Facebook Group for Choristers

I thought it might be fun to create a central area for all of us choristers to meet up, share, ask, and chat.  So, I have created a "closed" group on Facebook for all of us that are currently serving as LDS Primary Choristers.  Please, please join our group.  The more of us there are, the more successful the group will be.  Since it is a closed group (posts cannot be seen by those that aren't members) you will need to visit the group and request membership.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/498750880136182/

I look forward to seeing you there!

Wise man and the Foolish man

Awhile ago I decided to use a different rendition of the Wise man and the Foolish man (found HERE).  I fell in love with this arrangement because it puts an entirely different tone to this "wiggle" song.  When I first saw the program line-up I was pretty confident I would just replace the Wise man/Foolish man song with something else, but this changed everything.  Give it a listen.  It is wonderful.

I also am using a wonderful visual/object lesson to review this song tomorrow in primary.  Kids love object lessons and I thought this was a great one (see the blog post in its entirety by clicking here, courtesy Nalani at intheleafytreetopsthebirdssing.blogspot.com)

The items you will need are:

• 2 clear dishes (glass cake dishes are suggested)
• Flat top rock placed in one of the dishes
• Sand
• 2 houses to fit on rock/sand mound
• Watering can or container filled with water
• Towel or fabric for cleaning up messes
• Towel or fabric to keep your display hidden until it is time to present

(images courtesy Nalani)

  

You can probably envision what happens once you pour the water in to each dish.  Nalani has some great questions to pose as you go along to make the kids think.  I am also going to challenge the senior primary to scripture chase some scriptures that would pertain to this song.  (We have a gumball machine we are filling up and they will get extra gumballs if they can find the scriptures without any assistance).

I have fallen in love with this song and the arrangement found on Terri Hutchings Music blog.  What a great way to make the kids excited about a song they already know the words to so well.

How's your program coming?? Is it getting close for you too? D-day is September 16th for us!! I think I might record some of our dress rehearsals so we can play it back for the kiddos.  Who doesn't like seeing themselves on camera?!? :D  Good luck! Review, review, review and have fun!

Musical Missionaries

I have really wanted to find a way to teach the kids how to apply the songs they learn at church, in their daily life.  Personally, when I was younger, I relied on all my primary songs to help me remember the basic concepts of what our church believes.  I grew up in the "mission field" and did not have very many LDS friends.  I was often asked very basic questions about my Sunday activities and was very grateful to have primary songs memorized to help in situations like these.

I created a little activity I am going to call "Musical Missionaries". Here are the supplies I am using:

• large, printed missionary tag (one per class)
• graphical representation of appropriate songs for board
• missionary questions
• my curious kids picture (to act as a visual for the friend asking questions)
• a set of 9 questions that are asked (and match up with the songs represented on the board)

You can work this activity however it best fits your primary (I have a very small primary) but I plan on randomly selecting one "missionary" per class, who will act as the spokesman (be sure to pick someone you know is not particularly shy). I then plan on having my 9 questions in separate envelopes numbered 1-9 (in my pre-set order).  You could either hide the questions around the room for a child to find or simply have them up front for you to read. Each class will answer one question (I plan on starting in the front and going through each class).  Once I ask the question, the class with talk with each other (and teacher's really need to step in and help!!) and tell the missionary which picture/song on the board they "think" will answer the question.  If they pick the wrong song, depending on time, you could sing the incorrect song and ask them if they think that song worked. If not, why? Place back on board and try again.

With the correct song selected and sang, I will ask the missionary (and class) to tell me one thing they heard in the song that could answer our friends question.  So on and so forth.

If you have any suggestions on how this activity could be improved or any variations you may have done, I'd love to hear them!

I do have some rough graphics available for you to download below.  I plan on re-doing them when I have more time and mounting on colored paper, then laminating.  Of course you could amend my documents to reflect any songs/questions you want.

Click here to download the questions.

Click here to download the missionary tags (print, fold in half and put string through), and song/pictures.

July: Pioneer Month - Diving for Crickets

I am using July as an opportunity to revive the fun pioneer songs from the Children's Songbook.  There is a story in this month's friend called 'Saving the Wheat'.  I took this story and created a different version of "fishing" that allowed us to pick a variety of songs.

