Valentines Day

I thought that because it was Valentines Day, we should do a valentines activity. 

But first, I had them sing My Heavenly Father Loves Me, a couple times for practice. 

Then I told them how excited I was for Valentines Day, and that there is someone in our ward who does so much for all of us.  Of course they all guessed the bishop.  I explained that we were going to make a giant valentine for the bishop today.  I passed out construction paper hearts to each child.  I gave them 5 minutes to write on their heart, their favourite primary song, and their name, and then had them each glue their heart to the valentine.  This part was a bit chaotic!  Once all the hearts were glued on, I closed my eyes and pointed to a heart, and we sang the kids favorite songs. 

After singing time, I snuck down to the bishops office, and taped our Valentine to his door.



I got the idea here:  http://primarysingingtimewithmatilda.blogspot.ca/2010/02/valentine-for-bishop.html

Science Experiment Review

Tomorrow for Singing Time, I thought we would do something fun.  The kids know My Heavenly Father Loves Me, pretty good.  So I thought we would review it, I am a Child of God, and When I am Baptised (because they all know that song from last yr.) 

This is what were doing, I got the idea here:  http://primarysingingtimeideas.blogspot.ca/search?q=coloring#

How it works:

1) Fill several clear containers (I used plastic drinking cups) with about 3/4 cup water and 1/3 cup vinegar. (the ratio can be varied, but more vinegar= more fizz= more fun! PLACE CONTAINERS on a BAKING SHEET, as this WILL MAKE A MESS!!!!

2) place one small drop of food coloring on a metal spoon (don't use clear, since you can see the color on the other side), then place a heaping teaspoon of baking soda on top, or enough to make sure the food coloring is covered.



3) Have a child come up and pick a spoon to stir in a cup of "water".   It will fizz like crazy!  Once the fizz has settled down, the color will show up.  I'll make a chart showing what we will do when certain colours are discovered.

 eg. 
Red - Sing I am a Child of God  
Blue - Sing My Heavenly Father Loves Me  
Green - When I am Baptised  
Yellow - Pick a favorite song. 
I might do a couple more colours, so more favorites can be picked. 



I'm sure that the kids will LOVE this fun experiment!!

Word Strip Review

This was our last week of January, which means our last week to review I am a Child of God.  Really, they don't need the review, they all know the song great!  So I thought I'd try and have some fun with them!

What I did was got 4 word strips for each verse.  On each strip I wrote one of the phrases in the verse.  eg. #1. I am a Child of God  #2. And He has sent me here  #3.  Has given me an earthly home  ect.  Then I had kids, one at a time come and choose a strip, and decide where it went in the song - which verse, and in what spot of that verse.  The one trick was that they couldn't get any help.  And if it got put in the wrong spot, it had to stay there. 

Once all the word strips were placed, we sang the song like that- mistakes and all! The seniors thought this was pretty funny to do.  With the seniors, I also put 4 extra word strips in, to really try and trick them.  It was really simple, and fun for the kids.  Once we sang it, we made any corrections, and then sang it the "right" way again. 

Nerf Gun Singing

This year, I made a list of all the songs that the kids know, and what I want them to know.  There are probably 50-60 songs on the list.   So today, I picked 4 of those songs, ones that they dont know 100%, and that is what we practiced. 

We started by singing through I am a Child of God a couple times.  Just to review it.  Then we moved on to our activity.

I brought in a magnet board, with a target drawn on it.  The outer 2 rings were divided into 4 sections each.  In the outer ring, I had written the numbers 1-4, and the 2nd ring was numbered 5-8.  Does that make sense??  The middle I left without a number.  If you have a white board in your primary room, you could just draw the target on that.


I also brought a small nerf gun, with 3 bullets - the kind of bullets that stick to my board.  As soon as I pulled out the gun, everyone got excited - especially the boys!

 I picked a kid, and had him stand back from the target - age approperate - and had them shoot.  If they hit one of the numbers, we sang that song.  Like I said, I had picked 4 songs, and those are the ones that we sang.  If they hit the bulls eye, they got to pick their favorite song.

This is always a fun activity.  But not super reverant...

Presentation Review

Its official. 
I'm really getting sick of these songs!!
Our presentation is October 21!  Thank goodness!!

Next week I'm out of town.  Then General Conference.  Then just one more practice week!  I'm so excited to stop singing these songs for a while!!

This week we just had an easy review.

I put a bunch of items into a bag.  Kids took turns coming up and picking an item, then guessing which song it represented.  Pretty easy.  Here's a list of the items that I used, and what songs they went with.

Sword - Nephis Courage
Umbrella - Baptism song
Picture of kids with Jesus - I know my Saviour Loves Me
Light Bulb - As a Child of God
Picture of Jesus - I'm Trying to be Like Jesus
CTR Ring - Choose the Right
Rock - Wiseman
Bee - Stand for the Right

Review, and Birthday Songs

There are a couple songs that I want to review this week, just to make sure the kids have all the words down.

