Program Song Format/Schedule

I had someone write in asking how we are performing our songs during the Primary Program.  Here is the list that our Primary Presidency put together (with input from the music side!):

1^st Song :  “I Am A Child of God”

                   1^st verse and chorus in English.

                   Then, two Sr. Primary Classes sing the first verse again in     SPANISH; ALL sing the chorus in English

                   4^th Verse in English

                   Sign Language during Chorus

2^nd Song:  “My Heavenly Father Loves Me”, both verses, with VIOLA                                     

3^rd Song:  “If the Savior Stood Beside Me”, all three verses.  One of my Sr. Primary Classes will be doing sign language for all 3 verses.

4^th Song:  “The Church of Jesus Christ” One verse

5^th Song:    “I Want to Live the Gospel” One Verse                                                 

6^th Song:    “When I Am Baptized” Both verses, with VIOLA                                 

7^th Song:  “Families Can Be Together Forever” Both Verses

8^th Song:  “A Child's Prayer” 1^st verse, 2^nd verse, then together with Teachers singing 2^nd verse

9^th Song:  “Keep the Commandments”  1 Verse

10^th Song:  “I Want to Be a Missionary Now” 3 verses                                                   

11^th Song :  “I Am A Child of God”, 1^st verse only, with congregation

Turkey Bowling

Yes, this is far in advance.  BUT, how much fun would it be to combine the Song Bowling activity I posted HERE but decorate the pins to look like turkeys for Thanksgiving?  Make sure some of the pins require the kids to say something they are thankful for, or that the kids have to express gratitude before trying to knock down those turkeys!

Singing Monsters

How cute are these tissue box monsters from http://gigglesgalore.net/tattle-monster/?  Make a few for your kids, then borrow them back for singing time.  One monster could hold song names, another could hold ways to sing (appropriate for Sunday, no mummy walking), another could hold a number of notes to be played for name-that-tune, etc.

Silly Hat

Our previous chorister loved to use this SILLY HAT.  Tell the kids that if their class sings the LOUDEST/BEST, their teacher gets to wear the silly hat for the next song.  They would work really hard to make sure those burly men got their turn wearing the hat!

Halloween Singing Time Ideas - Decorating Pumpkin, Marvin the Musical Monster

I think we have to be a little careful about Halloween singing time - it's not really appropriate to bring witches and goblins into Primary, in my opinion!  But, I came up with a couple of ideas for October that I may implement:

Decorate the Jack-O-Lantern: Bring a real pumpkin, with some squares of Velcro in the spot of the eyes, nose, and mouth.  Make face parts out of felt or foam (samples HERE and HERE).  Have songs written on each part and let the kids take turns picking songs and decorating the pumpkin.

All images from: http://www.chicaandjo.com/2009/10/15/mix-and-match-jack-o-lantern-faces/

 

Our previous chorister used this Melissa & Doug Monster Puppet toy (I happen to have the same one) and named him Marvin the Musical Monster.  The kids loved decorating him.

 

 

Back to School

Pamela Bodell Hicks posted these darling "Back to School" ways to sing on the Facebook Group!  If you haven't joined the "LDS Primary Choristers" group on Facebook, you should - it's a great resource!!!

BACK TO SCHOOL SINGING REVIEW

ERASER: “Erase" (don’t sing) the words “Family or families” and “Forever” in the song Families Can Be Together Forever. 

GLUE: Everyone Glue your legs together and your arms to your sides so you hold really still and balance a book on Finders head while we sing I Want to Be a Missionary Now.

MARKERS: Only sing If the Savior Stood Beside Me when you are wearing the same color as the marker that is held up.

RULER: Measure the volume as we sing I Am a Child of God.  Point to 1 inch for softer up to 12 inches for louder in your best SINGING voice.

CALCULATOR: Count how many times we sing the words

Jr—“commandments” in Keep the Commandments

Sr-- “I” in I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ

PENCIL: Write with your hands (actions) to the song My Heavenly Father Loves Me.

SCISSORS: Sing When I am Baptized legato (smoothly) as if it were a piece of paper for the verse.  Then when we sing the chorus, cut it up by singing staccato (choppy).

SHARPENER: Sharpen the song by enunciating each word for A Child’s Prayer.

PREP: Gather the following items: backpack, eraser, glue, book, markers, ruler, calculator, pencil, scissors, sharpener.

Tape the instructions on all the items except the backpack (that's just for holding everything).

Before primary, hide the 8 objects around the room.

ACTIVITY: Tell the kids you need help getting ready for school and need to find your school supplies.  Have the primary help you find the hidden items.  As they are found, follow the instructions taped on and place them into the backpack.

Review Game: TROUBLE Name That Tune

- Bring a TROUBLE board

- The kids take turns POPPING the dome to roll the dice (no chasing the dice down the aisles!!)