I printed out little crickets and a seagull picture.  I then placed the cricket cut-outs in a bin of rice (you could also use wheat berries if you have them and are willing to use them).  I then attached paper clips to each cricket.  For the pole I used a piece of wood (skewer) and yarn to make a pole for the seagulls.  I attached my seagull picture to the yarn that had a magnet attached to the bottom.  (Hopefully that all made sense).  I began by telling the kids the story from the friend and then we went diving for crickets! Each cricket had a song written on the back. I enjoyed the simple way of bringing a real adaption to the game and I think the kids will remember the bugs! They had lots of fun!

Latter-Day Prophets: Hot/Cold Matching Game

We are still learning the Latter-Day Prophets song and I decided to take the first six prophets and use them in a  matching game.

I pinned my accordion of pictures along the long wall in the primary room (accordion of picture instructions HERE) and I covered the first six prophets up with construction paper.  Then (before primary started) I hung miniature versions of those covered prophets around the room (mini versions provided by Leafy Treetops Blog here).  We then played Hot & Cold to guide one of the children to the first, second, third prophet, etc.

(Hot & Cold is singing or humming the song while you have a "seeker" looking around the room.  The LOUDER the singing gets, the closer they are. The QUIETER they sing, the further away. Pick a new seeker each turn.)

I had junior primary hum the song so they could become VERY comfortable with the notes of the song. It can seem a bit all over the place to the little ones, especially when you toss in all those new/tune names.  The kids seem to always find the missing prophet right around "David Ooooooo McKay".  I like to point out those little tidbits to help the kids recognize different parts of the song.

Once the missing prophet is found, we uncover the big version and make sure they are a match.  As a side note, with the little ones, I had the "seeker" come up and face me.  I think asked the rest of the primary to point (no words!!!) where we were going to guide our seeker -- just to make sure we all were on the same page. This helped a lot. Senior primary is old enough that the seeker quickly stepped out of the room and then I had the rest of the kids talk with each other to figure out where to next. I never helped them and this made it all the more fun if they were wrong!

It can also be helpful to point out physical features on each prophet to help them remember.  For instance:

Lorenzo Snow's beard looks just like snow!!

I'm sure you can think up other features to help.  Like...who was the first prophet (after our first Joseph Smith) to NOT have a beard?!

Latter-Day Prophets

Can I just say again how grateful I am to all of you Primary Choristers that put in so much work and are so willing to share with all of us?  Thank you, thank you!

A big THANKS to "In the Leafy Treetops..." blog. She has done some amazing hand-outs for learning Latter-Day Prophets and our singing time tomorrow will be super fun because of her!

Need ideas for learning Latter-Day Prophets (Children's Song Book, pg 134)? GO HERE! Don't forget to use her PDFs that she so kindly is sharing.

Hymn #239 "Choose The Right": 2nd Verse

I have used this method a lot (mostly with the senior primary, who can read).  I write out the entire verse on a large poster board.  Then, under each word, I number 1 through 6.  After we sing the song a few times, I then have a square cardboard box with numbers 1-6 on it.  A child comes up, rolls a number.  Whatever number comes up I use construction paper and/or post-it notes to cover up all the words with that number under it.  To keep it interesting, I use my silly song cards to change the way we sing the song each time.

With junior primary, I left the poster board up for teachers to see and then we just sang it over and over with the silly cards.  I did start by reading the words and explaining what they meant.  I feel like the kids remember the words better if they just aren't these big, ominous words that don't mean anything.  You can also start singing line by line in a silly manner.

Variations for this method that would work:

- Use a dry erase board and/or wet-wipe board and erase the words
- Use a flannel board with the words as flannel posts and pull down the words
- Don't use the "dice" and just have children choose a number between 1-6

Now, my picture below is not my best work, but hopefully you get the idea. :-)

Sing it a few times like you see below. Free for them to read.

See the numbers under the words?

Eventually all the words will be gone. 

Flip Chart Games

I came across a wonderful blog with
lots of super, duper ideas. The name of the blog is

"In the Leafy Treetops the Birds Sing Good Morning..."

She had some marvelous ideas on how to use flip charts 

(I always just stand in the front and hold them.
It didn't even occur to me to make them in to games!)

My two favorite ideas she had were:

1) Hand out a flip chart to each class.  Each class only sings the part shown on their paper.  Rotate between the classes.  Another rendition is to have them posted in stations and have the classes rotate around the room.

2) Post the flip charts in 4 corners (or areas).  Have a child blind-folded as you sing the song. At the end of the song, have them try and guess which chart they are under.

