April Singing Time- Each Class Sing a Line

This April is turning out to be a freezing, frigid one! What happened to the sunshine we got a few weeks ago at Easter time? I keep waiting for a nice day to do some of my flower beds! Come on Spring! 

 

 

 

Easter Sunday with my little granddaughters. They are so sweet. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 One fun idea I had awhile back was getting different classes to sing different lines of the songs. It is a good way to get them to learn the song words faster too, because everyone will be listening to see if they get the words right!

Want to see Spring beauty in the world?  Come here to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah.

After you introduce the new song choice (It could be one you did a previous year) and have sung it through a few times to your flipchart.  Then give each class one of the flipchart pages to practice as you sing the song for them along with the piano. When it gets to their part you can point to them and they will start to sing it along with you. Then point to another class to do the next line.

Each class sings a different line of the song.

 Do this several times till you feel like each class is getting the song. And it is so fun to make a big deal of pointing to the class that is singing. They will crack up a little at first and then tentatively sing along. You will have to still sing with each class so they keep on the beat and line.  Everybody gets into this fun activity.Try it. It's fun.

My little chicks doing the egg hunt....so fun! They are 2, 4 and 5.

Filling the eggs with candy was so fun for the grandkids.....seeing them race around searching was even funnier.

Now a variation on this can be done next.  Have the first line people then sing along with the 2nd line people.  The best way to do this would be to have one person from each class come up in front holding the flip chart page. Then when it is their class's turn they hold it up high and sing along. Then they sing along with the one next to them going around till everyone is singing the last line.  That's a lot of fun too. So check it out!

Conference Time Activities for Kids

Conference is coming soon. HERE is a cute CONFERENCE BINGO game that kids will enjoy.


 You could do a neat singing time next week on all the primary songs about temples and then do a little quiz about how many temples were announced and where they are being built

Here is the Provo City temple getting a cool remodeling! You could do some temple songs for singing time!

New temples are usually announced during conference sometime. It will be fun to see what is planned!Link HERE to a great lesson with a temple mobile on the importance of temples by Robert D. Hales. It is short and easy to see how you could use it as a little lesson to do with singing time and temples.

I'd use temple pictures from the library each with a song on the back having to do with temples.

The Lord Gave Me a Temple #153
Families Can Be Together Forever #188
I Love to See The Temple #95
The Hearts of the Children #92, 93
This is God's House #30
Truth from Elijah #90, 91

Temples singing Time

A cute coloring page for the song is HERE.  You could pass this out at the end of singing time for kids to take home and color. br />



 You could show them a conference Bingo card and maybe do a few of the squares linking them to a song with that word in it as you sing a range of songs. Have 2 colors of bingo chips (red for girls, blue for boys) and have a little competition throughout the 20 minutes of singing time to see how many words kids can hear and raise their hand to go cover with the "chips" which could just be colored circles of paper.

Here is Conference Bingo

Another song by Steven Perry and words by Brad Wilcox and it's HERE copied from The Friend Magazine. Here is the first verse....

1. Of all the Sundays of the year,

the ones I love the best

are conf’rence Sundays twice a year,

so diff’rent from the rest.

I gather with my family

and feel the Spirit near

as I prepare to understand

the messages I hear.

Sing President Monson's favorite Primary Song, "Give Said the Little Stream". 

One bunch is from the church website. The link is HERE at LDS.org. There is a Bingo game for words that you hear in talks, a bunch of coloring pages, and some journaling pages to write in and color.

You could also sing one of President Monson's favorite Primary songs! In his autobiography he said that he enjoyed singing "Give Said the Little Stream". That's one even the sunbeams can sing!
Here is some additional verses to the song that were written by Kimball Brown. 