- The number they get tells the pianist HOW MANY NOTES to play for NAME-THAT-TUNE.

PB&J Prayer Sandwich to introduce " A Child's Prayer"

Bev Brierly shared this link from Little LDS Ideas with our facebook group, and I think it's a great idea to introduce August's Song! 

(Adapted only slightly from Little LDS Ideas)

PB&J Prayer Sandwich

Tell the children that today you are going to be making a PB&J Prayer Sandwich.

 

Show the children the first piece of bread. Ask them ‘How do we begin our prayers? The first piece of bread is for 'Dear Heavenly Father’. Lay the piece of bread on a plate and have everyone repeat ‘Dear Heavenly Father’.

 

Now, ask if anyone knows what comes next.

 

The Jelly! Use the jelly to represent: 'We Thank Thee.’

 

But instead of putting on a lot of jelly just put on a tiny little glob.

 

Ask the children if that is enough. They’ll obviously say NO!

 

Explain that when we pray we need to remember to thank Heavenly Father for ALL of our many blessings. We want Heavenly Father to know that we appreciate all that He has given to us, so we need to remember to Thank Him.  As the children suggest things to thank the Lord for, add more jelly.

 

The next step in our PB&J Sandwich is the PB!

 The peanut butter represents: 'We Ask Thee'. Again, ask the children for things they might ask for and as they give you ideas, add more PB.

And the last part of our PB&J Prayer sandwich is the piece of bread which represents: 'In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen'. 

Song Hospital - 9/8

There are a LOT of versions of the "Song Hospital" Review tool out there!  This one from Primary Singing Ideas is my favorite.  If you can't get permission to take up Sharing Time, then you could adapt it a bit to ONLY use the songs that need work - so they will all START in the Emergency Room and then need to be discharged.  I will let one of the kids be the doctor - but the grading comes from me and the presidency - instead of bringing in another person.

Everything below is from Primary Singing Time Ideas HERE:

Before hand, I asked a brother in our ward to be our Doctor. I picked this brother in particular, because he has a background in music, which is helpful for "diagnosing" our primary.

I made this board from a tri-fold display bought at target. I spent WAY too much time drawing my "floating" hospital (I think I still need some lessons in art and drawing 2 dimensional figures...) So hopefully you can think of something MUCH simpler.


The inside is pretty boring. I ran out of time to decorate it more...which may be a good thing. :)



The inside says "Primary Song Hospital."

On each of the three sections, I taped the edges of a file folder together, and taped that on to each section. The sections were labeled "waiting room", "Emergency Room" and "Discharge".

I printed out forms for each of the songs, with a separate sheet for each verse. I was worried that we would run out of time. After having done it, I would recommend having one sheet per song, despite the number of verses. We weren't able to get through all of the songs.

I placed all of the sheets in the folder labeled "Waiting Room"


I did this on the 5th Sunday, on which I have the entire singing/sharing time for just singing.

I introduced our Doctor, outfitted with a white lab coat, stethoscope around his neck, and a clipboard. Then we had a volunteer "nurse" pick out a patient to be diagnosed. The nurse gave the paper to the Doctor, and we sang the song, then had the Dr. tell us our diagnosis. Our Doctor did a fantastic job in telling them "good news" and "bad news".

If the song got below a 4 in any category (words, smiles, watching chorister, melody, etc.) then it was sent to the emergency room. For Juniors, I'd pick an "ambulance driver" to drive the paper to the emergency room, and we all made siren noises.

If the song was discharged (meaning only 4 or 5's) then the entire primary received a squirt of "Miracle Spray". This is just lemon crystal light in a spray bottle. I told the kids to say "AHHH" if they wanted some, and if they didn't to just keep their mouths closed. THIS was a HUGE hit.

I wish we had been able to go through all the songs and then had time to work on getting the Emergency Room patients discharged...but maybe next time.

Review Game: What's My Line

Divide the Primary into two teams.  At first, split the room in half down the middle, but later try mixing it up with girls vs. boys, kids vs. teachers, etc.

Hold a flag or colored piece of paper in each hand, one color for each team. When a team's color is RAISED, it's their turn to sing.  Another option - if you've made the TRAFFIC LIGHT, turn it sideways and use the light for up to three teams (Red, Green, and Yellow).

Start by swapping line by line - have one side of the room sing the first line, the other sings the second, etc.  After they get the hang of it, switch it up and swap mid-line, etc.  Give some of the older kids a chance to come up and direct the game.  If you like, stand between the two teams and have them face each other.

To add a little competition for Sr. Primary (totally up to you, some primaries do well with competition and some don't), if a team flubs a line the other team gets a point.  To make it trickier, go a cappella so they don't have the piano to fall back on.  NO TEACHERS SINGING for this one!

If you have some brave soloists, try a duel between two kids at a time, or two classes at a time.