"Give", Said the Little Stream

Today we took a break from program songs and sang songs that remind us of spring/summer. For example, "The prophet said to plant a garden", "Birds in a tree", "In the Leafy Treetops", "Oh what do you do in the summertime", "My Heavenly Father Loves Me", and "Give said the Little Stream". It was fun to sing different songs. For, "oh what do you do in the summertime", I had several children come up and imitate the different parts of the song. I had them decide how to portray the summer activity i assigned them like fishing, gazing at the clouds, swimming, etc. It was a quick and easy way for them to learn the song. After we sang it i asked who had heard the song before and NO ONE had ever heard it. I was shocked. It was a staple when i was younger. So strange to me that that song isn't so widely known anymore-but it was fun to sing. Anyway, I digress. My topic wasn't "oh what do you do in the summertime", but i couldn't resist putting in a plug for that song.

A previous chorister in our ward used to sing, "Give", Said the little stream as a wiggle song so i thought i'd try it with senior primary. Every time you sing a word that starts with a "G", you stand up (then sit down quickly). Every time you sing a word that starts with a "S" you clap your hands. What a workout! It was lots of fun and a nice change to sing a different wiggle song that was a challenge for senior primary. (and for me! The ups and downs made me feel old!)

Try it in your primary and see if it wears them out! :)

Songs from dads

Since this sunday is Father's Day, i decided to include some dad's in singing time. (without them actually having to be there) Using my smartphone, i recorded several dads singing primary songs. A couple dads chose to sing in different voices to try and throw the children off. (we'll see if it worked!) Anyway, i told the dads they could pick any song to sing (provided the primary knows it) or i would assign them a song to sing if they preferred. Each dad sang for about 20 seconds. I will play each recording on sunday and have the children guess who is singing and what song it is. In order to limit the pool of dads the children choose from, I will have a paper "bust" of each dad for them to choose from and a bunch of paper ties with the songs written on them. I will choose a reverent child to try and place the correct tie on the bust of the dad who sang the song. (I think i'll give them 3 chances to get it right-if they need it) When they get it correct, we will sing that song all together. Anyway, that's it. Pretty simple. It just takes some time getting the dad's recordings but i think the primary will enjoy guessing. I used dad's who have children in primary, male teachers, and i had the bishopric sing together for one song (challenge question) Have fun!

Update: This was sooo much fun today! I ended up not listing the names of the singing dads like i thought i would. I just played the recording and let the kids guess who it was. They did great and only had trouble guessing one dad. (I gave them some clues to help and then they got it) Lots of fun. Rather than making paper ties, I pre-tied several of my husbands ties and had those hanging on the board. When they guessed the singing dad correctly, they got to put a tie on our "dad". (I used a bust from a game I found in our game closet). Most the dads sang in their normal voices but one dad sang "In the Leafy Treetops" with a very heavy Texas twang and the kids couldn't stop laughing. Very fun day!

Pass the Buck

Have 4-5 children come up to the front. Give them a dollar bill to pass back and forth between them. The entire primary sings the song, watching you carefully for cut off. When you cut them off, whoever is left holding the dollar bill sings the next word. (or phrase) You can do it like the singing bee game and put the dashes on the chalkboard representing how many words they have to sing. I let them use their class for help if they want. Simple, fun. Good way to review and sing a song repeatedly.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

My pianist pointed out today that at the end of this song in the songbook, there is a suggestion on how to sing it. I don't know how i've missed that but it says, "...sing slowly and move parts of the body as they are mentioned. For example, nod head, shrug shoulders, bend knees, stand tiptoe, and so forth." So, instead of pointing to our body parts, we sang it this way today and the kids really loved it-especially because i messed up a few times-it takes concentration! I love my pianist, she points out many useful things and has great ideas!

Praise to the Man posters

Ok, so i have taught this song the past couple weeks without a poster but junior primary was struggling a bit so I finally decided to make one. Besides, the president told me she liked posters because then we can just pull them out anytime to sing, either with a substitute or a couple years down the road. So...i made a simple poster. I like to be able to cover up different portions as we learn the song and it helps the young ones have a solid visual to stick in their heads. I used these today and i was amazed at how much it helped junior-especially with the big words! (i put "ascended" going up to remind them that it means "going up" and "vain" is in stair steps down to remind them to sing 4 steps on that word-i'm going to go back and put a fermata on "tyrants" too)

Minute to Win It!

I saw this idea here a few months ago and couldn't wait to use it the next time we had a 5th sunday. (on the 5th sunday, we spend the whole time for singing time. I love it-it gives me a chance to sing a lot of songs and i have time to play games and be silly too). The idea is, if the child completes the task in the allotted time (30 sec.), they get to choose a song from my prepared list. If they don't finish, i get to choose the song we sing. Anyway, I chose 7 games to play.

