Thursday, September 29, 2016

Name That Primary Song

The sweet, older sister that I visit teach is a Primary teacher in my ward. She teaches the CTR 6 class. She is amazing with them but says that sometimes they get bored or her lesson goes short and wondered what to do with them. She asked if I had any ideas what she could do when this happens. 
Being the Primary chorister, of course I thought of music!
Here is the little game I made for her class.
You could also use it for Primary singing time to review some of your favorite songs!


She was thrilled!
I'm thinking of making one for each of the JR Primary classes. I'd rather they be singing when they have extra time than playing 'Heads Up Seven Up'.

Click HERE to download the game.

Happy Singing!

Monday, September 26, 2016

PRAYER

Our program is over!!
WaaaHoooo!
The kids did fantastic even though the practice was horrible! But isn't it always?
So I'm going to introduce October's theme of 'Prayer' with an activity called "What's the Word" and sing a few of their favorites too.
I've blogged about 
What's the Word before and you can find a link HERE.
I'm doing the word PRAYER. I chose 6 songs and put them on the back of each letter. Songs like: Follow the Prophet, Family Prayer, The Church of Jesus Christ, The Golden Plates, Nephi's Courage, and My Heavenly Father Loves Me. For your SR you could also select a scripture for them to look up that has to do with prayer and place the reference on the back of each letter.
Kids take turns picking a letter, placing it on the board in random order, and singing the song. When all the letter have been selected, they try to unscramble the letters and make the word. I like to ask them what each song had to do with the word.

This is a very easy, low prep activity that's great for a sub or even FHE.

Click HERE to download What's the Word version 1 which includes the word PRAYER.

I try to sing the same song for opening and closing for the whole month. This helps them learn it better. I'm doing 'We Bow Our Heads' and 'I Love to Pray' in JR. And 'A Child's Prayer' and 'I Pray in Faith' in SR. I made a few flip charts for the ones they don't know. It seems my kids sing better if their teachers are singing and teachers sing better if I have a flip chart.
Click HERE to download the flip chart for 'I LOVE TO PRAY"
 Click HERE to download the flip chart for 'WE BOW OUR HEADS'
Click HERE to download the flip chart for 'I PRAY IN FAITH'

Happy Singing!

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Called to Serve

I've been in program mode for most of the month but I've wanted to teach 'Called to Serve'. It goes along with this month's theme and I think it's a song the kids should know.
Here is the flip chart I created to help us learn and review this great song.
Click HERE to download the flip chart.

Friday, September 9, 2016

Name That Program Song

This Sunday I get the whole time to practice our program songs. 
I want to make it simple, low prep but hit the songs hard.
I'm not big on visuals for the program. (I don't use any) So I want the kids to know which song they will be singing and what the first line is without holding up a sign. So I thought we'd play a little game.
All you need is a bell and a few balloons.



So here is what I have planned.

1. Divide the Primary into 2 teams.
2. Have a person from each team come to the small table up front where the bell will be. Place hands flat on the table.
3. Have the pianist play the introduction to one of the program songs. (My kids get about a 4 measure introduction to stand and get ready to sing)
4. First person to hit the bell guesses what the name of the song is. If correct, their team scores a point. If wrong, the other person gets to guess. If neither person gets it, ask a member of the team to name it.
5. (For the SR and oldest JR classes) Both players place hands on table again. Ask who can repeat the first line of the song.
6. First person to hit the bell with the right answer wins a point for their team.
7. Have all the Primary sing the song.
8. As they are singing, have a teacher or presidency member, blow up a balloon for each team. The louder and lovelier the team sings the bigger the balloon gets. (I found this idea over on the LDS Choristers Facebook page. Thanks to whoever came up with this. An easy, great idea!)
9. When the song is over, the adults hold the balloons up, say "GO". The adults let go of the balloons. The balloon that hits the floor last wins a point for their team.
*Repeat the whole process for the next song unless the song needs more work then sing it again & again blowing up the balloons each time.

Happy Singing, Ringing, and Blowing