It's Over!!

Our Primary program was two weeks ago.  I just wanted to post here and let you know how it all came off...after my perceived trauma (see previous post). 

First of all, thank you-thank you to those of you who commented, gave advice, and most importantly, support.  It meant the world to me...really! 

Well...the program was absolutely wonderful.  We compromised a bit and placed a couple of the recommended songs back into the program, leaving off just one of the songs the kids hadn't sung in a while.  The two teachers DID sing, "This is My Beloved Son."  However, they were a young husband and wife team who teach one of the older classes.  They did a great job, and nobody seemed to notice that it was unusual.  I don't know if they planned it or not, but they were even color coordinated.  (smile...) 

One thing that I did (which one of the teachers told me must have been "inspired") was to sit right next to the podium on the stage.  Then when the kids sang, I held up a poster with graphics and words. I held it resting my left arm on the podium so that the poster would not be seen by the congregation.  I led the song with my right arm.  Having the words there really helped, I think, as an added assurance that they would SING! My primary is made up of ALL BOYS  (well, maybe three girls, but you get the idea...)  And typically, boys are not the most reliable singers.....

They sang their little hearts out!  I was just so proud of them all. 

Now that brings us to last week, when we had one of the most fun primary singing times all year.  It took ZERO preparation, people!  It's a "Name That Tune" kind of idea.

1.  The children were to try to think of their favorite song without disclosing it to anyone else.
2.  I passed out numerous primary songbooks to help them, if they couldn't remember the name of the
     song.
3.  I picked a reverent child to come up and whisper the name of the song to the pianist.
4.  She played a few notes for the children to guess.
5.  After the children guessed the song, the child got to lead it - or do the actions, etc.

I was A.M.A.Z.E.D. at the songs the children chose....and the fact that they could guess them!  Even the teachers got into it.  The older kids really got into it and tried to find the most obscure songs like, "The Thirteenth Article of Faith."  But even that one got guessed.  With the songbooks passed out, the kids could use them to help them sing the songs they didn't know all the words to.


A great time....   Since even I didn't  know what the songs were, I got to "play" with the kids.  I loved it. 

Song Review and Mother's Day

We Reviewed "I Belong to the Church...."  I had them do an action every time they sang the word, "I" or "I'll."  such as taking a step to the right, then another step back to the left, etc.  Another way was to have them sit down and stand up each time they sang "I." 

The "meat" of the time was spent reviewing "Mother I Love You," since our primary is singing for Mother's Day in Sacrament Meeting.  To make it more fun, I brought out my beanbag game that I found at Zurcher's last fall.  I've been meaning to add some cute name for the game in colorful letters, but I haven't come up with a primary game name that I'm satisfied with...yet.   It doesn't matter to the kids, though....they always love it when I bring it. 

For today, I chose the best singers, more reverent, etc. children to try a beanbag toss.  If the beanbag landed in a hole, the child got to choose a page from the flip chart and pin it up on the board...anywhere they chose.  When all the pages were on the board, the song was pretty scrambled.  I let them try to sing it that way...which was pretty funny.  The challenge was for the kids to unscramble the pages and get them in the correct order, singing the song from the beginning, and adding the new phrases as they were added correctly.

The flip chart is found on Jolly Jen's posters....

Next month we learn "The Holy Ghost."  I'm really excited, because I'm planning on using handbells to teach it!   I'll post the handbells arrangement and my teaching ideas later in the week.  Hope you'll check back!

One TERRIFIC Idea!

In my ward, this week was the first week for "I Belong To the Church......"   Just like I thought, it was a breeze to teach, and the kids picked it up really, really quickly!  Especially with this funner than fun idea I found on the "Primary Singing Ideas" blog.  Here's the URL:  http://primarysingingtimeideas.blogspot.com/2010/04/april-week-2-3-reinforce.html

Since I don't own a white board, I just pulled out some colored chalk and used that.  We have two blackboards in our primary room.  One is stationary at the front of the room, and the other is movable with a bulletin-type board on the other side.

I got there early so I could write the song on BOTH boards.  One for Senior and the other for Junior Primaries.  There wouldn't be enough time in between to re-write the song on the board again. 

This picture is just to show how to write the song - with different colors. ('course I wrote the words to "I Belong....")  The Primary Singing Ideas Website will give you step-by-step directions.....

The kids just LOVED the fizzy-white-powder-in-the-water-that-turned-color-like-magic idea!  It was just so much fun.  Even the teachers and leaders were stumped!  They all came up afterwards and asked, "How did you DO that?"  Awesome.   You've gotta try this.  Click on the URL above, and see what I'm talking about.

Two Weeks Off!!!!

Because yesterday was General Conference, and next week will be Stake Conference, I won't even be introducing this month's song until the 18th.  HOWEVER, I have a feeling that "I Belong to the Church...."  will be a SNAP to teach.  It has such a catchy tune, is upbeat, and has that kind of marching rhythm that kids love. 

Here's a picture of a poster that I plan to use, which I purchased ready-made from ldsprimaryposters.com, clear last November.  The kids in my primary really like the posters, as they're a little burned-out (so am I) on the flip charts.  I'll include a game, (as soon as I think of one) to reinforce the song, once it's learned....First, I need to prepare this month's calendar - for the whole two remaining weeks of the month.

However, this time off will give me time to prepare ahead....  yeah, right!