Give Said the Little Stream
Additional lyrics: Kimball Brown
Lead: Ben Haacke
Give said the little stream
Give, oh give
Give, oh give
Give said the little stream
As it hurried down the hill
I'm small I know but wherever I go
The grass grows greener still
Give said the little rain
Give, oh give
Give, oh give
Give said the little rain
As it fell upon the flowers
I'll raise their weary heads again
As it fell upon the flowers
Singing, singing all the day
Give away, oh give away
Singing, singing all the day
Give, oh give away

The Sunday before General Conference is a great time to do President Monson's favorite Primary song! 

Give what is in your heart
Give away, Give away
Give what is in your heart
And your heart will ever live
Laugh when you're filled with joy
Laugh away, laugh away
Laugh when you're filled with joy
For laughing's giving too
Snap!
Tap!
Clap!
Give all you've got to give
Give away, give away
Give all you've got to give
Sing when your heart is full
Sing away, sing away
Sing when your heart is full
For singing's giving too


Another packet can be printed out from Sugardoodle. The link is HERE at Sugardoodle.

Lots of activities can be found at Sugardoodle website for General Conference. 

A cute activity for elementary age kids would be this one. They listen to the talks with you, then color the sections of the fall pumpkins that have that word written that they just heard in a talk. It helps them to get something from conference by listening to the speakers with a little more attention! What an excellent idea from A Little Tipsy's website
I'm looking forward to General Conference tomorrow! I wish I had tickets. I'll just have to watch it in my jammies all snug by the fire. :D

Resurrection Easter Eggs Singing Time

The Resurrection of Christ....the greatest event to ever take place for us....

I have SO loved this idea since getting it once in Relief Society in a lesson on the great sacrifice of our Savior and His Atonement. I have used this around the Easter dinner table in my family. I've used it teaching teenagers in Sunday School and in a Family Night. And I've reused it in primary.

Kids love object lessons. And this easter egg "signs of the Savior's Sacrifice for us" is a great object lesson for kids and adults alike.  Every year, when I've taken out my little basket of eggs I've got a tear in my eye. I love the Savior. I believe in Him with all my heart. And I know in whom I have trusted.

If you want to hear a great talk check it out HERE.

In this chaotic life we are all a part of, it is a simple and clear walk through the steps to the Savior's crucifiction and  resurrection, easily understood. I would try if I could to get the presidency to let you have a little extra time one of these upcoming weeks leading up to Easter.

I love this painting depicting the sacrifice our Savior made for us....

So many times we address just the "Next Lesson" in the yearly lessons at church. As a former Catholic, and a convert to the church,  I always have mixed feelings about this.  Why not recognize the greatest sacrifice ever made,  given by the greatest who ever lived among us on the National holiday of Easter?  I never did get that. Try to honor the Savior on Easter. That's my simple and heartfelt message.

Another favorite painting of mine...I'm looking for a big copy of it to put in my greatroom remodel...it says to me...."I will look for you  when you  are lost...even though you are odd, different, ugly, damaged"  His love for us, evident.

The eggs can be put together using this easy tutorial HERE at Serving Pink Lemonade's blog. . Use stuff around the house to fill your eggs. Another with a LIST is HERE at scribd.com. I actually like both of them. You could do a combination of both lists. I would skip the vinegar though, yucky :D.  A third lists is here copied from Yahoo Voices.

Egg #1: (palm) Jesus rode into Jerusalem and the people waved palm branches. Matthew 21:1-11

Egg #2: (cotton ball with cologne on it) Mary poured perfume on Jesus' feet. John 12:3

Egg #3: (bread) Jesus shared the Last Supper with His disciples. Matthew 26:26

Egg #4: (coins) Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Matthew 26: 14-15

Egg #5: (a thorny stick) Soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus' head. John 19:2

Egg #6: (cross made from toothpicks) Jesus carried His own cross. John 19:17

Egg #7: (dice) Soldiers took Jesus' clothes from him and cast lots for them. John 19:24

