April Showers/Umbrella - 4/14 Plan

I don't know about you all, but I feel like my Primary needs a break from all the REVIEW.  The kids really are wonderful, the teachers are wonderful, and they have learned the program songs well.  Easter will be a bit of a departure from song review, but for the first Sunday in April I wanted to do something FUN.

I plan to copy the wonderful April Showers umbrella idea HERE - SO cute!  I was sure to add in our new song for April - the Primary Presidency picked "I Belong To The Church of Jesus Christ".  Especially with our song for the month being a fairly easy one, I plan to concentrate on SPRING for the first Sunday in April. 

The songs I plan to include (and the activities to go with them, since that always makes things more fun) are:

- Teach Me to Walk in the Light 177 (because it is part of the Mother's Day medley we will sing in Sacrament)

Break-The-Egg/Dinosaur Egg Easter Idea

As you know, I've already planned out my Easter lesson.  Last night, though, I had another idea that I thought I would pass on for those of you looking for something NEW.

A few weeks ago, I saw this Pinterest pin about Dinosaur Eggs and thought it looked like a blast!!

 

You use: 1 1/4 cups dirt, 1 1/4 cups flour, 3/4 cups of salt, 1/2 cup of sand. Mix dry ingredients, then start adding water slowly until it holds form. Form around critters of your choice let dry in the sun.  The kids can break them open to discover the surprise inside.

I think it would be fun to do this for Easter!  You could pick some solid Easter objects, or something representing each song you want to sing, make the dinosaur eggs, and then PAINT them.  Of course, they will probably be lumpy and not perfectly smooth Easter eggs.  Paint a number on each if you like, and then let the kids have turns breaking them open. 

You'd probably need to do it on a cookie sheet or something to help with the mess, but I think it would be fun.  Let me know how it works if you give it a try!

Another Great Easter Idea

You can find another great Easter-appropriate plan HERE from the always-fabulous OCD Chorister - I love how it focuses on Christ's life and attributes!!!

If I were to combine this plan with my original one (still using my Easter boxes), I would put the following objects in:

- Tree (same as before, for Gethsemane/COURAGE)
- Soap/washcloth (same as before, for washing feet/SERVICE)
- Thorn/nails (same as before, for crucifixion/FORGIVENESS)
- Palm leaf (same as before, for entrance/CHEERFUL)

Then I would pick a couple of these (probably Faith, Obedience, and/or Love):

- Boat (walking on water/FAITH)
- Heart, bandages (Good Samaritan/LOVE)
- Pencil/paper (for Christ teaching/KNOWLEDGE)
- Tools, picture of a family (for Christ's family/HONORING PARENTS)
- Mini plate/cup (story of Martha/REVERENCE)
- White baptism suit cut out of felt (baptism/OBEDIENCE)

Easter Primary Singing Time - 3/31

Here is my plan for Easter . . . (**updated to include some great ideas from the OCD Chorister, see next post!) I've assembled these ideas from a variety of sources at THIS Sugardoodle link.  They are pretty common, not much new here, but enjoy!

I know most people like to use Easter Eggs to put their 'object' in, but I found these cute little favor boxes when I picked up my St. Patrick's Day magnets at The Dollar Tree and decided to use them instead.  I want to emphasize the GIFT aspect of what our Savior did for us, and thought gift boxes would illustrate that a little better than eggs.

The boxes will be numbered and hidden around the room.  I will ask the kids if anyone can find number 1, number 2, etc, so that we go in order.  For each box, there will be an object that matches a picture displayed on the board.  They will try to guess which picture the object goes to as we put them in order to tell the story of Easter.

COMBINATION: A lot of us are thinking of combining Singing Time and Sharing Time on this Sunday since it's a 5th Sunday.  If I were going to combine, I would add a scripture to each box, and then have the member of the Presidency lead the scripture/discussion portion while I handle the songs and pictures.

If I am short on time, I will combine boxes 4/5 and 6/7 and sing only one song for each set.

Box 1:

March Madness - 3/24 Singing Time

I'll be out of town on March 24th, so have found a wonderful brother in our ward to sub for me.  Lucky for him, the week falls on when I had planned to play a "March Madness" review game - something I am guessing is totally up his alley because I know he plays.

Here is my plan:

Originally, I planned to have three separate baskets - large, medium, and small - with different songs associated with each.  The largest basket (a blue round laundry basket) would be closest, the medium basket (a blue mesh basket from Target, these are great for this activity because they kind of look like hoops, come in colors, and are only a few dollars), and a small Fisher Price basketball hoop that cheers when you get a basket (found at DI).

However, since I don't want my sub to have to bring QUITE so much to church, I am instead going to have one basket with various-sized balls and tie the song to how many baskets the kids get out of four tries.  You could either pick one kid to try all four shots, or you could have a class come up at a time and take turns on each shot.  I'm going to suggest the latter for Jr. Primary - I don't want any of the little kids to feel put on the spot or badly if they aren't a good shot.

1 Basket - Name That Tune with Program Songs.  If a child gets 1 basket, pick another child to come up and throw basketballs to determine how many notes the pianist will play to help them guess WHICH program song they'll be singing.

Wacky Wands

 

I've mentioned my "WACKY WANDS" a couple of times - here is a picture.  It's nothing fancy, just a bunch of baton options for when the kids help sing.  At the moment, I have a flower and foam wands from The Dollar Tree, a sparkly wand my daughter got at a birthday party, an inflatable light saber from Target's party section, and a light-up flashlight/emergency whistle that we happened to have around.

 

If you're thinking that I seem to use the same scrapbook paper/ribbon a lot, you're right!  My extremely crafty little sister tried to get me into scrapbooking oh, probably SEVEN YEARS ago.  She gave me a book of scrapbook paper and some stickers and beads for Christmas that year.  They've all been sitting, neglected other than for a few baby shower invitations, until this calling!  I've used a lot of the paper, and the number stickers I put on my Popsicle Stick creatures were from that gift as well.  I'm glad they are finally getting some use!

 

- Adrienne