My Heavenly Father Loves Me Song

So February starts this week.  I have decided to teach the juniors the song, MY HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES ME WITH THE ACTIONS.  But what to do with the seniors?  Sometimes they fight me on songs with actions because they are trying to maintain their COOL reputation.  So... I decided to print out the pictures to go with this song and play a game with them in hopes to teach them the lyrics which is what the actions will do for the little kids.

I found my visuals here:

www.jollyjenn.com

The Words are attached to this flip chart, so I cut those off and just backed the pictures with construction paper.  My primary kiddos kinda know the first verse but to my knowledge none of them even know there is a second verse.  So we will be learning both verses this Sunday.  I think it's an easy song to pick up.

With my pictures, I will stick them to the walls on either side of the chalk board, so they are front and center but NOT on the chalk board.  And then I will have the pianist play the songs in bits.  For example we will start out the song with the first stanza - Whenever I hear the song of a bird- no vocals- the pianist will stop and someone will have to hunt for the picture to matches that stanza.  Then the helper will put it on the chalk board and we will sing just that part with the words.  Then we will go on to the next stanza- Whenever I feel the rain on my face- no vocals- the pianist will stop and someone will have to hunt for the picture that has the RAIN on it.  The trick is that there are no hints.  They can help each other but I want them to sing the song in their head so they can come up with the lyrics by themselves.  I have used this song as an opening and closing song for the past two month so they have had a taste of how it goes.

After we have assembled all the pictures in order on the chalk board, we will sing it from start to finish.

This activity can be used to teach any song with good visuals.  It makes a FUN review as well.  You could use this at the end of the month when you have taught the song.  I will be busy doing VALENTINE things all month long that I have previously posted under the VALENTINES label so I am going to use this on Sunday with the big kids to introduce the song of the month!

I Am A Child Of God Spotlight

http://forums.mormonshare.com/lds-clipart/i-am-a-child-of-god-logo-2-black-and-white

So starts a new year, new theme, new (old) song.  The kids are really familiar with the song, I AM A Child Of God.  While they may not know the multiple verses, I think they will pick them up easily as there is alot of repetition in each verse.  I figure there are 6 new lines they have to learn if you teach them all 4 verses.  And there are rhyming words in each.  So I am going to teach the verses by drilling in the rhymes of each verse using these sings.

2nd verse- Late/Great
3rd verse- Store/More
4th verse- Sure/Endure

The rest of the song are lyrics they are all well familar with with.

I thought I'd do a spotlight this week, showing that we are all children of God.  We will do a little teaching and then as we sing the multiple verses, we will use this spotlight.  I found this clip are on Momonshare (the link is above).  I copied, manipulating the image into a circle rather than an oval.  I laminated it and attached it to a flash light.  So I will start by spotlighting myself. I will stand with the flashlight under my chin so that the light shines up to my face.  After a few moments, I will go shine the light on someone else and they will come up for a few moments and then go fine another child of God to spotlight.  The children will be encouraged to only stand in the spotlight for a moment so we can get through as many children as possible.  They will alos be encouraged NOT to shine the light in people's eyes when they are picking someone, but rather aim it at their chest/heart.  I think we will do this all month long as we sing this song, getting through all the kids hopefully (mind you I have over 100 kids in my primary so I have a tast in front of me, but I will try). 

The spotlight is a standard flashlight, the sign is just taped to the front and I covered the handle to match.  The button is on the back so you can turn it on.  The light shines up.

Follow The Prophet Goes Christmas Style

Years ago I got new lyrics to the song, Follow The Prophet, for the holiday season.  The kids always seem to sing this song with gusto and so I think it's pretty cute.

Verse 1:  Jospeh asked the man if he would let them in
But his answer came:  NO ROOM AT THE INN
They went to the stables where the cattle lay
The son of God was born in a manger full of hay.

Chorus:  Jesus is born, Jesus is born, Jesus is born in Bethlehem
Jesus is born, Jesus is born, Jesus is born, the Savior of men.

Verse 2:  Shepherds saw the star and they were 'sore afraid
They wanted to see just where the baby laid
Wise men rode their camels, followed that bright star
carried gifts for Jesus, brought from a far

Sing chorus again.

I always do lyrics on my news print pad as it's hard to teach songs that we only sing for a few weeks and then ditch.  So I will provide the words for the kids to read (senior primary only).  Part of a singing time would be writing a verse 3.  Get the kids input.  See if you can continue the story.  You could do a verse about the herald angels.  Write in primary using the chalk board or a posterboard. newsprint tablet....and then sing it.

This idea belongs to Mindy Smith...whomever she is, she is clever. THANK YOU!

Have You Ever Seen A Turkey

I am going to attempt to post my NOVEMBER ideas.  I really think Thanksgiving is such a special holiday but often gets overshadowed by Halloween and Christmas.  Now that the program is over (whew), we are just going to have fun in primary. I think I will teach the kids CHILDREN ALL OVER THE WORLD on pg 16.  It's not one we ever sing but it's a classic and has a good message.