Egg #8: (nail) Jesus was nailed to the cross. John 19:18

Egg #9: (sponge) They gave Jesus vinegar mixed with gall to drink. Matthew 27:34

Egg #10: (whole cloves) Spices are used to prepare Jesus for burial. John 19:40

Egg #11: (rock) The stone covering to Jesus' tomb was rolled away. Matthew 28:2

Egg #12: (empty) He is not here He has risen! Matthew 28:6

I would try to use the songs in the Easter section on one Sunday as well as going over your song for the month. Some links for flipcards on good Easter songs  are HERE at Precious Primary.  1. Jesus Has Risen 70, 2. Hosanna 66, Beautiful Savior 62 To Think About Jesus 71, etc. HERE  is a flipchart on He Sent His Son at Sugardoodle. Pick a child to come up and choose an egg. Read the scripture inside and show what object is inside and explain what part it played in the Easter story. It is usually a very quiet and reverent time, you will see. It may be your favorite thing you ever do in primary.

This picture is from another bogger Beyond Sippy Cups HERE.

I would also include the list of items in a copied off piece of paper to send home with the kids after primary and tell them they can make up their own dozen eggs with help from parents and redo it in their own family night. I loved getting this for my family and I would encourage any primary leaders to do the same. It has made a big difference in my life and my family's too I believe.

sidewalk chalking  & egg dyeing

And don't forget to color eggs and get some sidewalk chalk for Easter! One of life's fun memory makers if you have kids or grandkids of any age! Happy Easter! 

PATTIE

March Singing Time and St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is coming up SOON! 

This is one my favorite months of the year. My family were all IRISH! And my mom was an Irish Catholic. We REALLY celebrated St. Patrick's Day every year. I remember dinners where she would actually give us kids a bit of wine with 7 up to toast to some of her favorite SAINTS. 

Those are happy memories of sitting in the formal dining room with my 5 siblings cracking jokes and eating yummy food. I love St. Patrick's DAY!  

I don't have very many decorations for it but I always do at least my entry table and my dining room table in honor of my mother and her love of St. Patrick's Day.  I also decorate my classroom in Shamrocks, leprechauns and GREEN, glittery stuff and of course GOLD wrapped chocolates! 

So in honor of the Saints all over the world who are do gooders for others I'd cut out a bunch of Shamrocks in Green and add some ROLO candies or Golden Hersheys's Kisses and write all the songs behind shamrocks. 

Use a few St. Patrick's Day decorations to have a LUCKY singing time.

Then come up with some fun questions to ask and the correct answers get a piece of "gold" from your POT OF GOLD (a black container with gold wrapped candy inside). The kids will love it!

 

 Happy St. Patrick's Day! Have the LUCK of the IRISH this March Singing Time!

MARCH SINGING TIME WITH DR. SEUSS!

IN HONOR OF DR. SEUSS....Bring in your Dr. Seuss Hat to Primary to choose songs OUT OF THE CAT IN THE HAT'S HAT for tomorrow! The kids would LOVE it if you dressed up like Thing 1 or Thing 2! 

Here's my old principal dressed up as Thing 1...super cute! I think I may try to dress
up in a "FOX IN SOX" outfit.  Ya think it's too cheesy? Yeah, maybe so. I'm not a fox who am I kidding?

And I did these "THING 1 HANDPRINTS" in my classroom. Super cute, right? The kids LOVE DR. SEUSS stuff anytime! 

Now TODAY, MARCH 2ND  is Dr. Seuss Day and in my classroom we will celebrate it next week. But you could honor him tomorrow during singing time.

You could do some fun things hiding things in a  'CAT IN THE HAT HAT!" maybe like song titles? 

One fish...two fish...red fish...blue fish....
OR....you could have some "guess how many red fish in the cup?" and the kids who get closest can pick the song. You could have some red fish, and blue fish in baby food jars or little clear cups.

Or just put the songs behind some CAT IN THE HAT HATS. There are stickers all over the craft stores in honor of Dr. Seuss. Or just make some using markers on  striped hats you draw.