Here they are: Back Flip-place 2 pencils on the back of your hand and flip them off and catch them. Add 2 at a time, up to 12 pencils.

Over Bite-pick up paper lunch bags (or grocery bags) using only their mouth. (cut the bags to varying heights to make it more challenging).

Drop Off-drop 20 clothespins into a jar.

Chocolate Unicorn-stack 3-4 ding dongs on your forehead while standing and leaning back. (this is very tricky and especially hard for junior primary-their foreheads aren't big enough). Don't Blow It-Using one hand, remove all tissues one at a time from a box of tissues. Separation Anxiety-the player separates a pile of starbursts into multiple cups of coordinating colors. (use at least 2 bags of starbursts).

Stack Attack-stack 15 cups into a perfect triangle. Then get the cups back into a single stack.

I didn't use stack attack or back flip for jr. primary and for separation anxiety, i had Jr. primary put 5 candies of each color into the correct cup. This website lists more minute to win it games if you want more ideas. It was so much fun and the kids loved it. What surprised me was how many children were familiar with the game show and knew most of the games. Next time you have a full sunday for singing time, consider minute to win it-it was lots of fun and we got to sing lots of songs! The kids were all trying their best to sing well so that they'd be picked for the next game. You can use 2 children at a time or even a whole class. Be sure to tell them to be quiet during the games to give the contestant concentration. Have fun!!

Praise to the Man

Ok, so i am behind. Really behind. We've had general conference, stake conference, I was gone on vacation last week, and today our ward had all the women attend R.S. I feel like i haven't been in primary in a long time and I MISS IT!!! Anyway, with all of this and learning our mothers day songs, I haven't had a chance to teach Praise to the Man yet. But i am ready now. And excited.

I attended a stake leadership meeting last month and decided then to start by teaching the chorus. At least to junior primary. Which i'll do next week. I will bring rhythm instruments to learn the rhythm first and then hopefully add the words. I don't plan on even making it through the whole chorus this first sunday teaching it. I don't want to overwhelm them and we have a VERY young jr. primary so i plan on easing them into it. I will eventually teach the verses to junior primary too but, in the end, if all they know is the chorus, i'll be happy.

For senior primary. I want them to use hymn books the first time we sing it. I want them to feel the power of this song from the very first time they hear it and sing it with their own voices. I'm going to have them stand and sing. Then i'll briefly tell them the history of the song and have them play this matching game to help them understand the meaning of the harder words/phrases. I think the 2nd week i teach this i will use this idea from Brittney. (i love having so many great resources out there-thanks everyone!) I am excited to finally be able to teach this song! It is so powerful and what a great song to allow us to testify of Joseph Smith and the cause he died for. I love it!

Father's Day songs-help!

Last week our ward choir director asked me what the primary would be singing for Father's day. (what? already?? it's not even mother's day yet...i'm feeling so unorganized about now....) Anyway, obviously she is being proactive and is wanting to choose her songs so that she has ample practice time which is great. Also, because she asked what the primary is singing, i'm guessing that she is considering a primary song but is giving me first choice. So, i need to choose quickly. I looked through the songbook and really, none of the father's day songs jumped out at me. Are you singing for fathers day? What are you singing? Any non traditional songs? Any medleys? I'm open to any suggestions! Thanks for your help!

Mother's Day

Since April is general conference and also stake conference for us, I knew i needed to start teaching our Mother's day songs that we will be singing in sacrament meeting. We're singing the 1st verse of Love is Spoken Here (p. 190) followed by verses 1 and 3 of Mother Dear (p. 206a) I thought of several different ways to teach the songs but ended up choosing the poster method. I REALLY want the children to learn the songs well and posters seem to do the trick for our primary. The good thing about posters is that it helps junior primary learn the words while visualizing and we can use the blobs to cover up different portions of the poster as we practice. Most of all, this way of teaching a song is easiest for me. :) Are you singing in sacrament meeting? I'd love to hear what songs you chose to sing......

Headband Hero

This activity is a great way to review a song. I saw it here and just changed it a bit. I bought a few headbands at the dollar store and printed out some key words from the song we're working on. I attached a paper clip to each word so that it would be easy to attach it to the headband. (you could use adhesive velcro too) Invite a child to wear the headband "nephite" style. Then attach a word to the headband without showing them what the word is. Then the primary sings the song and while singing, we omit the word that is on the headband. After we finish singing the song, the child wearing the headband has to guess what word is on his forehead. To make it more challenging, use several children at a time. This is a little trickier for the chorister but i found it helpful to arrange the children according to the order their word came up in the song and then I would just touch them on the shoulders when their word was coming so they would know when to listen for their word (or their omitted word actually). Make sense? We had fun with it-i hope you will too!

