Charades and Spin the Human

This is so much fun.  I purchased these charade cards from "Green Jello With Carrots."  Click here.  I'm giving them a plug because they have such awesome stuff.

Here's how I used them:

I "laminated" them with clear contact paper.  Then I borrowed a swivel chair from the bishop's office, placed the cards face down all around the chair.  Then using my "choosing can" I picked kids to come sit in the chair.  With their legs straight out, I twirled the chair and whatever card was under their feet was the one the child could act out.  There are Reverent actions and Rowdy actions.  The primary kids were to guess what type of action was being portrayed.

I had brought a portable file box filled with a whole bunch of my songs and accompanying visuals.  The child then got to pick a file, and help with the visuals while we sang.  I usually am given more time on the 4th week, so we were able to get through about 7 songs.

*WARNING!  Make sure the child is holding onto the sides of the chair when twirling.  One little sunbeam twirled off the chair and halfway across the room!  Although quite hilarious, it took a while to get the kids calmed down (especially me!).  He wasn't hurt, but was laughing so hard he could hardly stand up.  Ahhhh Primary!

Looking Forward to St. Patrick's Day

I'm going to be on vacation the Sunday before St. Patty's Day, so this will be the second activity for my substitute chorister.   I borrowed this GREAT riddle idea from Kathryn, and added a little extra to it in lieu of the special day.

Everyone knows Leprechauns LOVE silly riddles.  So I've added some super silly ones in addition to the song riddles.

So the activity will go like this:  A child will be chosen to come pick a shamrock.  (They will all be attached to the board with small magnets. )  On the other side are TWO riddles.  The first one is a St. Patrick's Day riddle.  After the kids have fun with that, the chorister will read the second riddle, which is a question regarding songs they know.  After they guess the song, another helper will choose, from the "Silly Sack," the way they should sing the song.

If you want to download the silly singing cards, click "here".

This is basically a choose and review, with some fun songs mixed in.  I chose songs I was pretty sure the kids would know.  Here are the riddles:

1. Why do people wear shamrocks on St. Patrick's Day?
       Regular rocks are too heavy.
Song Riddle:  I like to imagine what it would be like to hear Jesus talk to me.
                            Hint:  I would not listen with my ears.
                      What song am I?  "If I Listen With My Heart"
2.  Knock, Knock!
        Who's there?
     Irish
        Irish who?
     Irish you a happy St. Patrick's Day!
Song Riddle:  Heavenly Father has provided a way for us to get back to him.
                           Hint:  "Plan"
                       What song am I?  "I Will Follow God's Plan For Me"
3.  What does Ireland have more of than any other country?
        Irishmen!
Song Riddle:  Everyone needs to hold onto this.
                           Hint:  Lehi's Dream
                      What song am I?  "Hold to the Rod" (chorus only)
4.  Knock, Knock!
        Who's there?
    Warren
        Warren who?
    Warren anything green today?
Song Riddle:  The Lord wants us to be brave and courageous
                             Hint:  Another word for brave is "Valiant"
                       What song am I?  "I Will Be Valiant"
5.  Why do frogs like St. Patrick's Day?
         Because they're always wearing green!
Song Riddle:  The apricot trees don't have any of this right now.
                           (No Hint on this one)
                       What song am I?  "Popcorn Popping"
6.  Why can't you borrow money from a Leprechaun?
        Because they're always a little short.
Song Riddle:  You need to build your house on the right foundation.
                            Hint:  Rain
                       What song am I?  "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man"
7.  Why did the leprechaun stand on the potato?
        To keep from falling in the stew!
Song Riddle:  I hope they do this when I've grown a foot or two.
                           Hint:  2 years
                      What song am I?  "I Hope They Call Me On a Mission"
8.  What do you get when two leprechauns have a conversation?
         A lot of small talk!
Song Riddle:  Jesus wants me to be this...
                           Hint:  Sun
                      What song am I?  "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam"










  

Preparing for a Substitute Chorister

Yes, It is true.  I am actually going on a much needed vacation in March....for 2 weeks!  However, it turns out that I'll need a sub for 3 Sundays.  Yikes!  Good thing we have Stake Conference as the second Sunday.

I don't want to overburden my fill-in with anything too complicated, so I think it would be fun and easy for her to use these primary matching cards.

 There are TONS of cards in this collection....so just a few would be good, so as to make it less frustrating for the kids.  When there's a match, a song will go with it.  I'll pick songs they know fairly well...and include the flipcharts/posters, etc. for my sub ... in case the kids aren't sure of every word.  Nothing's worse for a temporary chorister to feel like she's the only one singing.

Here's the link:   Primary Matching Game

Silly Singing Time

What kid doesn't love to be silly sometimes?  Even some adults do....I know I do.  It's a stretch to expect primary kids to be reverent at all times....prim and proper....etc.  So, I made this "Silly Singing Time Sack." 

Inside are a number of cards, covered with clear contact paper for protection.  I will have a helper pick a card out of the bag....the card will tell us how we'll sing the song.  This is for reviewing a song over and over

without the kids zoning out.  The cards are like these:

I have the cards I could e-mail you, if you're interested.  I used to use a square dice with ways to sing the songs, but there are so many more ideas on these cards.  I can't wait to bring it next week for our song review.

If you would like the PDF file, just click HERE.  Thanks for visiting!

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!

Sign Language and Primary Bowling

Most of the time today was spent teaching ASL (American Sign Language) with "I Know My Savior Loves Me."  They picked it up quite well.  Next week I'm planning to take a video of the senior primary singing with the sign language, then do another one later in the spring to see their progress.  I'll try to post the video on here. 

I had planned to  do Primary Bowling if there was time left over.  (There wasn't)  But I'll use this idea at a later time.  I found a cheap bowling set at the dollar store.  You could probably find one at Oriental Trading, too.  I put the names of some fun songs on the bottom of the pins with double-sided sticky tape.  The plan was to set the pins up this way. . and have a child roll the ball.  Whichever one rolled over was the song we would sing.  Another way to play would be to divide into two groups, set the pins up the usual way, and have each team take turns sending a child to roll the ball.  Score could be kept as to how many pins were knocked over. . .and the child could CHOOSE one of the fallen pins to reveal the song to be sung.  Anyway, I didn't get to play this, so I can't tell you how it went over. I'll share my results when I actually get to do this.