Also, here's a spin on an oldie but goodie.  HERE WE ARE TOGETHER, pg 261.  Change the words to HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A TURKEY.

Have you ever seen a turkey, a turkey, a turkey?
Have you ever seen a turkey on Thanksgiving day?
Move this way (move to right) move that way (move to the left)
REPEAT
Have you ever seen a turkey, move this way or that.

I did this last year and put these funny little feather hats on me and my helpers, which I found at JoAnn's Fabric Store but you could make them or perhaps find them there again this year.  Often Target has strange things like this in their $1-Spot section.  Anyway, we had all the kids stand and sing this song and do their turkey dance.  Good times.

Song for May - When I Am Baptized CS p. 103

So this month I drew word posters and I just left blanks and then I got clip art to fill in the blanks. I will have the children sing the song first cold, with no poster.  Then I put the poster up with the blanks.  And then we will have to fill in the blanks...kids will have to hunt for the symbol that goes into the lyrics.  I hope this is fun.  This idea could be used on any song.

The Prophet Said To Plant a Garden

I cannot take credit for the cleverness of these seed packets.  This is my sister, Kirstin's, creation.  But what to do with the packets?  So I put them on sticks and stuck them in a pot.  Spring is the time to plant a garden. I was thinking it would be fun to introduce the song THE PROPHET SAID TO PLANT A GARDEN (pg 237).  I am going to have the words on a simple poster.  We will sing this prior to playing so the kids can hear how cute this song is and think about why we plant garden even though Wal Mart is down the road.  The seed packets are of vegetables and on the back is a riddle with clues to a song.  To play this game, it is similar to the game PASSWORD.  You give one clue at a time and see if the kids can get the song using the least amount of clues.

BEET PACKET :  NOTHING BEETS SINGING

Your choice of song ( no riddle)

PEA PACKET:  PEAS SING

(high, low, show, follow =  Do As I Am Doing)

LETTUCE PACKET:  LETTUCE SING

(food, trees, pop = poppcorn popping)

CARROT PACKET:  If you Carrot-all to sing

(book, sacred, prohets, actions = Book Of Mormon Stories)

CORN PACKET:  Corn you sing?

(yellow like corn, up in the sky, shaped like a circle, shines for Him = Sunbeam)

TURNIP PACKET:  Glad You Could Turnip To Sing

(body, 4 parts, head, toes = Head Shoulder Knees, Toes)

Of course you can make the clues harder depending on your audience and you can pick any songs you want.  I am celebrating spring and chosing songs to do with the season mostly.  I always do the song of the month and article of faith prior to the games and so I feel the songs in the game can be fun ones as we do our serious singing when practicing those other songs! 

The Early Bird Springs Into Action

So this singing time idea is all about celebrating spring with ACTION songs (which the juniors love)...although I will say I subbed for the seniors a few weeks back and did one action song with them and they LOVED it, so much they started requesting all their favs.  So this could be used for the big kids, too!

  So this is a poster with a spring scene on it.  The scene provides places to stick birds: in a tree, in the birdhouses, on the ground.  The kids will pick a bird (you can hide the birds or have them in a basket or tape them to the chalkboard, ect.  On the back of the birds are all songs having to do with nature and spring...and they all have actions.  This is a chance to sing some of these sweet little songs that we never get to.  Some of these songs may be totally foreign to your primary children, but I think if you have the pianist play it through and show them the actions, they will pick it up, and because they are not program songs, they don't have to be perfect...this is just more about having fun and singing some oldies but goodies!

Sun Is Shining (goes to the tune of Rain is Falling) Use hands in the the air to create a sun
Happy Song ( I posted the actions of this son in a previous blog)
The World Is So Big (even if your kids don't know this, it's easy to get with some made up actions...just do stuff that goes with the words, like making a circle with your arms for ROUND, ect)
In The Leafy Treetops (make your arms form trees, mimic bird, simple actions to go with the words see, sun, they must tell everyone, look to you neighbor, ect)
Bird In A Tree (such a sweet little song, form hands into a nest, count 1-2-3 with fingers, mimic flying of the bird, ect)
Popcorn Popping

A Happy Song

We hope it is time for spring right?  That the sun is on its way and the earth will awake? I am in the mood to sing something about springtime!

Well here is a song I NEVER hear anymore, so I made some visuals for it.  I hope the kids enjoy singing it and that we can revive it and have it become a favorite again!

Ducks in a pond sing a happy song

action:  clamp hand open and close like a ducks beak

Mother Hen crackles to the whole day long

action: do the chicken arms up and down

Birds in their nest

action: cup hands to form a nest

and wind in the tree tops

all join in singing a happy song!

action: wave arms back 'n forth in the air like wind

then hold hands out (like when we sing what did I see?) for all join in part

The 2nd verse is super cute, too.