Stop and Go!

This is another simple way to involve the primary children and make singing time fun. I like to have different things to do while singing so that we can sing a song multiple times without the children getting bored of the song. I think i read this idea on the internet somewhere but i'm not sure where (so sorry!) Anyway, make a stoplight with colored cellophane in between. Give a child a flashlight. When they shine it through green, the primary sings normal; red, stop singing (and hum if you want), and for yellow, choose before hand what yellow will mean. For example, yellow could mean stand and sing, or twirl while singing, or sing slooowwllyy (of course this will be hard for the pianist to see so you'll have to tell her when it's yellow), or snap fingers or anything you choose! It'd be fun to turn some of the lights off in the primary room while you use this stoplight. That'll definitely catch their attention! You could even test their "watching" abilities and assign a different action to each color. Red=snap and sing; green=sing fast while clapping; yellow=stand and sing. If you do this, for reference purposes, you might want to write a code on the chalkboard indicating what each color means. I'm sure there are hundreds of ways to use this stoplight. If you find a method that works in your primary, i'd love to hear it! (don't you love how the stoplight is upside down? sorry about that, i wasn't thinking)

Potato Head Play

So, i can't even begin to give credit for this idea since I've seen it on numerous websites, but just know that the idea isn't my own, just the adaptation. Anyway, i used this for junior primary. I wanted to do something light and fun, thus the potato head. I took off the face pieces and had a child pick one. He then got to place the piece anywhere on the potato head and we sang the corresponding song. I figured that junior primary would like this but i didn't count on how much! They laughed and giggled so hard when the pieces were placed and already want it back. It was so fun to listen to their giggles. Here are the songs I used:

EYES: Popcorn Popping (i looked out the window...) or I love so see the temple.

NOSE: Head, shoulders, knees and toes (sing it several times, omitting the nose, touching the nose without saying the word, backwards, etc.)

MOUTH: Smiles

EAR: Listen, Listen

EAR: If I listen with my Heart

Another way to use the potato head would be for "head, shoulders, knees and toes". Just arrange the pieces on the face in the order that you'll sing the last 4 body parts of the song. (starting top to bottom) Very silly and sure to bring giggles.

Sing like a Bird

I got this idea from a comment by "walking on sunshine" posted on Brittney's blog. I printed and laminated pictures of a hummingbird, canary, owl, and parrot. Tell your primary children you are bird watching today. Then, depending on which bird you hold up, the children either hum, sing, oohh, or speak the words. I think this is a great idea to use when teaching a new song. It will help everyone become familiar with the music and learn the words. You could have 1/2 the primary sing the words while the other side bird watches and visa versa. Thanks for all the great ideas out there!

Quick Draw!

I asked my sister for ideas on how to let the kids choose what songs to sing on a given sunday. I wanted something quick and easy that wouldn't require much preparation because lets face it, some weeks, we just don't have time. Also, some weeks we plan something that doesn't work quite how we envisioned so we need a plan B. Anyway, her idea is super simple so of course it will go on my favorites list. Here is her idea:

Everyone puts their hands on their knees. You say, "one, two, three!, then everyone raises their hands really fast. You will probably need a member of the presidency or your pianist to help you judge who's hand goes up first (especially if you have a large primary). The first hand up gets to pick their favorite song to sing. (see?? simple, but fun) Before you start, tell them they have a minute to think of their favorite primary song (or have them choose one from a list you've prepared). This way they will be ready with one in their head. (besides, can't you just hear the peaceful stillness of that moment while they are thinking of a song and waiting for you to begin counting??) Anticipation is everything!

My Quandry..help...please

Do you remember me saying in my "all about me" section that i am a relatively new chorister? Well, let me clarify...I am a brand new chorister. I've only had this calling since November which means i barely know what's going on most days. (i guess maybe i'm a slow learner??) It's been almost 16 years since i last served in primary and while I LOVE being back in primary, i am at a loss most sundays concerning the order and functionality of things. I am in awe at all of you who enter the primary room with confidence on sundays (or at least look like you are confident). So you're wondering what's my point? Well, this is my quandry...how much time do i spend teaching doctrine versus singing with the children on sundays? I have pored over other chorister blogs, lds.org, Pat Graham's songbook companion and anything else i can find and this is what i've found: everyone does it different. Maybe that's my answer then?? I guess I just need to find my way and go with it, right? I just want to sing sing sing each week but then i wonder if i should be teaching more?? But isn't that what sharing time's for?? i'm not sure but i do know that my 20 min. (which more often that not is 10 or 15 min.) disappears so quickly and i barely have time for singing much less teaching. With that in mind, i wanted input from all of you seasoned or otherwise experienced choristers. How do you find the balance? Do you have any advice for me?

St. Patricks Day Fun!

