Feather Dusting

I made this silly stick using a dowel and craft feathers.  I have seen this a few times on other blogs.  I used this last Sunday and the kids actually thought it was funny.  If they were singing well, I'd give them a little dusting or tickling by lightly brushing their cheek or tapping their head. 

Kinda fun to use while reviewing a song

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!

Primary Props

I always bring things in my 'Mary Poppins' bag (not a lamp post mind you), just in case time lags or singing a song over and over gets tiresome.  Here are some simple primary props that you can having in your bag of tricks each week.  I made these just using free clip art from the web, printing it out and putting it on construction paper, and taping a dowel/stick to it.  They are two sided.  You can use just one side or if you want them to be really attentive, you can flip the signs around while you are singing.

1)  Front- Stand Up/Back- Sit Down
2)  Front- Sing Reverently/Back - mouth words(silent singing)
3)  Front- Sing Loud/Back Sing Soft
4)  Front- Sing Like Primary Angels/Back- OOOO instead of words
5)  Front- Sing Opera Style/Back- Sing with a country twang

The final picture are of 3 sticks I made while we are doing a new song.  If they are singing strong, you hold up the strong sign so they know if they are doing well...if they aren't doing so well, hold up the WEAK sign so they are encouraged to sing stronger.  The KEEP GOING sign is for when they are singing pretty good but can do better.  The goal is to have the STRONG SIGN up through the whole song. 

Primary Dice

So this idea is as old as primary is most likely.  But I didn't own primary dice, so I made on out a box I had, covered it with paper and just printed out clip art pages to decorate it.  I think this will come in handy when I have down time or we want to jazz singing time up and not sing songs just straight!

My Big Mitten

My Big Mitten

Here is my big mitten!  I made it from a two posters, I sealed all the edges except the one at the bottom so you can put you hand in it, I formed a pocekt with the two posters.  Emme is helping me show how this works.  It's huge and a tad ridiculous.  I suppose I am not afraid to look silly in front of the kids.  I use this prop to lead songs...silly songs as it obviously it NOT appropriate for just any primary song.  But if you want to get the kids attention...put on the ginormous mitten and they giggle.  I bring this out during the winter months.  I have also let children use it to lead the primary...some are shy of this and others are not!

Simply Singing - Some fun props (don't leave home without them!)

Simple Props!!!

I make reference to my "Mary Poppins" bag alot.  If you are familiar with the Mary character, you know she carried around an extraordinary carpet bag...one that had things in it to decorate an entire nursery, like a lamp and a hat rack.  I feel every chorister needs a little magical bag like Mary. I do not have a hat rack in my fake carpet bag, but I do have some props that I don't ever leave home without.  Sometimes it feels like I am carting luggage for a 2 week stay overseas rather than just going to church for 3 hours.  However, you gotta do what you gotta do and sometimes it is just nice to have FILLERS on hand in case things in primary need a little UMPH or redirection.  I keep these simple props in my bag for this reason.

I just free handed the drawings.  I often will just look at coloring book art and copy the simple cartoon drawings.  Again, sorry no templates.  But making your own version of this would be easy with all the resources out there on line.  What I love about the blogs I have seen is that I see a great idea and just make it fit my primary group and my abilities, ect.  So I will probably rarely post templates, rather I just post my ideas to serve as a spring board for your own imagination!

The first is just the "SHHHHHHHHHH" boy and girl. I use this if they are really noisy.  I will hold the signs up until they notice and they usually will mellow out.

The other signs are BOYS SING and GIRLS SING.  These are great to use when teaching a song.  If you want to have a competition or you can rotate them in a song and have the kids watch so they know when they are suppose to sing and when they are suppose to not. 

I also use the simple STOP AND GO.  One side is STOP and one side it GO.  Again when teaching a song that you sing over and over (man I must have A.D.D. because I really get bored after singing a song 3-4 times).  It's fun to just spice it up with the STOP and GO or the GIRLS SING/BOYS SING or whatever. 

Happy Singing....!