I love all the helpful blogs around the web! Keep up the sharing! We all need new, fresh ideas (and those "old, overused games" you use might be brand new to someone else). Share, share away!

Thank you, Leafy Treetops!

Hymn # 239 "Choose the Right": 1st Verse

This week I am going to attempt the first verse of "Choose The Right".  I have found that our children are very successful when I create a game/activity that forces them to listen closely to the words (even if they don't know them yet).  This week we are going to play a musical chairs of sorts.

I have printed (and laminated) a few keys items and also found a few props.

We will sing the entire song through once (or twice) for the kids to listen to the words.  Then, I will line up chairs in the front of primary, call up enough kids to have them each hold one of the signs and/or props.  (I will also hand out my CTR-on-a-stick from last week to remaining audience members. Same rules.)  Each child in the front of the room has to stand up when they hear the part of the song that matches their sign.  If they forget to stand up or miss it, then they get to pick someone from the audience to take their place (and the audience member will hand over their CTR-on-a-stick).  Lather, rinse, repeat!!

For our senior primary (who consists of "older" senior primary) I may have them line up, but not in order of the song (like I would intenionally do with junior).  I also might add a few more props/signs that would require them to act faster and listen for more words.

My props, in the picture above, are as follows:

Choose the right
When a choice is placed before you (B 4 U sign)
In the right
The Holy Spirit Guides (Wrong Way sign)
And its light (flashlight)
Is forever shining o'er you
When in the right
Your heart confides (heart sign)

I limited my props/signs to simplify it for the young ones, but you can add as many or as little as you want.

Hymn # 239 "Choose the Right": Chorus Only

This is quite the song to teach the primary! I love it, but hymns always take a little more effort.  For our first week in February, I spent the time introducing the chorus to the primary. ONLY the chorus.  I wanted them to have some confidence in a strong portion of the song before we moved on to the verses.

Last week I printed out pictures to represent the chorus lines (CTR shield, wise old owl for wisdom, etc).  I posted the pictures around the room and had the kids sing the chorus a few times and then called up a child to find the picture they thought came first, then second, third, etc.

As they found the hidden picture and brought it to the front of the room, I then had them place it on the magnetic chalkboard in the proper order (helpful hint: I allowed the remainder of the primary to help the "seeker" but ONLY if the seeker asked for help and ONLY with their pointing fingers -- no words allowed).

I also handed out CTR-on-a-stick.  Each child had a shield (printed and attached to a stick -- or pencil, like me, if you ran out of sticks).  Any time the kids heard the word "RIGHT" they had to hold their CTR-on-a-stick SUPER high!! It really helped them focus on the words.

(I got this idea off another pirmary blog and I cannot seem to find it!! My apologies in advance for not giving the proper credit. If one of you happen to find which blog, feel free to post a comment with a link to it and I will do the same if I find it.)

As a help, I also handed out a printed copy of the hymn to the teachers. I wanted to make sure that there was some singing along with the mumbling. Most of the teachers knew the song already, but cheat-sheets can't hurt a bit!

Feliz Cumpleaños

An easy and fun activity to help teach the birthday song "Feliz Cumpleaños" is to type out the language (and phonetic pronunciation) on separate pieces of paper. Then, print out blank maps of each country.  Split the children in to groups for each language and let them try and figure out the pronunciation.  Then have the children come teach the primary and guess which country it comes from. I used the magnetic chalkboard to post the maps and then once they guessed, placed the words under the map (in the order of the song).

Click here to download a PDF link of the languages already typed out.

If anyone else in your primary happens to speak a different language, have them come up and share.  If you can, it might be fun to also find clothing or traditional dress from each country to have the kids put on.

Then repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat!

(If you are lucky enough to have members from any one of the countries mentioned in the song, you can have them come in and help say the word, or record it to play for the kids.)

Learning by clothesline

I forgot to take a picture of our clothesline song, but this is a very simple activity that gets the children involved. All you will need is:

• clothesline (or sturdy string - I used yarn)
• clothespins (the spring kind)
• visual aids that can be pinned to the line

I made all of my visual aids on paper.  I then used magnets to pin them all over the chalkboard.  We sang the new song once through.  Then we started with the first line.  I called a child up to find the very first picture in our line.  Once they picked the right one, they hung it on the line (which I had attached across the room, or you can have two very patient kids hold it).  Once we had two lines of pictures on the string, we would sing those lines.  Do this until the song is complete.

