February 22, 2009

I made a Tic Tac Toe board out of a black poster board that I cut to be square (15"x15") and used ribbon to make the squares. I had found some 8.5"x5.5" foam sheets from Hobby Lobby. I have access to a die cut from school and made 6 red X's and 6 yellow O's from the foam. I put the names of the songs on the backs and we played Tic Tac Toe. The way our Primary is set up, I grouped the younger kids into the X's and he older kids were the O's. The X's got to go first so they had the advantage. I was quite surprise that even the Sunbeams figured out that they needed to block the others. Because there were so many that "helped out" by shouting where to put the letter, they ended up in a tie. That was great because no one "won" (or lost). The children had a lot of fun and we were able to sing nine songs.

February 15, 2009

I took a large pre-folded foam poster board that I bought at Hobby Lobby and glued some hearts and lace on it. Then I told the kids that I found this Valentine and had them guess who it was from. On the inside, I put cut out hearts and labeled them as noted below. On the backs were the corresponding songs and their page numbers. The children were able to chose the next song by picking a heart off the Valentine. Of course I also brought "Singing Juice." ALWAYS a HUGE hit! I walked around during the song to spray those who were singing well. I was taking time after each song to spray the children but it was taking up too much time. It worked much quicker this time. I also squirt everyone one last time before the last song to get them back reverent again and I get them to fold their arms near the end.

February 8, 2009

I found a Karaoke machine and brought it for Primary today. I really wasn't sure how I was going to work out the logistics of it but it worked out really well. I didn't have an extension cord and we ended up with both Junior and Senior at the same time due to Teacher Inservice. I started singing into the microphone and walked around. When I saw a child trying to sing well, I put the mike in front of their mouth. Most of them liked it but several shied away from it and I couldn't reach the back row. We sang through "How Firm a Foundation" several times and then I'm thinking "Now what?" I then got the bright idea of letting them come up to the front to sing. I chose one person that had their hand raised and they each got to choose a helper. We even got a couple of teachers up to the front. We sang the same song over and over for 25 minutes and didn't get bored at all. A PERFECT way to repeat the song over and over without anyone noticing!

Nursery Songs

I copied the names of some primary songs as well as regular favorites along with pictures onto the front and back of card stock and laminated it. The nursery kids point to the picture that represents the song they want to sing. It really works out well. They are starting to know now which songs go with which picture.

February 1, 2009

I used the following guide to introduce How Firm a Foundation today. It worked out well and everyone seemed interested. Jr. Primary was shortened by sharing time to 10 minutes but it worked out great because I don't think the little ones could take any more. I got through the entire first verse with them but got through half of the second verse with Sr.

Here was my outline:

This is a new Hymn from our Hymn Book
Me: How firm a foundation,
Ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith
in His excellent word!
What more can He say
than to you He has said,
Who unto the Savior...
for refuge have fled?

What is a foundation?
Block example (see example)

Me: How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord.
Who are the Saints of the Lord?
Us! Followers of Christ
All: How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord.

Me: Is laid for your faith in His excellent word.
What does this mean?

All: Is laid for you faith in His excellent word.
Show scriptures
A foundation is laid from His word, or the scriptures, His church,
so we can have faith in time of need.

Me: How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord.
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word.
All: How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord.
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word.

Me: What more can he say than to you he has said
All: What more can he say than to you he has said

All: How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord.
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word.
What more can he say than to you he has said

Me: Who unto the Savior,
Who unto the Savior,
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?
What is refuge?
What does it mean to have fled?
Why would we flee unto the Savior for refuge?
Me: Who unto the Savior,
Who unto the Savior,
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?

All: Who unto the Savior,
Who unto the Savior,
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?

All: How firm a foundation,
Ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith
in His excellent word!
What more can He say
than to you He has said,
Who unto the Savior...
for refuge have fled?

Me: Fear not, I am with thee;
Oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee,
and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous,...
omnipotent hand.

What a beautiful verse!
Lets talk about this one.
Me: Fear not, I am with thee:
Oh, be not dismayed.
What does dismayed mean?
Have you ever been so afraid that you didn't know what to do?

Me: Fear not, I am with thee:
Oh, be not dismayed.
All: Fear not, I am with thee:
Oh, be not dismayed.

Me: For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
What is aid?

Me: For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
All: For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.

All: Fear not, I am with thee;
Oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.

Me: I'll strengthen thee, help thee,
and cause thee to stand.
If you couldn't stand up, do you think it would be wonderful if someone helped you up?
Here, I talked about quicksand and how if you were stuck that you would need someone to help you out, that you couldn't get out by yourself.

Me: I'll strengthen thee, help thee,
and cause thee to stand.
All: I'll strengthen thee, help thee,
and cause thee to stand.