Playing I-SPY in primary

I SPY WITH MY PRIMARY EYE

Again I saw something like this on a blog and had to make my own version of it. I found this funny toy at the $1-section at Wal Mart.  I had to buy it.  I use it as my SPY glass even though you really can't see anything through it.  It's all for visual effect!  I did this a few weeks ago as my singing time.  I had pictures hung all over the room, like of the prophet, the temple, of nature, of a happy family, ect.  And I would look through my spy glass and call out clues.  The chosen helper had to identify what picture I was talking about by listening to the clues.  Then they would find the picture and bring it to me and on the back would be a song that coordinated with the picture.  It was fun!

I figure I could use this spy glass to find a reverent child though...so I keep this spy glass in my "Mary Poppins" bag and I may  just bring it out to help me look for a specific helper!  Could be fun!

Wiggle Worm Jar

WIGGLE WORM JAR

Kirstin's cute idea!

Again, my sister is amazing.  She showed me this cute wiggle worm jar she made and I had to copy it.  No template, just us gals who like to color and draw.  The jar is a poster with a pocket and inside the pocket are the WORMS.  You could just make the worms and put them in a REAL jar if you don't want to go to the trouble of making a jar.  There is alot of intricate drawing involved in the wiggle jar poster so I just posted a pix of how you could simplify this if need be.    The worms just have WIGGLE songs on them:

DO AS I AM DOING

HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT

SUNBEAM

WISEMAN FOOLISH MAN

BOOK OF MORMON STORIES

POPCORN POPPING

ect...

The worms are a beanie worm, gummy worm, singing worm, book worm, bird with a worm in its mouth and a worm eating its way out of an apple

Super cute.  Thanks Kirstin. I have had this jar for 10 years and it has come in handy so many times when the kids are restless and need to do a fun song!

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!

Reverence Shuffle Cards

Reverence Ideas

When the kids start coming into the primary room after sacrament meeting, they come with alot of energy and NOISE.  It is very disruptive and it's hard to settle them down to start primary.  So I always go in early so I am there and I have reverence songs going, which helps the kids AND the teachers remember they just need to be quiet and reverent while we wait for primary to start.

I again cannot take credit for this cute idea.  My sister Kirstin is a master chorister and she gave me these posters a decade ago when I was first called to this calling and freaking out a little about how to get the kids engaged.  They are signs that tell the kids how to sing.  They work best if you just shuffle them while you sing a song.  So let's say, we are singing  I AM A CHILD OF GOD for reverence...I have the pianist play that song over and over and I just shuffle the cards, they have to watch me closely so they know what to sing.  They love it and it keep them focused and not chatting while we wait for everyone to come into the room and sit down.

One of my favorite songs to do these cards with is...I AM LIKE A STAR.

I have no template for these.  This is the art work of my sister but I assume they could be made with clip art or by your own ingenuity. I always have this in my "Mary Poppins" bag on Sundays and I bring them out often when I want to engage them in a reverence activity of do something different with a song they know well.

Lion = LOUD

Mouse = Soft

Girl = Lulu  (sing the sound Lou Lou Lou)

Bird = tweet

Bee = Hum

Owl = OOOOOO

You can also use these individually, if you want the kids to sing louder, hold up the LION or softer, hold up the mouse...ect.  There are lots of ways to use these signs. They are SOOOO handy!

The Primary Wiggle Wheel

The Primary Wiggle Wheel

So I made this years ago and dusted it off 6 months ago when I was called again as chorister. I bought this lawn decoration from Michaels.  It seems they have this stuff in craft stores in the spring, they are meant to go in the yard.  It is a huge plastic flower on a stick.  I printed song titles off the computer, cut and pasted them on to each petal.  I put Wiggle songs on this, but you could put the songs of the week on it or ways to sing songs or lines of a song if you are teaching a song, too.  Endless possibilities!  Have the kids spin it...the petal closest to the red mark on the stick is the song they sing.  The kids love to give this a big spin.  I often bring this out if we have extra time or if the kids are getting restless.