teaching it. And the children LOVE learning sign language. Love one another is one you could add because the kids already know the words and if you are up there signing it with the pictures in front of you on your music easel, the kids can easily follow you. Just practice it 4 or 5 times a week for the next 3 weeks and they will have it down.

Good luck on your presentations! Let me know how yours went!

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If You Really Love To Sing…Primary Singing Time

I love to sing Primary Singing Time songs….

I really love to sing. I always have since I was a little kid and joined my big sister’s Christmas Caroling Choir. We were all just little neighborhood kids and she made us practice (snicker….) the songs before she would direct us going from door to door. Isn’t that cute? She was Suzy perfectionist I must say. But I’d never sung in a group as a 6 year old, except at my private school, where we really didn’t do much more than academics all day. I missed out on some of the best parts of education.

So let’s rejoice to the Lord in singing. It always brings the spirit. And it helps young kids if they can have something to focus on…things they love to do…while they are singing and re-singing songs. Simply the associating of things they love to these beautiful songs will make them love the songs even more.

Sooooo……While they are singing…..have them add an action if they really LOVE to do that thing. Here are a few ideas to put up on the board inside hearts, cut up into strips and choose from a jar, or just call them out before the song starts…
1. If you really love riding a bike…..turn the wheels with your legs while we sing.
2. If you really love running up and down hills stand up and run in place while we sing.
3. If you really love hopping like a kangaroo, hop while we sing this song.
4. If you really love to swim….swim like an Olympic swimmer while we sing this song.
5. If you like playing the piano or a percussion instrument, drum or play while we sing this song.
6. If you want to drive a car when you turn 16, steer the wheel while we sing this song.
7.If you want to be a primary chorister when you are older, direct the singing of this song!
8. If you want to be a missionary NOW, knock on doors while we sing this song.

My son Devin’s mission reunion we held at our house in 2010.. Have you ever heard a group of missinoaries sing a song from their mission…..PRICELESS! Here was four of his companions posing together at his homecoming talk.

We had sister missionaries living with us for 1 1/2 years
The one on the right was from Tonga, Sister N stayed at our house
without a transfer for over a year! She was one fantastic young lady!

So sing your heart out! And you can use this list and of course add to it! But a word of caution…. I would only do the wilder ones during songs that don’t have a super spiritual tone. Because sometimes the kids will not be super reverent when they are swimming (as you have probably experienced) so I’d save the numbers 6, 7 and 8 ideas for those songs that need more reverence.

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Fishing for Primary Singing Time

I found a cute website that had some downloadable “fish” for you to make your “fishing for songs game. It is at this triciarennea.blogspot.com LINK HERE. You could then get a dowel and a magnet and some string and make a fishing pole for your primary kids to “fish for a songfish”. She has other free printable animals too. It’s a fun site.

Meet the Dubiens blogger Jill Dubien made up this fishing pole with real twigs.
Her Blog tutorial for a cool magnet Fishing Pole for Primary is HERE.

Fishing Pole and Fish for Singing Time

OH WHAT DO YOU DO IN THE SUMMERTIME?

Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?
Do you fish in the stream, or lazily dream on the banks as the clouds go by?Is that what you do? So do I! Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?Do you swim in a pool, to keep yourself cool, or swing in a tree up high? Is that what you do? So do I! Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green? Do you march in parades, or drink lemonades, or count all the stars in the sky? Is that what you do? So do I!

This is a really fun song to do in the summer because all the kids are busy doing all of these very same things. Now it might be fun to get out your little fishing pole you made up in January and go fishing again since it names this activity in the song. (Do you fish in the stream?)
While you are singing try to make up actions with the kids to each of the activities you do in summer. The younger ones will be able to remember words this way. (example…march standing up while you sing “march in parades” )

Fishing Pole and Fishing for Primary Singing Time

The kids love to come up and use the dowel with string and a round magnet tied onto the end. Then the laminated fish of every kind have large paper clips on them. The kids “GO FISHING FOR SONGS” to try to get the magnet to attach on to the metal paper clips and they have “caught” a fish. They love watching each other try to fish.

Here I am demonstrating my dowel and how to use the FISHING POLE FOR PRIMARY SINGING TIME. Everybody always wants a turn!

Fishing for Songs for Primary Singing Time

This fun summertime song also lends itself to just making up motions to swimming, swinging, drinking lemonade…the littler kids would love pantomiming the actions in the song and it would help them remember the words.

This is a great song and a super activity to try. Remember to write the song names on the back in NON permanent marker so they are easily wiped off for using again!

Well…..hope to see you fishing on the lake!

Grandpa with little Megan

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