Me: Upheld by my righteous,...
omnipotent hand.
What does omnipotent mean?
Unlimited power
What is a righteous omnipotent hand?

Me: Upheld by my righteous,...
omnipotent hand.
All: Upheld by my righteous,...
omnipotent hand.

All: I'll strengthen thee, help thee,
and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous,...
omnipotent hand.

All: Fear not, I am with thee;
Oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee,
and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous,...
omnipotent hand.

All: How firm a foundation,
Ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith
in His excellent word!
What more can He say
than to you He has said,
Who unto the Savior...
for refuge have fled?

Fear not, I am with thee;
Oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I'll strengthen thee, help thee,
and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous,...
omnipotent hand.

I found some wood blocks from wal-mart in the children's section and covered them with pictures. Then I used two blocks as a foundation (with baptism, prayer, scriptures, tithing, temple marriage, etc.) and topped them one at a time with things that we are going to have to deal with in life (like friends, school, families, finances, and choices like who to marry, whether or not to go on a mission, etc.). Then I took away something like prayer from the foundation and they all got excited when the blocks all fall. I really think that they got the idea.

I had planned on getting through the whole lesson but I'll have to continue it for next week.

Reverent Songs

Sometimes the kids need a little reverence so I made Reverence Cards. I put a picture of Jesus on one side and the names of some reverence songs on the back. I laminated them and cut them apart, and will bring them out when the kids have had just a little too much fun to get them calmed back down. I hold them out like a spread out deck of cards and let them "choose a card, any card." They really like it and I have included lots of their favorites.

Wiggle Worm Songs

As a backup plan, I've made several Wiggle Worm cards with a picture of a cute little worm on one side and the name of a wiggle song with the page number on the back and then laminated them. This helps in those times when they don't have anything else to do and they all look at you to pull something out of your sleeve.

January 25, 2009

Today we did a snowman Pick'n Choose. I used 12 pieces (for 12 songs) cut out of contruction paper and laminated the pieces. I used a labelmaker to write the following songs on the back of the pieces.

I Lived in Heaven vs. 1 (4)
I Lived in Heaven vs. 2 (4)
I Lived in Heaven vs. 3 (4)
Falling Snow (249)
Rain is Falling (241)
Falling Snow (249)
We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet (Hymns 19)
When We're Helping (198)
Follow the Prophet (110)
Give, Said the Little Stream (236)
Your Choice
Your Choice

We barely got through all 12 songs in Junior and 10 songs in Senior Primary.

When we sang Rain is Falling I brought out my squirt bottle full of water and squirted mist above them. The Senior Primary got a little more in their face but overall, everyone enjoyed it. Again, they all had a tough time choosing their favorite.

January 18, 2009

I used the cube idea once more. But I only used one cube this time. On each side of the cube, I put I Lived in Heaven vs 1, I Lived in Heaven vs 2, I Lived in Heaven vs 3, Your Choice, Your Choice, & Your Choice. It worked out well and we sung each verse at least once. I noticed though that the kids have a hard time choosing their favorite song. We had to ask the "audience" a few times but there were some that were more than willing to call out their favorites. I also brought "Singing Juice" and told the kids that the more they sang, the more they needed their vocal chords lubricated. When I first brought it out, no one wanted to be the first to try it. I thought that it was going to be a failure until one brave young man volunteered. (Thank you little boy that craves attention!) Then everyone wanted to be a part of it. It was a HUGE success. And the same thing happened in Senior Primary, too. But I was not caught off guard the second time around. I just offered it to each child and there was always one brave soul who volunteered. I made a label that said Singing Juice on it and now they ask every Sunday if I brought it. I don't bring it every time because it uses a lot of time to go around and squirt each child. But they love it!

January 11, 2009

The kids had a BALL today. I made three 4-inch cubes from styrofoam. There are 6 phrases in I Lived in Heaven and on block #1, I printed a phrase on each side of the cube. On block #2, I found pictures of different ways of singing. I used whisper, loud, baby, opera singer, hum, and march. On block #3, I printed the numbers 1 through 6. I called three children up to the front and they each received on cube. One at a time, they tossed the ball to see which verse we sang, how to sing it and how many times to sing it. It worked out well! I really loved how the older boys sang Opera. But they all sang! (in between giggles)

January 4, 2009

It is time to learn I Lived in Heaven for the 2009 Sacrament Program. I basically took the lesson plan straight out of A Children's Songbook Companion. It worked out pretty well but I think it was a little too boring. We sung each phrase several times as the lesson outlined and ended up singing the entire song once at the end. I think they understand the concept of the song though and I don't think it was a waste of time.