Snow Much Fun to Sing

I found Snow Much Fun to Sing on I Heart Primary Music.  I altered her plan a little.  My idea was for the kids to throw my "snowballs" (the are foam balls I found at Michaels) at the igloo.  If they made it in the big opening, then they had to pick one of my snowflakes that have songs written on them.  If they made it into one of the small holes, they could pick any song they wanted.  The kids love when they are allowed to throw things in Primary.

Symbols of Christmas

Christmas is such a crazy time with so many different traditions and things going on.  I wanted to help the kids remember the real meaning of Christmas by looking at all the different symbols they see at Christmas Time. I hid the cards with the different pictures/symbols on them and let the kids search for them.  Then we talked about each symbol and how it helps us remember Christ.

• Bells: Rings to bring lost sheep home. - Christmas Bells, p. 54
• Bow: Tied in the bonds of brotherly love. - Once within a Lowly Stable, p. 41
• Candles: Jesus said that He is the light of the world. He shows us the way to go and leads us with His light. - There Was Starlight on the Hillside, p. 40
• Candy Canes: This candy is made in the shape of a shepherd’s staff. The shepherds came to see baby Jesus. Christ is known as the good shepherd. - The Shepherd’s Carol, p. 40
• White: White represents the purity of Christ (he was perfect). - Mary’s Lullaby
• Gifts: Giving, sharing, thinking of others. Gifts represent the gifts the wise men brought to the Christ child and the gift of the Savior that Heavenly Father gave the world.
• Candy Cane: Shepherd’s crook for bringing lambs back to the fold. - Picture a Christmas, p. 50
• Christmas Tree (Green): Christmas trees are evergreen trees. They do not die in the winter, but stay green all year.  This is a symbol of eternal life. Christ made it possible for us to live forever in heaven after we die. The evergreen of everlasting life, pointing heavenward. - Samuel Tells of Baby Jesus, p. 36
• Red: The Savior’s sacrifice for all.  Red represents the blood of Christ. - He Sent His Son, p. 34
• Santa Claus: The spirit of Christmas, giving and receiving love, caring, sharing, kindness, cheerfulness, happiness, peace, good will to all, Christlike living. - When Joseph Went to Bethlehem, p. 38
• Star: The Bethlehem star, a sign of prophecy, the light of the world. - Stars were Gleaming, p. 37
• Wreath: Eternal love, no beginning, no end.  Love comes full circle. - Away in a Manger, p. 42

Christmas Tree

I needed something simple and easy on Sunday.  What is more simple and easy than a Christmas Tree with ornaments?  Each ornament has a song we reviewing/singing and the kids take turns coming up to pick their ornament/song.

Winter Ways to Sing

Primary kids get wiggly and need new ways to get out their wiggles.  I found these cute Winter Action Cards on Oopsey Daisy.  It is always fun to sing Do As I'm Doing with new actions!  Not all of them work for a Primary Song Time setting, but most of them do.

Thankful Charades

Thankful Charades

I did this last year; it was fun!  I found this idea on Primary Singing Time, but altered it because I did not have the turkey.  I thought playing charades would be a little more challenging (and funny) to do. 

• I am Thankful for the Scriptures - Scripture Power  
• I am Thankful for Family - Families Can Be Together Forever p. 188  
• I am Thankful for Food - For Health and Strength p. 21 
• I am Thankful for the Earth - My Heavenly Father Loves Me p. 228
• I am Thankful for the Prophets - Latter Day Prophets p. 134
• I am Thankful for Temples - I Love To See The Temple p. 95
• I am Thankful for Baptism – When Jesus Christ Was Baptized p. 102 
• I am Thankful for Prayer - A Child's Prayer p. 12

 

Thankful Turkey

I wanted something super simple to do this last Thanksgiving.  I came up with some things that we are thankful for, then asked a question about the item we are thankful for, and then gave a song to go along with the item we are thankful for.

• I am Thankful for the Scriptures! - What is your favorite scripture story? - Seek the Lord Early p. 108
• I am Thankful for Food! - What is your favorite snack? - Popcorn Popping p. 242
• I am Thankful for friends! - What do you like to do with your friends? - Love One Another p. 136
• I am Thankful for my Dad! - What do you liek to do with your Dad? - Daddy's Homecoming p. 210
• I am Thankful for my Mom! - What do you like to do with your Mom? - Mother, I Love You p. 207
• I am Thankful for my Body! - What do you do to keep your body healthy? - Hinges p. 277
• I am Thankful for our Prophet! - Do you remember our current Prophet's name? - Follow the Prophet p. 110
• I am Thankful for my home! - What is your favorite room in your house? - Love is Spoken Here p. 190
• I am Thankful for Missionaries! - What are you doing to help share the Gospel? - I Hope They Call Me on a Mission p. 169
• I am Thankful for our Savior, Jesus Christ - How can you follow Jesus? - I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus p. 78
• I am Thankful for Faith - What is Faith? - I Know My Father Lives p. 5
• I am Thankful for this beautiful world - What do you like best about being outside? - My Heavenly Father Loves Me p. 228

Thanksgiving Sing-a-Story

I found the Thanksgiving Sing-a-Story from Camille's Primary Ideas, she also has the document saved on the internet here.  It is already ready for you.  You just need to print it out and put it in a folder.  It takes the kids through the very first Thanksgiving and has Primary songs to go with each of the different events.  Super simple since it is already prepared for you.