For the older kids, who learn the song quickly, I would then randomly remove pictures and see if they could remember the words. If they made a mistake the picture would have to be added back.  The goal was to have an empty clothesline by the end of singing time.

Another option to make this more of a game is to hid/tape the visual aids all over the room so they have to search for it.  Depending on the number of children you have in your primary you can have them seek one-by-one, or an entire class at a time.

Hide-n-Seek Snowman

We did another snow theme today. We are finishing up the final verse on the song "As A Child of God" and needed a game that would allow us to repeat the song over and over again (anything to drill it in, right?).

I created a snowman out of white poster board (3 circles, increasing in size).  I then created 6 snowman items for the kids to hide (one at a time).  The items I made were a hat, eyes, nose, scarf, buttons and mouth.

This game is similar to "Hot and Cold" where children say hot/hotter/cold/colder depending on how close the seeker is to the hidden "treasure". However, with singing time, we have the kids sing quiet when the seeker is far away and gradually get louder as the seeker gets closer.  This is a great game to sing a song in a repetitive nature while keeping the kids interested. I select one kid to be the hider and another to be the seeker. The seeker steps out in to the hall (with a leader) and waits for us to hide the treasure.  Once they come back in the room, we begin singing.

Remember to make sure the kids are still singing! I had to stop a few times and make the kids re-focus on the song and words when they were just mumbling or messing up the words.

Other options for this game are:

• On each item to be hidden, have a song choice on the back (to mix up the monotony)
• Have one object to hide and have the child that is hiding the object pick their favorite song
• Hide letters to build a word (rather than snowman pieces)

This is also an easy game to pass on to a substitute. I would suggest the sub lets the children pick the song, or provide a list of well-known songs for them to use.

Snowball Fight

January we find ourselves (in some places) covered in snow and shivering in the cold temperatures.  So...why not have an indoor snowball fight?  We did this last week and the kids had a blast. I should have allotted more time, as this went over better than I thought.

For the needs of our primary, I pre-selected 5-7 wiggle/play/review songs and printed them on pieces of paper (just the page number).  Then, I handed a piece to each child in our primary.  I had a rather large red bucket with me in the front of the room and told the kids we were going to have a snowball fight.  But!! You can't forget to share the following rules:

• Snowballs can ONLY be thrown at me (the chorister)
• Snowballs cannot be thrown directly at the face

I had the back rows come around to the front and tried to align everyone so the poor sunbeams/front rows weren't getting hit in the head.  The kids then crumbled up their snowballs and threw them at me (as I held the bucket). I would choose a song to sing from the snowballs that made it in to the bucket.  For the senior primary, I held the bucket and slowly spun around to make the game more difficult.

Depending on the size and needs of your ward, here are a few alternatives to this game you could use:

• Hand out blank papers and let the children write their favorite song.
• Hand out papers with the page number already written, but have the children write their name. If their snowball is selected they can pick a silly way to sing the song (humming, stop/go, or use the cards mentioned here.)

(Thank you to my sister-in-law for sharing this idea with me.)

Do you have ideas? Post your comments below!

Silly Singing Cards

Sometimes the kids can get bored or distracted when reviewing songs that they know quite well.  I found another blog resource that provided adorable silly singing cards.  I used this my first time substituting as a chorister and the kids STILL talk about it.

Click HERE to read/print the Silly Singing Cards
 (courtesy of afprimarysingingtime.blogspot.com)

These cards are great for a substitute. Send these alongside a list of songs the kids already know and the job is done. I do recommend sorting through the cards and using ones that you (and/or your presidency) is comfortable with. I removed a few that I knew would get our kids too wound up. Pick the best ones that work for you -- but they ALL are fun. Enjoy!!

Note that there are a lot of other resources around the internet for these...or feel free to make your own.  Here's one more that I found -- CLICK HERE.

Substitute Ideas:Tic Tac Toe

Here is a great resource for those times when a substitute is needed.  I would print this out, laminate, and keep in your stash ASAP.  It is easy and the kids love it.  During my first few weeks, when I was figuring it all out, this was a life saver.

Click HERE to read/print TIC TAC TOE game.

Courtesy of http://afprimarysingingtime.blogspot.com

The Beginning...

I was recently called to be the primary chorister in our LDS ward. I am excited and needed a way to track what I have done. I can hardly remember yesterday morning, let alone the things I did in primary last week.  Here will be a journal of sorts to help keep my mind and straight. And...if it can help any of you along the way...then even better!

Happy Singing!