Stealing more ideas... getting ready for conference!

So March approaches, so does General Conference...and Easter!  Wow!  Time is flying.  I have been blog stalking again and came across two very cute conference ideas.  The ironic thing is that I am plan to teach Latter-Day Prophets in May as part of our program line up. I was so excited to find these cute actions to it.  Thanks Camille!  You are the best!  I think I will just put all the picutures of the the prophets on the chalk board with their names at the bottom and do that until we can take away all the pictures and know it from memory. 

Also, I found the cutest version of the THE BOOKS OF MORMON that list all the 12 apostles...I just taught this song to the kiddos and they love it and so I know they will pick this up easily with different names in it.  It is super cute!

http://www.scribd.com/doc/85291342/Living-Prophets-Song-First-Presidency-12-Apostles-Nalani

ACTIONS TO LATTER-DAY PROPHETS

Joseph Smith - #1 with right hand

Brigham Young - #2 with right hand

John Taylor - #3 with right hand

Wilford Woodruff - sign language "w" right hand then left hand for each work

Lorenzo Snow - hands showing snow coming down

Joseph F. Smith - pointing to temple on head (to "remember the F")

Heber J. Grant - pretend to hit a baseball (he was determined to play baseball and through hard work he made the team)

George Albert Smith - pretend to shake a lot of hands (he made a promise "not to be an enemy to any living soul)

David O. McKay - use both hands to make "O" when saying O.

Joseph Fielding Smith - blow a kiss after you say his name (he loved children)

Harold B. Lee - pretend to play the piano (he loved playing the piano and was good

Spencer W. Kimball - milk a cow (worked hard on a farm)

Ezra Taft Benson - make the scout sign (he loved scouts and was a great scout leader)

Howard W. Hunter - draw a big pretend heart with your hands (he was sweet and wanted everyone to treat each other better)

Gordon B. Hinckley - arms out for an airplane (he flew all over the world to meet with members and build temples)

Thomas s. Monson - have your hand up and out like holding a tray being a server (he is always talking about service)

I think it would be super fun to talk a little about the latter-day prophets.  There are websites out there with interesting facts about the prophets...like what they were best known for.  Like President Kimball famous quote: lengthen your stride and do it now.  That President Hinckley made the cane very fashionable...ect.  I think we will sing all the songs about prophets that day.

We Thank Thee O God for A Prophet
Praise To The Man
Follow The Prophet
Latter-Day Prophets
The Apostle Songs
Nephi's Courage

Are you "Board "

http://afprimarysingingtime.blogspot.com/2010/09/fun-ways-to-sing.html

While engaged in my infinite blog stalking hobby, I have come across another Brittany (Brittney)...who does just neat things.    I use a lot of her ideas as she is gifted with the computer and makes fun and CUTE props.  She had this post on cards she makes that suggest different ways to sing a song.  I have already made something similar but suffice it say, hers are way cuter graphically.  They are all in these square shapes, which  make them uniform and easy to cut out.  See link above if you aren't already addicted to this lady's blog!

Anyway, I had this thought of using all the squares on a board instead of having them as cards to pick.  So I printed them and put them on a poster board.  Then I got out a bean bag.  I thought for February's last hurrah of reviewing both I Am A Child Of God all verses, and My Heavenly Father Loves Me, we could spice it up a bit.  I will tweak this for the two different groups.  For the little kids, I will just call a helper up.  They will stand away from the board and toss the bean bag and it should land on a square, which will tell us how we are going to sing that particular verse.  With reviewing both songs, that is 6 verses, we should get 6 tries in that translates to 6 goofy ways to review.  This board could be used for any song though.  I know I will bring this out for just as it is just a spin on picking a singing-cards.

