Singing Chain and some other Random Things

So I have been blog stalking lately.  Lately I have been MIA for a few reasons: end of summer trips and stake conference.  But my program is the 29th of September so I am trying to hanker down and get busy.  Time to get serious here.  Sigh!

Have you ever heard of the blog, Sunbeam Singing?  http://sunbeamsinging.wordpress.com/  If you haven't I highly recommend going there.  This gal has a gift for the computer and some fun printable stuff.  She currently has a very cute back to school idea posted if any of you are looking for something to do in honor of that.

In my blog searching I came across and idea about a music chain?  I sort of adapted it for me, using her idea of the chain but for a different purpose.  This Sunday I am going to introduce a bucket of paper strips...cut to 1 inch width and 6 inches long in a variety of colors, regular paper, construction paper...any scraps I have.

Now that we are in full review mode, I was thinking it might be fun to make a chain that would circle the room or maybe even make it all the way down the hall to the bishop's office.  But the kiddos have to earn links by singing the program songs well.  And I am going go make the presidency decide how many links they earn each song they sing...the better they sing, the more links.  Or I have passed out stripes to individual classes and given teachers pens.  Each teacher listens to their class, if they feel they have earned links, they write why on the paper strip and give it to me and we will make it grow and grow as they sing well. 

It will probably entail a massive amount of paper but I am hoping the kids will be excited to see how the chain grow and each Sunday over the next 4 weeks, we will lay it out and see how far it goes...using a stapler to add links with every song we sing.  Hopefully by the 29th, it will go around the room or further and they will get a treat!

Ticket To Ride

This week in honor of Pioneer Day, I felt it would be fun to do something FUN with the kids that had nothing to do with primary program preparation.  Thus I doubt I will do any primary program songs this week. I just want to PLAY.

I made these simple TICKETS to ride in the wagon (trek).  They are numbered 1-5.  I will hand them out randomly to the kids.  I am hoping there will be about even number of 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's, & 5's. 

So here is how this works:

We will be singing the song FUN TO DO:

I will pick a number from a bowl.  Those who are holding a ticket with that number have to stand and come to the front of the room.  I will have a variety of hats, bonnets and bandanas and they have to put them on and then sing this simple song:

Here are the 5 ways you sing this song:

CROSSING THE PLAINS IS FUN TO DO (marching actions)
RIDING A WAGON IS FUN TO DO (mimic riding in a bumpy fashion)
FORGING A RIVER IS FUN TO DO (long stationary strides with arms moving back and forth)
MILKING A COW IS FUN TO DO (mimic milking actions)
WALKING TO ZION IS FUN TO DO (walking stationary in slow mo)

When each group is finished with their task (they have to do it well by the way even if the older ones find it humiliating), and if they do it well, get a treat: the promised land (candy).  So everyone ends up with a treat in the end!

This should move quickly because this particular song is super short.  So of course we will end singing collectively all our favorite pioneer children's songs, TO BE A PIONEER, HAND CART, PIONEER CHILDREN, OXEN, ect. 

March in Parades (something patriotic)

I was having this conversation with the primary secretary in my ward who was remembering when she was in primary long ago, she is 20 years older than me and so primary was run a tad differently for her than it was for me. When she attended primary is was held midweek and said they often had instruments and marched around the room while they sang songs...doing things we tend not to do on Sundays these days.  But it just got me thinking.  Very few of us get to march in parades anymore...as the song, OH WHAT DO YOU DO IN THE SUMMERTIME, suggests?  And parade season is about here (4th of July).

Target $1-Spot has a bunch of cool hats and patriotic accessories this year. I was looking for this stuff last year and had to fudge it a little because I couldn't find what I wanted for cheap.  But Target came to the rescue this year.  So I bought a few things and added to what I found last year. 

And so...we are going to march in a parade this year.  I think I will call up helpers to select from choices of accessories I have accumulated.  Once every item is picked, I will have the rest of the primary stand.  We will sing a patriotic song, there are a few in the primary book, but I think the more well known songs are in the hymn book.  And those with accessories will actually march the perimeter of the room (making a full circle) while the rest of us march in place.  We will get several different groups up to put on the accessories and sing a few of the great patriotic songs while doing this mini parade march. 