So we sang over Nephi's Courage - the 3rd verse, and I Know My Savior Loves Me - the 2nd verse. We sang through them a couple times.  Then we had a competition to see what side of the room could sing it best.  A little competition always gets the kids going, but they are always surprised when they tied, again...

I knew that wouldn't take the whole time, so I stole these ideas from another blog (sorry I don't remember where it was!).  I feel like our B-day songs are getting a little boring, so I thought that this would spice things up a bit.  The kids loved it!  I only taught the Jr's the first one because we ran out of time.  But the Sr's loved the chicken dance!

Happy Happy Birthday Children Dear  (Hand Jive)

Happy Happy - slap legs 2 times
Birthday - clap 2 times
Children Dear - wave hands in front of you - one on top of each other 2 times (does this make sense?)

Happy days - slap legs 2 times
will come - clap 2 times
you all year -  wave hands in front of you - one on top of each other 2 times

If I had a  - slap legs 2 times
wish then - clap 2 times
it would be - wave hands in front of you - one on top of each other 2 times

a happy happy - slap legs 2 times
birthday - clap 2 times
to you from me - wave hands in front of you - one on top of each other 2 times


Your Happy Birthday p.283 (Chicken Dance)

(This is the song that starts:  This month is such a special one...)

This one you do the chicken dance actions 4 times for each action. 

I think these are hilarious actions, and I can not wait for our next birthday so we can do one of these songs.

Jr. - 10
Sr. - 10

Back-To-School Review Singing Time

This week, I'm straight up, stealing an idea from another blogger.  Her blog post can be found here:  http://camillesprimaryideas.blogspot.ca/2012/08/back-to-school-review-singing-time.html#comment-form

If your too lazy to go to her blog, here's what I'm doing.

 

School for our Primary kids started last Tuesday. (Thankgoodness!)  So I thought it would be appropriate to do a back-to-school themed singing time to review our program songs this week.

 

PREP:

Gather the following items: backpack, eraser, glue, markers, ruler, pencil, scissors, and pencil sharpener.  Place all items into a backpack. 

ERASER: “Erase" (don’t sing) the words “choose” and “right” in the song Choose the Right.

GLUE: Glue your legs together and your arms to your sides so you hold really still while we sing I Know my Savior Loves Me.

MARKERS: Only sing Nephi’s Courage when you are wearing the same color as the marker that is held up.

RULER: Measure the volume as we sing Stand for the Right. Point to 1 inch for softer up to 12 inches for louder.

 

PENCIL: Write with your hands (Do the actions while singing) to the song The Wiseman.

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 I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus.

 

ACTIVITY:

I called kids up to pick an item out of the backpack, and then we sang the song as directed. 

It was fun, but the kids were really mellow, so they didn't really get into it.  Regardless, it was a good review for the kids.

 

Jr. - 7

Sr. - 7

Memory

This week I knew that a lot of kids would be gone for the long weekend, so I just wanted to have fun with the kids who were here.  So I made a memory game.

I warn you now, that I am no artist.  And I really didn't feel like spending the time on-line to look for pictures, and printing them off.  Soo, I drew some cards.  They are nothing special, but they worked.

Pretty self explanatory, every time they got a match, we sang the songs that were written on the back.  Some of them were review, and some of them were just fun songs.  I'll definitely be saving these, and using them again.

Jr. - 9
Sr. - 9

Stickers

Last week I just wanted to review a couple of the songs that the kids don't know the 2nd verses to, but I wanted to make sure that I kept them motivated.  We started by singing the song through a couple times to make sure that they knew the words, then I pulled out some stickers.  I bought those small star sticker that teachers give out, and told the kids that if I saw them singing really well,then they would get a sticker. 
I know that this doesn't sound very motivating, but I promise - IT WORKS!!  I walk around the room and put the stickers on the kids faces if they are singing really good.  Really, I give one to everyone.  The boys love to have them stuck to noses, or glasses.
I love this as a review.  I've also seen people do this with round red stickers and tell them they have the singing chicken pox.
Simple, but fun.

Jr. - 10
Sr. - 10

Sing or Dare

This week, I babysat 3 of my nieces and nephews.  My Sis-in-law, Meg, is also the singing time leader in her ward, so when she dropped off her kids, she also left this little treasure for me.  I love that I didn't have to prepare anything for Sunday! 

I used this as a review for 3 of my presentation songs, but I think it would work better for just review on one song.

Here's what I did.  I had a list of different "dares" or "sings", for the kids to pick.  (Surprise, surprise, the "dares" all got picked first.)  I had a different set of things to choose for Jr.'s, and Sr.'s.

Jr. Dare                                                                   Jr. Sing

Stand on your chair and shout "I love primary!"        Stand on one foot and sing the 1st verse.