SOOOOO......bring your Dr.Seuss HAT into primary and put the songs in the hat and . Or you could tape them on hats on a board.. have some FUN THAT IS FUNNY!
 Dr. Seuss Rocks.

February Chorister Ideas ONE IN A MILLION SONG

HERE is a beautiful flipchart of the new song ONE IN A MILLION. It has beautiful pictures to go along with the words, and so colorful, I LOVE IT! But NOT as much as I love my new grandbaby! She's a cutie isn't she? Here she is in her Valentines Day outfit.

 Another shout out goes to my sister-in-law Robin who just got released from being Primary Chorister after 7 YEARS! 7 YEARS PEOPLE!! She is awesome! She's one in a million. I don't know anybody whose had the calling as long as that and still loved it immensely.

She's One in a Million, isn't she?

Well, the new song One in a Million also reminds me of 20 years ago at a halftime show in Los Angeles California where Michael Jackson did the Super Bowl. 3 of my kids were in it. It was a big event in their lives. They were a part of a children's choir that got asked to do a lot of Hollywood events, movies and were on record recordings as background singers occasionally.  The song they did was called "We Are The World, We Are The Children".

My 3 kids were the Ireland boy in the green beanie (Devin 8) The Dutch Girl with the weird white (flying nun looking) hat (Tiffany 12) and the Black, fuzzy Russian hat and red shirt boy (Jeff 10). They are all to MJ's right about 5 kids over once everybody is onstage.

Songs like these really bring people together of every culture. I raised my children in Long Beach, California which was a port city where boats from all over the world docked with new immigrants and refugees coming to America to look for a better life. Yup. That's why America is still the best place on earth to live. We are so lucky here. We are the world melting pot.

One in a Million is my new fav song.Check it out HERE to hear how it sounds. The kids will love singing it. Click HERE for Sheet Music.

I'd sing it using Flags from around the world. You could put song names behind the other flags along with this song. Or you could use pictures of different kids dressed in different costumes from around the world and tape them up on the chalkboard and have kids pick the pictures. Have fun with this awesome new song!

Valentines Day Singing Time Fun

Valentines Day is next week. So how about a fun Singing time using heart shaped balloons with songs  inside! Kids could come up and POP THE BALLOON! They LOVE doing that!


I would go over to Hobby Lobby or Michaels and look for some heart shaped balloons for this week. Or just 7 or 8  red balloons will do in the 9 or 10 inch size.  Then I would put  7 songs on little strips of paper and roll them up inside each of the balloons.


Then tape them to a wall or chalkboard before the kids all come in.  You could write a big number on the outside or just leave them blank.

Here's my little Valentines with me at the Petting Zoo at Thanksgiving Point. 

Ain't she cute?  

Feeding the goats.....priceless! 

Then tell the kids for Valentines Day coming up you wanted to play "pop the balloon" with them.  Sing the assigned song and tell them you are going to be looking for the best singer to pick to come up and pop the balloon for the next song choice.

I'd try to get some heart shaped ones from Roberts Crafts, Micheals or Hobby Lobby....

Then they will undoubtedly sing their little hearts out for you.  It's so cute how easy it is to motivate kids.
Then pick out your first "contestant".  They can come up and get a big pin from you for popping.

They might even be more fun in a variety of pink and red colors....
These balloons from Oriental Trading can be found HERE for 144 balloons.

 Make a big deal about maybe counting down from 5, to 4, to 3, 2, 1 Let er RIP!  Then watch the fun.

And you'll have your next song to sing.  Tell them once again you will be looking for the best singer to pop the next balloon.  The balloons will cost you about 20 cents each depending on where you go.  I know Roberts Crafts has balloons too and you might find some cute Valentine ones to put in between the plain red ones for variety.

Happy POPPING!  And Happy Valentines Day! Check out my cute decorations I finally got up around the house  HERE  I love Valentines Day.