In my vast collecting of music (thanks mom, Kirstin, and the Internet), I have the sheet music to a few fun things that are not in the primary book...like God Bless America, This Land is You Land, As the Caissons Go Rolling Along, You're A Grand Old Flag, ect.  So I may be using those as well. 

I do think the song, THIS IS MY COUNTRY, in the primary children's song book is quite cute and has a good rhythm to it.  It's one worth teaching the kids!  It short and easily learned.  We will definitely be using that one.

Here's to marching in parades!

Lemonade Stand

 

 

So every little person likes to try their hand at a lemonade stand...at least once, right?  Why not in primary???  I made this posted, you can create any sign you want or think is easiest to do.  This design was my sister, Kirstin's...so it's a knock off of her original design.  I free handed it on just plain old white poster board. 

 

How does this singing time work?  Well... I am going to do a taste testing.  I will attach this sign to the front of one of the small tables that is in my primary room, giving it a lip so the top goes above the rim of the table.  Behind it, I will have 6 cups.  They will be filled with various things (not milk due to allergies).  I think I will chose lemon lime (sprite), orange, root beer, water, some kind of fruit punch (Capri Sun), of course LEMONADE. 

 

The drinks need to be in a Styrofoam cup or something that isn't transparent.  The goal is to guess the beverage by merely tasting it.  If they guess the flavor correctly, they get to choose the song they we sing or you can have a list of songs they can chose from.  Now...if they actually get the  LEMONADE (it's the prize of this activity), they get choose the song the teachers have to sing, and the teachers have to come up in the front and sing it to them.  Might be fun....!

School is out for summer...

So here in Idaho, school ends this week.  The kids are excited to be FREE!  I like basing singing times off holidays and seasons as my mind immediately went to SUMMER VACATION when I was stewing about what to do this week for the primary children.  I have been thinking of some new and fun ways to celebrate summer (see future posts).  I thought this week we'd kick it off.  I have a lot to teach this month as I am attempting the We'll Bring The World His Truth medley.  I am super excited song for June, WHEN I AM BAPTIZED, is a repeat this year.  We will spend no time learning this song although last year I did a post on teaching this song if you are looking for ways to introduce that particular song.  My kids love the 'rainbow' song and we sing it so often, they still know both verses by heart.  WHEW. 

So this is a cup that could be used all summer long OR you can use it as one single singing time.  I copied a bunch of summer FREE clip art off the web.  I chose images that fit the songs I wanted.  You can pick your own songs. I chose songs we know and love.  I mounted them on orange and yellow construction paper, laminated them and stuck them on sticks (then put them in a orange cup).

The imagines on the sun sticks correspond to the song we are going to sing.  I am going to have the 'helper' pick a stick.  He/she tells my what the image is of.... is it something they find fun to do in the summer time and why?  Then the pianist is going to give the helper a few notes (name that tune) and they get to guess what song it is.  The fewer the notes the better because the image on the stick is a clue to the song.  Once they guess it, we sing it.  These songs are all about things we do in the summer.  So each week you could do a few of these and keep adding or you could do an entire singing time (if you have time) on this.  I did include a few songs from the program in here for review as well as I felt they sort of fit some of the summer activities. 

I will spend most of my time this Sunday teaching a new song and doing a little on Father's Days songs that we need to polish, so likely I will only do this as an brief activity at the end of all that. I always like to do something FUN after learning songs because they do get restless (me, too).

Oh What Do You Do In The Summer Time?  - image sun with the word SUMMER overlaid
Happy & You Know It - Big Smiley Face (if you're happy school is out, shout Hooray!)
Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam- image sun- (represents playing in the sun)
Give Said The Little Stream- picture of girl fishing in a stream -(does anyone fish in summertime?)
Leafy Treetops- image of a tree- (climbing trees anyone???)
Holding Hands- image of kids holding hands- (playing with friends anyone?)
Fun To Do- image of a pool (swimming in pools is fun to do)
I Hope They Call Me On A Mission - image of a suitcase (anyone going a trip this summer?)
When I Am Baptized- image of a rainbow (represents playing in nature)
Book Of Mormon Stories- image of a book (anyone do the summer library reading program or read for fun?)