Once There Was Tulip

My husband just bought me these.  They are my favorite flower.  They reminded me of another little variation of a primary song that is so fitting for spring.  Again, I am tweaking the lyrics of an old favorite so the song gets more longevity throughout the year.  This is to the tune of ONCE THERE WAS A SNOWMAN.  So with the tulip, you do the actions in reverse, starting out small on the ground, and growing up tall, tall, tall like a flower would grow!

Once there was a tulip, tulip, tulip...
Once there was a tulip, small, small small, (get on the ground, then pinch your fingers to indicate a teeny little seed)
In the spring (or sun), it grew, grew grew (start standing up slowly and getting taller and taller)
In the spring (or sun), it grew, TALL, TALL, TALL

Have You Ever Seen Bunny?

I like to tweak lyrics to certain songs, adds a little variety to some of the kiddos favorites.

So in honor of spring and Easter...  I got these ears for 97cents at Wal Mart.  I did this in November with "turkey" and I called up 4 helpers who had to put on some feather headbands (bought from JoAnns) and my helpers demonstrate how they think a turkey would walk. Then I had the entire primary stand up and sing with me and do the turkey walk. So I will do the same but with the bunny ears. The little kids got really into this last fall, and it is a fun wiggle song for the spring time.  Since the ears are blue and pink, I will ask for a boy and girl helper as ask them to show me how they would hop and then we will sing...

To the tune of HERE WE ARE TOGETHER

Have you ever seen a bunny, a bunny, a bunny?
Have you ever seen a bunny hopping along?
Hop this way or that way, and this way or that way (hop in all directions)
Have you ever seen a bunny, hope this way or that?

It seems like any spring time animal could be used.  A duckie or lambie or goosie....!

GOODBYE SONG

Have you noticed that when we have visitors we sing the HELLO song but when people move away or teachers or leaders get released, there is no song of appreciation or farewell?  Our primary has sung this for years. I think it is sweet.  Someone genius changed the lyrics to HELLO FRIENDS....

GOODBYE FRIEND(S) IT'S SAD TO SEE
YOU LEAVING OUR PRIMARY
WE'LL BE SAD BUT THIS WE KNOW
YOU'LL BE LOVED WHEREVER YOU GO

This is kind of a sweet send off!

Reverence Ideas - Chapel Doors

THE CHAPEL DOORS

Another Reverence Idea

Again, I do alot of reverence activities while the kids come into primary after Sacrament Meeting.  We have an enormous primary.  With the amount of kids we have, we just need things to engage the kids so they don't go hay wire while we wait for everyone to come in the primary room and sit down, so we can start primary!

I do CHAPEL DOORS alot as it is a song the kids love to sing. I just made this goofy poster that has opening doors and I hold it while we sing and I open the doors at the SHHH part.  It is just something visual for them to look at.  The sunbeams need this or they like to stare at the ceiling and pick their noses, ya know?  I just free handed these drawings as you can tell.  So there is no template but pretty easy and simple cartoon drawings on a poster!

New Lyric To An Oldie But Goodie - We Are A Happy Family

WE ARE A HAPPY FAMILY

I Love Jesus

He Loves Me

He Loves Families

Yes-Sir-Ree

We Build Temples

And So You See

We'll Be Together Eternally

This might be fun to sing in a Valentines Singing Time as it has to do with Love and our Savior.  I think it is very sweet!

CHOOSE THE RIGHT (Teaching the hymn for Februrary '12)

CHOOSE THE RIGHT

Last year, our priamary's anthem was Scripture Power, and every time we sung that song, in the chorus, the children would hold up their scriptures.  They really sang that song with gusto!  I loved it.  So this year, I felt they needed something to raise in the air.  So I made these CTR sticks.  They will hold them up in the air when we sing the chorus of CHOOSE THE RIGHT.  This Sunday, I just plan on drilling the chorus.  Again, I have the junior kiddos and so we just take one thing at a time with them.  But I thought these were kinda cute.  I found the clip art on line and just made copies on green paper, cut and laminated them and glued them to skewers sticks.

New Lyrics to a GOODIE - POPORN POPPING

I again cannot take credit for this.  I will say this is one of the most favorite and requested songs in my primary currently.  I got this idea long ago from a lady name Julie Coles.  Thanks Julie!  Since then I have used the idea to write new lyrics for a version of this song but for autumn time, but since fall is over, I will just post this one for now.

SNOWFLAKES FALLING RIGHT UP TO MY KNEE
to the tune of Popcorn Popping:

I looked out the window and what did I see (hands out in "WHY" position)
Snowflakes falling right up to my kneww (action = snow falling and then slap knee)
Winter's brought me such a nice surprise, snowflakes falling right before my eyes (hands out, mimic snow falling and then point to eyes)
I can take an arm full and a ball (arms in rounding motion to, scooping motion)
Stack 3 high for a snowman tall ( show 3 fingers and then show tall by three levels reaching to the sky)
It wasn't really so, but it seemed to be (pointing motion like in original song)
Snowflakes falling right up to my knee (motion snow falling and then slap knee)

KIDS LOVE THIS.  And if you are really brave you can wear a hat and scarf when you sing it.  They love seeing leaders be silly!