Status Update

Today during Sacrament Meeting, the 1st Councilor from the Stake Presidency was visiting and also gave the second talk. He got up and asked for the Primary's help singing "A Child's Prayer." I freaked out when I finally processed in my brain what he was asking us to do. We haven't sung that song for months! I got all the kids up there and they sang GREAT! I was blown away with how well they sang. I am also grateful for technology and JollyJenn's flipcharts which I quickly put on my iPad. We got a lot of compliments afterwards of the great impromptu singing.

Pocket Match

What should you do with all those old jeans you have?  Cut their pockets out and make a Pocket Match!  The pockets are a perfect size for a 3x5 card with a song title placed inside.  I have also used this for a matching game.  I love when I am able to use my sewing skills to help with this calling!

Beach Ball Review

Easy Peasy!  One one ball I have a variety of songs listed on each color.  On the other ball I have how they will be singing that song.  Before we begin I have everyone hold up their right hand and then give me a thumbs up.  The right thumb is the one that does the picking.  Where ever that right thumb lands is what we will sing.  I get to involve two kids with this activity.  One catches the ball with the song titles and the other child catches the ball with how we will be singing.  This is fun to do in the Summer Time.

Singing Measles

I LOVE my calling as Primary Chorister.  I love figuring out new and fun ways to get the kids to sing.  I had seen this idea on the LDS Primary Chorister Page on Facebook and I knew I needed to try it out.  It is Singing Measles.  The teachers are given stickers to pass out and after each song that is sung, if the teacher feels that the kids sang loud/well enough, the kids are given stickers.  The kids can put the stickers on themselves or on their teacher or on me.  Most of the kids thought it would be great to put them on me.  (Of course!!)  I only gave them two rules, #1: no stickers in my ears and #2 no stickers up my nose.

WOW!  I could not believe how GREAT the kids sang!  I had such a great time in Primary!!  I got a lot of looks from everyone after church, but I wanted to show off how well our kids sang.

My GREAT Primary Kids!  

 My Singing Measles

 Megan also caught my measles

Father's Day

Father's Day is another simple, fun song time.  A variety of ties with songs (on post it notes) on the back.  I blind fold the child and let them attempt to "Pin the Tie on Daddy." 

Mother's Day

Our Ward has a GREAT Mother's Day, all the Sisters are sent off during the 3rd hour to go to Relief Society together.  This means that someone random is running Song Time.  I have provided them with a simple, no fail song time.  It consists of a vase of pretty, silk flowers.  Each flower has a different label on it with a song.  Many of the songs are Mother's Day songs, others are not.  Simple and easy.  The random substitute is always very grateful for the help.  

Easter Egg Hunt

I can't remember where I found this idea.  But the idea is to help the children understand the true meaning of Easter and why it is so important.  I have 7 "eggs" that I hide around the room that the kids will help me find.  Each "egg" has a picture and a song that goes along with it.  The kids need to help me put them in order of what happens first, second, etc.

• Jesus enters Jerusalem - Follow the Prophet p. 110 
• The Last Supper - I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus p. 78 
• The Atonement in Garden - My Heavenly Father Love’s Me p. 228  
• Jesus is betrayed for money - Wise Man/Foolish Man p. 281 
• Crucifixion - To Think About Jesus p. 71 
• Placed in the Tomb - I Lived in Heaven p. 4 
• Empty Tomb/Appears to Mary - Jesus Has Risen p. 70 

Lucky VS Blessed

I got this idea from Primary Singing Time Ideas.   We discuss what it means to be lucky and what it means to be blessed.  Each of my shamrocks have a picture on them that corresponds with a song that helps us remember how lucky/blessed we are.

Name That Primary Love Song

I got the idea from Camille's Primary Ideas.  I have the kids come up and pick a card WITHOUT looking at the card, they give it to our pianist.  She then plays a little bit of the song to see who can guess that song from the little bit that she plays.  Sometimes I have a bell and I make teams, I then pick the card and give it to our pianist to play and then see which team can guess it first after they ring the bell.  There are so many variations.  Fun and simple!

Picking Primary Helpers

I have a hard time picking kids, so I made my Primary Helpers.  The red one is for Junior Primary and the blue one is for Senior Primary.  Most of them have the kids names on them, I even have extra for when we have visitors.  I got the idea from the blog: Little LDS Ideas.  The faces can be downloaded from Mormon Share.  These come in handy every Sunday, even for the Primary Presidency.

Organization in a Crate

Here are some of the ways I have organized things in my Primary to help with with my calling as Primary Chorister.  I have put everything in a lovely crate to keep everything in one spot.  I have things organized by song, what ever I have on a particular song is in that file.  I also have some of my games and other things stored in this crate.

Me as a Chorister

My sister-in-law was recently called as the Primary Chorister in her ward.  I am so excited for her!  I have been our ward's Primary Chorister for a little over 2 years.  I honestly thought they were crazy for calling me because I am not musically talented.  However, I LOVE the Primary Kids and I love the Primary Hymns.  I have had more fun in this calling then should be allowed.  So, to help myself remember all the fun things I have done over the years, and to help out Sarah,  here are some of the things I have created, done, borrowed, and made for Primary (in no particular order).

Please note that I am re-posting items close to the holiday it is near if it is a holiday idea.