Again you can do any image any song...

Last Summer Hurrah

Well, it is always amazing how fast summer zooms by.  There have been such few numbers in primary, it's hardly worth even teaching anything.  I was getting a little lazy and did a bag full of "beach" items and I had the kids help me get ready for the beach.  The props were on the ridiculous side, which is the point.  The kids thought it was really funny.

ITEMS:
1)  sun screen...yes, I put goopey sunscreen on my face
2) big crazy wig...beach hair
3) grass skirt...every outing to the beach needs one of those
4) a flower necklace.... very Hawaiian
5) a big straw hat.... chic!
6) shades...because it's cool

A member of the bishopric saw me in my get-up and actually took a picture of me on his phone.  GAH.  I hope that isn't posted as a MOST WANTED photo!

I picked fun/summer songs to go with this activity, but it could be used as a song review as well.

Summer Olympics

Okay, I think everybody is doing some kind of version of the summer singing olympics this week or next.  How could I pass up the chance to do it with the London games approaching?  This is a fun idea and is really fun to use when you are in review mode for a program.  However, I am doing it purely for fun.  My primary has been super sparse this summer. I really am not doing any sort of teaching of new songs and no heavy review for that matter, it just isn't worth my time as half my kids are gone on any given Sunday.  So... after blog stalking and taking all the ideas I loved from various blogs, I have come up with my own version of the singing olympics.

So what events to do? I really struggle with out of the box ideas at times because I get stressed when primary turns into a circus and well it can do so quickly if the activities are wild.  But I saw on this one blog, a gal had made the ribbon twirlers, similar to what the gymnastic olympians use.  These are just dowels with ribbon taped to them.  So easy to make.  I had the stuff on hand and spent no money on this. I made 6.  I decided I would divide the room in half, so we had two competing teams. I would ask for helpers from each side, to compete against each other.  So for ribbon twirling, 3 from each sing. I have 2 judging flip cards that I will have the presidency hold.  They will judge the kids on their performance and give them an "8", "9", or "10".  I suspect the judges will always award a "10".  

Ribbon Twirling (FUN TO DO - twirling ribbon is fun to do)
Speed Singing (Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes - super sonic speed, which side does it best)
Ring Toss or Decathelon (I have some pool rings and I will have a helper from each side try to make the ring fit on a post).  There will be no song for this but if there is a winner, I will let them choose a song to sing...anything they want!
Track and Field  Do As I Am Doing...Running in place!
Swimming  a.k.a Blowing Bubbles - I will have one helper from each side stand on a vinyl table cloth and give them each a bubble bottle and a wand.  The person who makes the most bubbles wins and the losing side to sings alone GIVE SAID and using the arms in swimming motion, make the your arms swerve as a stream running!
Gymnastics - Balancing on one leg, a helper from each side will come and compete and see who can stand in their leg the longest while the rest of the children sing Jesus Once Was A Little Child
Basketball - dunk the ball in the bucket...   Happy & You Know It (If you "dunked" it in the bucket, clap your hands!  If you "dunked" it in the bucket, clap your hands!  If you dunked in clean and smooth, then your games is in its groove, if you "dunked" it the bucket, clap your hands!)

 I read on a blog that some gal gave out the chocolate coins on a ribbon afterwards.  CUTE idea!  I am doing this on a fast Sunday so I won't do that but it would be fun to do that.  Or I know party stores carry those cheapy medals, they come in bulk.  Each child could get one of those.  I have noticed my kids love to get something, even if it is a thow away thing!

Pioneer Trek Board Game

This is another idea from my sister Kirstin.  I have a large die, and I pick a helper to roll it and we have a marker...starting from the START, we make the treck to Utah.  If you land on a square with a musical note, you sing a PIONEER SONG, if you don't, there are are messages on the other squares such as...

Help Build a Cabin as Winter Quarters, lose a turn
Heavy rains (or snow), lose a turn
Stop and square dance, lose a turn,
GO AHEAD, cross PLATTE RIVER
Fix broken wagon wheel, lose a turn

The squares are clever, because Kirstin is clever.  But they could say just about anything, like stop stretch your legs, SING HEAD SHOULDER KNEES TOES, or jot ahead 3 spaces and have the helped jot back to their seat, ect....