Choose and Review Day

This was one of those weeks that the only time I had to prepare for primary was late Saturday night. I changed my mind so many times about how I wanted to do the choose and review...while incorporating Easter into the mix, since General Conference is on Easter this year. So this is what I came up with. I covered a box with red wrapping paper (any color would do), and attached clear protective sleeves to each side. In each sleeve is a clue as to what the song to be sung would be. Then I placed the large question mark over it. To pick the helpers, I asked if anyone had pink shoes, blue tie, red hairband, etc. Just look around at the kids and pick out something exclusive and use that. It worked really well.

The "helper" would choose a side and pull out the question mark. He or she would look at the clue and try to think of the song. Most kids knew the song, but didn't know the title, so they enlisted the help of the entire primary.

Here's how it works. For most of the songs, I would take a page from the song's flip chart and stick it in there for a clue. Included in the songs to review were the extra two that they're learning for Stake Conference. It worked out sweet!

Here's the fun part. I put some slips of paper inside some Easter eggs. A "helper" picked an egg and opened it up. As you can see here, it says for the boys to sing. The other slips said, "girls sing", "blue and green eyes," "teachers sing," "pianist picks a class to sing," etc. If the group picked was small, I had them come up to the front so they would all be together, instead of spread out.

I wanted to give each child something for Easter that would remind them of our Savior. So I brought a basked of filled eggs. In thinking of what I wanted to place in these eggs, I visited Deseret Book in hopes of finding a small picture of Christ. I found some things there that were sooo CA-UUUTE!

Here's a closeup. First, I found stickers that say, "I Know My Savior Lives." So I put them on the front of the eggs. Then I found the most darling little taffy candies, that actually have I "heart" Primary in the Primary colors of red, yellow, and blue. THEN I found little stickers which are the same picture from the front of this year's primary program.

It all fit sweetly into the egg. The stickers on the front were of both boys and girls. I didn't notice that until I had almost filled all the eggs. But the kids noticed right off the bat!

So... in letting each child choose an egg, each one was very careful to take the correct gender. Hahaha! VERY fun today. Had a blast

Winging It....

I got back in town late Thursday night, worked my usual job on Friday, then helped paint my son's newly finished basement yesterday.  In between, I couldn't get hold of my substitute chorister to obtain all my "stuff."  So.... I arrived at primary today without it. Although I was mildly stressed, we had fun anyway!

SENIOR PRIMARY:  I had the kids vote on which verses they most wanted to sing  for Follow the Prophet.  They chose Adam, Daniel, Jonah, and President Monson.  I chose the "People are Confused" verse, just cuz I think it's funny and cute.  So those are the verses we worked on. 

I wrote the words to the verses on the blackboard, then when we had sung them a couple of times, erased an entire line.  I let the kids choose which line to erase.  By the time all lines were off the board, they had learned the verse.  No visuals, just me and the blackboard.  The kids really paid attention, and seemed to like it.  Sometimes the simplest things.......go figure.....

JUNIOR PRIMARY: I started out by singing a couple of wiggle songs, as the kids seemed pretty geared.  We sang "Hinges", and "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" gradually getting faster and faster each time we sang it.  The Sunbeams LOVED this!

Since many of our Jr's can't read yet, I opted for picture prompts, for our Follow the Prophet review, on the blackboard.  That is, I drew simple pictures on the board for each verse.  Now....I am NOT an artist, to be sure.  And I just had to laugh along with the kids at my "drawings."  But that just made it more fun, and the kids were paying attention, so....that's the important thing, right?  These are what I drew:

• Adam's name with a picture of a flower and tree - to represent the Garden of Eden. (One little boy said he could draw a better flower than I did.  HaHa!  I'm absolutely SURE that he could!)
• Daniel's name with a picture of a lion.  (The kids had several suggestions on how to make the lion "better")  :-)
• Jonah's name, picture of a big fish whale.  (Even though it looked like Little Nemo....sigh...)
• I drew an old-fashioned TV for the "confused" verse, complete with rabbit ears!  (Had to explain that one!)

We already had a picture of President Monson in the Primary room, so I just used that for his verse.  All in all, it was one of the more fun singing times we've had. 

Next week I'll be reviewing all three songs we've learned so far this year.  "I Know That My Savior Loves Me," "He Sent His Son," and "Follow The Prophet."  I'll post my ideas for the review in a few days.  Have a great week!  And THANK YOU for visiting my blog!

Missing Primary ...and a Calming-Down Trick

I'm in the sunny state of Arizona this week, visiting family.  I missed teaching primary....I worry about my primary children just like a mother hen.  "Are they learning the songs?"  "Were they reverent and responsive for the substitute chorister?"  I'm sure they were just great.

I DID visit the primary here in Gilbert this morning.  What's so cool about our church is it's unity.  Any primary on planet earth, that you may have attended today, was learning "Follow the Prophet."  I was excited to see how someone else would approach it.  HOLY COW!!!  This primary had over 100 children!  Mine has a total of 30.  BIIIIG difference!  The chorister was teaching the President Monson verse today, using pretty much the same idea I used last week.  I felt for her, though, in trying to keep everyone's attention.

TRICK:
One trick I learned today was how to get children's attention when they're all over the place. This trick was used in settling down the kids after coming in from Sacrament Meeting:

The Primary President stood behind the microphone and said, "If you can hear me, put your hands on your head."  As the kids took notice, she then said, "If you can hear me, stand up."  "If you can hear me, fold your arms."  etc.....   It worked really well.  By the time all the kids were listening, she sat them down and they were ready for primary to begin.  LOOOOVE simple little ideas like that.....

I'll be back next week!!!!   Have a good one, everybody!