Name 2 latter day prophets.                                        March in place and sing the 1st verse.

Give the primary pres. a high five.                             Play Stop/Go while you sing the 3rd verse.

Give your teacher a hug.                                             Whisper sing the 2nd verse.

Switch seats with someone else.                                 Tiptoe in a circle while you sing 2nd verse.

Name your fav. thing about primary.                          Clap they rhythm while you sing the 3rd verse

               Sr. Dare                                                                                   Sr. Sing

Name 3 Latter day Prophets                                  Girls face left, boys face right as you sing 3 vs

Tell the names of everyone in your class                Leave out the names of people and places 1 vs

Draw a picture of your fav. food.                            "Buzz" instead of singing the word "the".

Stand on your chair and shout "I love primary"       Rub your belly and pat your head sing 2nd vs

Hop on one foot around the podium 3 times.           Play stop/go while you sing the 1st vs.

Give everyone a high-five.                                       Stand on 1 foot while you sing the 3 vs.  If the

                                                                                     other foot touches the ground, sit down.

We were able to get through all  of the dares, and sings before my time was up.  Thanks Meg for the fun singing time!!

Jr. - 9

Sr. - 9

Mr. Potato Head

This week I really slacked, and didn't think about Singing Time, until 8pm Saturday night.  I needed something quick because I was going to a movie that night, and didn't have time to prepare anything fancy.

So what do I do when I don't have a lot of time?  I go to my kids toy room, and see what I can find, that I could make work for a Singing Time game.

I pulled out, and dusted off the Mr. Potato Head.



I pulled out a bunch of different body parts, - eyes, nose, mouth, arms, hat, feet... - you get the picture, and taped a paper with a song title written on it to each body part.  I stuffed all of this into an old gift bag, and called it a night!

Today at Primary, the kids took turns picking a part and putting it on the body, and we sang each song.

E-A-S-Y!

I did mostly fun songs, because in the summer I don't want to only review, and you never know how many kids will be there.

Fun, and easy!

Jr. - 8
Sr. - 7

Summer Olympics

Since its the Summer Olympics right now in London, there were a LOT of great Olympic themed singing time ideas online. Here's one that I found that the kids totally LOVED!  (Sorry to who ever originally posted it, I cant give you credit because I didn't save your blog address.) 

First of all I talked a bit about the Olympics, and got them hyped up.  Then I divided the room into two teams.  Each "team" had a turn to pick which "sport" they wanted to try.  But both "teams" got to sing each song together.

Here's a list of all the "sports" that we did.

Torch Relay: I am Like a Star - turn off lights and pass the the torch around the room. 

     I had really good intentions of making a torch out of a flash light, but things got busy Saturday night, and that just didn't happen.  So I brought 2 flashlights, told the kids that they were the torches, and they had to pass them around the room.  I'm not sure if I would do this part of it again.  The kids - especially the Jr's, didn't like passing the torch, they just wanted to play with it, and they didn't understand the purpose of it.

Volleyball: Nephi’s Courage - volley the song back and forth (each side sings one line).

     This one the kids loved.  Especially when we went fast.

Marathon: When I am Baptized - sing as much as you can in one breath.

Synchronized Singing: Wiseman - sign language (actions for the song).

     I told them how important it is for sync. swimmers to do every action together, and made a really big deal about that.  The kids took this one very seriously.

Rhythmic Gymnastics: Choose the Right - do this rhythm with your hands: lap, lap, clap, clap, snap,  snap, thumbs over shoulders.

Archery: I'm Trying to be like Jesus - as the leader’s arms are stretched out, sing louder and as arms close, sing softer.
     This one was not my favourite. 

All in all, it was a fun singing time, and a good review for the presentation songs.  Below are the list of events that I had on the chalk board for the kids to choose from.  (I'm still figuring out this blogging thing, and don't know how to do this properly so you can just print it out from a link.)  Sorry.






Jr. - 10
Sr. - 10

Hot and Cold

This week I was just plain tired and too lazy to plan a really fun singing time.  So I did an old standby, the Hot and Cold game. 

Soo easy.  I pick 2 kids, one to hide an object, and one to find the object hidden.  The finder gets clues to where it is hidden by the kids singing louder or softer. 

Every kid loves this game.  And because I choose 2 kids each time almost everyone got a turn!

Jr. - 9
Sr. 9

Tic - Tac - Toe

This was my first week doing Singing time in our ward.  I wanted to see how well the kids knew the songs, and I wanted to do something fun with the kids.  So we did tic-tac-toe. 

I divided the room in two, one side was  X the other O.  I watched for "good" singers, and had them take turns putting their X or O on the board.  Behind each square I had written a song, so we sang that song before the next kid got to place their letter.  They had a blast. 

I also saw that the kids - especially the seniors, knew the songs better than I thought they did.

Rating:
Jounior - 9
Senior - 9