I bought a few of these hats from the $1 section at Target. There are so many ways to use them year after year. Here are a few ideas:

1.velcro (or tape) phrases from a song on each hat. Have one child from each class wear a hat and their corresponding class sings that phrase, then rotate hats so every class has a chance to sing each phrase of the song.

2. Attach phrases from several different songs. (one on each hat) and have the children guess which song it is from. The child that guesses correctly gets to wear the hat and help lead the song.

3. Each hat can represent a way in which to sing the song. The child chooses a hat and wears it while he/she leads that movement.

4. Attach a song to each hat and have a child choose a hat. They get to wear the hat and help lead.

5. Have a class sing off. Whichever class sings a song (or phrase) best, their teacher gets to wear a hat. Continue until all the teachers are wearing the hats.

6. Invite several children to come up (the same # as hats you have). Have them play "musical chairs" walking around the hats on the floor or you can put the hats on chairs. (the rest of primary sings to provide the music). When you cut off the singing, the children up front stop in front of a hat, pick it up, put it on. Have a preselected hat that has special instructions or a question. Before you start each round, whisper which hat is the "chosen" one to your pianist and keep a list of questions to use. (for example, what is your favorite thing to do in the spring? Shake hands with all the teachers, Tell us one of your favorite talents, name all the children in your class, etc.) This is fun because it allows you to practice having the primary stop singing when you cut them off and it gives everyone a chance to learn something about a few primary children.

7. Attach a St. Patty's day riddle to each hat. Look here or here to get some riddle ideas to get you started. (it'd be fun to add a fun way to sing the song to the riddle too) Invite a child to choose a hat, answer the riddle and wear the hat while the primary sings the song!

8. There are no doubt many many more ways to use these hats, i'd love to hear your ideas!

How would YOU use the hats??

Hello song

Since my blog is new and lacking in the number of posts, i thought i'd occasionally post a few ideas i've used over the past few months. Each sunday we sing a hello song to new and visiting children. I like the "Hello" song and when i was called, it was the only one our primary knew, but singing it each week was getting stale. Then i came across an idea on several chorister blogs to try singing hello in different languages. So I made these language signs with flags on them. The visitor or new child picks 2 languages. (or if there's 2 visitors, they can each pick one. For multiple visitors, we usually sing "here we are together") Anyway, 1/2 the primary sings 1 language, the other 1/2 sings the other language instead of "hello". The kids seems to like it and it gives variety. Of course, true to form, i botch several of the languages, but thankfully, many teachers and even primary children know the correct pronunciation!

Chalkboard erase addition....Stand for the Right

Like I said in my earlier post, today in senior primary we did the chalkboard erase game to learn Stand for the Right. They did great but the fun part was when a few girls suggested an idea for a way to make the game more challenging. After we had erased 10 or so words, one side of the primary sang all the words that were remaining on the board. Then we sang it again with the other 1/2 of primary singing only the words that had been erased. Then, the third time through, we combined the two groups. Not only did they have to pay attention to when it was their word(s) to sing, but I had to really pay attention on who was supposed to sing so i could point to the right side when it was their turn. They did great and it was lots of fun!

Latter-day Prophets

This sunday's "focus" song is short, and I don't think it will take the entire time. (which i love by the way because the more songs we can sing each week the better!) Anyway, since the theme is centered around prophets i thought it'd be fun to re-visit "Latter-day Prophets". This idea came to me based on a Price is Right game. (hey, inspiration is all around us, right?) I have a 81/2 X 11 picture of each prophet from Joseph Smith to Pres. Monson. I will place them randomly on the board and while the rest of the primary sings the song through, one child will come up front and attempt to put them in order before we finish singing. I am anticipating that they will not recognize all the prophets and will have a difficult time completing this the first time around. If they have some wrong at the end of the song, (which i'm sure they will), i will pick another child to come and build on what's already been done. (I'm thinking i'll have a button like from the taboo game for the child to press when they are done and then i'll reveal to them how many they have right, but not which ones are right) The child up front can only use their class for help since the rest of the primary will be singing the song repeatedly. I am excited to learn this song since the last time i sang it the prophet was Pres. Kimball. I guess it's about time i learned the updated version!

Stand for the Right-SR.

I've been thinking about this all week and finally decided that I would take the simple road. The song is short and i think it will be easily learned. So, i'm going to use an oldie but goodie teaching idea. I will write the words on the chalkboard/whiteboard and then have a few children erase a few words at a time each time we sing it until we are comfortable with the song. After we've done this a few times, i will ask the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN questions from the Children's Songbook Companion to help them internalize the meaning of the song. WHO has some words for us? (Our prophet) WHAT are the words? (Be true) WHERE shall we be true? (At work or at play) WHEN should we be true? (In darkness or light)