For the seniors, I am combining this with another idea I just saw posted that had to do with rolling doubles with dice.  So I will split the seniors into two groups.  I will hand a box with 3 dice in it to a person on each of the teams, and so that one person will be representing their team.  We will start singing the song we are reviewing and they will start rolling the dice.  Whomever gets doubles first, I put 3 dice in to add to the probability of rolling doubles faster, gets to chose a square off this board and the opposing side, the ones who didn't get doubles, has to finish the verse using the action that the other team chooses.

Hopefully it will be fun!

I Am Like A Star

We are learning all about Heavenly Father this year.  So the song, I AM LIKE A STAR, came to my mind immediately.  I love this song.  So simple, so sweet...the accompaniment is just cute.  I thought the juniors would love to learn this and possibly sing it in the program alone, or perhaps one of the junior classes could perform this alone for the program.  I made these stars on sticks for them.  Last year, I made CTR signs on sticks to learn the hymn, CHOOSE THE RIGHT, and the junior just loved it.  So I thought this would be a fun one.  Of course this song is just super short and simple and so I think they will pick up easily.  I will sing it through TWICE to make it a little longer.  I decided some actions might be fun to accompany the sticks, so they aren't just raising in the air or poking their neighbors with them.  Here goes...

I am like a Star - tap star stick to chest as if you are pointing to yourself
Shining brightly - hold stick in the air and with the wrist, shimmer it back and forth
Shining for the whole world to see - with the stick still in the air, wave it from side to side
I can do and say - use stick and point it out like you are tapping a wand on something for "do" and then hold the stick up to your mouth for the "say" part of the lyric
Happy things each day - use stick to draw an imaginary big old smiley face by your own face
For I know Heavenly Father Loves Me- Wave sticks in the air again and then tap heart with stick at the end.

A Few Of Their Favorite Things

So here's an update on the snow ball fight I had a few weeks ago with the senior primary in my ward.  I had the kids write their favorite songs on the papers before crumpling them up to throw them at me. I made a CTR shield to protect myself as they I got pelted.  The kids were in shock that I brought that which I found seriously amusing.  I told them I promised them a snowball fight...I said nothing about being unprotected while they did it.  I figure I can use this shield again.

I tallied the songs. It's interesting to hear what kids love.  I want to sing what they love.  Singing time is dedicated to learning program songs and seasonal things and articles of faith...but there is time to squeeze in favorites, too. Turns out the kids have favorites.  So my plan is...all year long, I will have this jar out. I chose this plastic mug (see picture) as it seemed really durable and it just needs to sit in my bag of tricks week after week so I didn't want something glass or bulky.  Each Sunday, we are going to choose a 'favorites' song and sing it.  And when we are done with the songs, I will put all the slips of paper back in the jar and we will start over...so all year long, the kids will get a taste of the best of the best.

So this was kinda ironic.  Out of 62 pieces of paper, there was a WINNER as far as most votes.  Can you guess what it was?  I AM A CHILD OF GOD.  I am tickled to think the song the kids want to hear most is the theme of primary this year.  And close runner ups were Child's Prayer and When I Am Baptized...both program songs.  Score!  There were alot of good songs submitted however.  I had a several requests for a song that isn't even in the book...Children Around The World. I have never sung this with my kids and I plan to teach it to them if they want it.  Popcorn Popping was in there and Scripture Power.  The kids asked me if they could include Christmas songs (I said YES) and I got several requests for Silent Night and Angels We Have Heard On High.  I think this is funny and I am not against singing Christmas songs, even if it's July. I think they will be amazed each week at the random things that come out of this jar. I hope it will be a fun weekly ritual.

It's possible to do this without the snowball fight.  You could just give the kids 1/4 sheets of paper and have them write down their favorite songs, collect them, tally them and create your own Jar of favorite things.  I just printed the songs on the computer.  I did include the 10 ten favorites, and so on the slip if it is a 10 ten fav, meaning it had multiple votes, it will say so so the kids will know if a song was particular beloved by the group or not!

If the kids can graduate from primary holding dear their favorite songs, I will feel my I did my job well.  That's the whole point of being chorister!