Fill the Handcart

Well it's time to honor our brave pioneers.  This idea came from my sister, Kirstin (who is so clever).  I copied her poster, which has a slit in that makes a pocket.  The below items are all things one might or MIGHT NOT put in their handcart.  Some of the items have songs on them but some don't.  Some are just to get the kids thinking of whether they'd back this item if they were going to make the trek.  Like would you pack your brass bed?  The heavy chest of jewels?  Granny's antique china hutch?  So...some of them are ridiculous, but some are really important, like food, water, the scriptures, a quilt for warmth, ect.

I put some of the great pioneer songs on the back.  It's fun to sing these songs even if it is just once a year. I always make lyric posters as there is no time to teach 6 rusty songs to the children.  The words really help, even just the teachers, so the kids have something to follow as we sing.

For the Song Pioneer Children Sang As They Walk...I had them stand and walk in place as we sang
Little Pioneer Children...I had the kids sway to this
To Be A Pioneer...they marched in place
ect...

Patriotic Puzzle

So this is a puzzle I made with 7 large pieces that I will stick around the room.  The kids will pull the pieces and try to put them together.  On each piece is a song or a question or BOTH.

1)  What do you do in the summer time for fun.  Sing OH WHAT DO YOU DO IN THE SUMMER TIME?
2)  What Article Of Faith talks about our freedom to worship "how, where, and what they may?"  SING IT.  #11
3) You put your right hand over your WHAT when you say the Pledge Of Allegiance?  NO SONG
4)  The 4th of J uly is whose birthday?  AMERICA's birthday-  Sing America The Beautiful
5) What Article Of Faith talks about honoring and sustaining the law?  Sing Hint:  It's a double digit one...#12
6)  What are the 3 colors in our American Flag?  Red, White, & Blue  NO SONG
7)  What is your favorite thing about living in America?  SING MY COUNTRY

My Country's Flag

I love the 4th of July...probably my favorite holiday.  I am weird for sure!  But there is something about flags and the patriotic songs (BBQ's, fireworks, picnics, little kids with sun tanned faces) that just makes me smile.

I couldn't pass up a chance to do something patriotic with the primary children. I made each child a flag on a skewer stick.  Yes, it was insanely tedious.  If I was made of money, I would have bought them a flag but when you have 50+ kids, that adds up.  So I made them.  I plan to hand them out to each child, so they can wave them as we sing our songs.

The hats: This is similar to St. Patrick's day. I found some goofy hats, made a wreath out of a festive wire garland and found a necklace (thanks $1-Tree).  I will have the kids pick a hat, wreath or necklace and they can pick which adult in the primary will wear it.  They think this is so hilarious, to make the leaders look SILLY!    Each accessory has a song.  I am doing something a tad unorthodox but that is my mode.

I am doing patriotic songs:
THIS IS MY COUNTRY (primary song book)
Grand Old Flag
This Land Is Your Land
God Bless America
America The Beautiful

I am incorporating some other songs not found the song book as the selection is slim and their knowledge of those songs is even slimmer.  I am lucky to have a pianist who just goes with my crazy flow and does what I ask...!

Happy 4th of July!

Primary Beach Party

So last week, the primary children were all officially off of school.  So we had a beach party.  I first reviewed our songs for June.  By the way, the juniors are LOVING the actions to Nephi's Courage.  That is such a great song.  We are having alot of fun with that and talking about how when hard choices come our way, we can be like Nephi and say, I WILL GO, I WILL DO!

I am blessed with great pianist in the primary.  Our pianist played the cutest song over and over, pg 224 My Country.  It is a peppy song and while she played this over and over, we tossed the beach ball around.  The kids thought this was funny as the ball really went all over the room.  The pianist would randomly stop.  The kids would pick a color from the beach ball that had a coordinating card, that had a song on it.  All fun songs:  HINGES, HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT, WHAT DO YOU DO IN THE SUMMERTIME, ROLL YOUR HANDS, HEAD SHOULDERS KNEES & TOES.  It was fun and super easy!