Hershey kisses because WE LOVE TO SING!!

This sunday is our last primary before Christmas since we only have Sacrament meeting on Christmas day. I just want to SING! SING! SING! and get in as many Christmas songs as possible but i know that having an activity of some sort will help keep their attention...especially because we'll be all combined for primary on sunday so i'll have nearly 100 children.

Here's my idea: (taken from a popular FHE game using big candy bars) In order to accommodate my desire to sing, sing, sing, AND keep the children interested, i decided that i am going to have one class at a time come to the front where i'll have a long table set up with utensils and gloves for each child. They'll also have a bowl of hershey kisses in front of them. The rest of the primary will act as the "timer" and sing a christmas song. Those up front will have the duration of the song to unwrap as many kisses as they can with gloves on and using the utensils. (i plan on making this harder for the older kids with big gloves and allowing the sunbeams to do it without gloves). They have to unwrap the kiss, and throw the trash away with their utensils before they can get another kiss. Of course, they can keep whatever they open. Even if they don't open one, they'll get a chocolate kiss for participating.

I'll rotate through, having each class get a turn (as long as they are reverent and are singing when it's not their turn to unwrap). I think this will allow us to sing lots of songs and keep the primary involved. I'm hoping anyway!!! :)

Baking cookies is fun to do!

I can't remember where i saw this idea, but it's a great one and the kids love it! Sing "Fun to Do" using these words/actions:

Making some cookies is fun to do...

Mixing the dough....

rolling the dough...

Cutting the shapes...

Sprinkling the sugar...

Waiting for baking is hard to do. (fold arms, tap foot like waiting)

Eating our cookies...

The younger kids, sunbeams especially, love this!

Pin the bow on the present

I did this last year and pulled it out for an encore today. It is a simple way to sing lots of Christmas songs and keep the children engaged at the same time. Blindfold one child (or a teacher)-I just use one of those beauty sleeping shades that i bought at the dollar store. Once the person can't see, point to the present they are going to pin the bow on so that all the children know which one is the goal. Give them a bow with that fun tac stuff on the back. Then, play just like hot/cold. Start singing softly and continue softly while they are far away then sing louder when they get closer to the "mark". I put ribbon on the presents and showed the primary that our goal was to pin the bow at the intersection of the 2 ribbons. They loved it. This year i placed all the presents together on the board, but if you want to make it more challenging, put the presents all around the primary room and the blindfolded person will have to walk all over searching for the "chosen" present by listening to the volume of the singers. Be aware of where they are going though so that they don't trip on something....Have fun!

Singing with Christmas trees!

For SR. primary: I am teaching 2 different Christmas songs tomorrow for performances coming up. We are learning "Silent Night" in German and "If i had been in Bethlehem". I know i won't have time for much of an activity so i printed several of these Christmas trees-each with a different number in the center. Before primary, I will tape them under chairs randomly. I plan on having the children look under their chairs to see who has the trees. I will have all those with trees come up front. Whoever has #1 will sing phrase 1 with their class (I will have the words to the song written on a poster and each phrase will have a number in front of it), the person with #2 will sing phrase 2 with their class and so forth. I'll probably have the children with trees swap with each other so that their classes get a turn singing other phrases too. I'm hoping this will be an organized way to help them learn these songs.

For JR. primary, I printed these Christmas singing cards posted by Brittney that she found on pinterest. I'll tell them what song we're singing, then they will pick a card to determine how we'll sing. For example:

elf-tiptoe in place like we're sneaking

Christmas tree-spread our arms like branches

angel-fly like an angel

santa claus-put our hands on our bellies and pretend we're laughing while we sing

ornament-roll our hands

reindeer-prance in place

snowflake-twirl and spin in place

gingerbread-run in place

candy cane-twist

snowman-melt to the floor

If I had been in Bethlehem

One of the counselors in primary asked me to teach this song. I'd never heard it so i was definitely curious. I immediately looked it up online....it is a beautiful song. It is by Sally DeFord and was published in the Friend in December 1989 which i think means it is approved for use in primary. :) Anyway, if you're looking for a new Christmas song this year, check out this one here. I plan on making visuals for this song. I'll try to post them when i'm done if you're interested.