Little Children Seeds

I can't believe I haven't posted one of my favorite gross motor movement activities for Little Seeds Lie Fast Asleep!

Tell the children they are seeds. Have them 'bury' themselves in the ground. (Crouch, get low. Yes, some kids lie on the ground.) Have them cover themselves up with soil and get ready to sprout!

• 1st Verse. Stay crouched. During "wake up wake up calls the sun", use a "blinking" hand above head to be sun's rays)
• 2nd verse, slowly 'wake up' and stretch tall!

*I randomly came up with this on the spot one day. The kids love it!

Flower Patch

A busy week requires something easy for Sunday Singing Time. So this week it was song names on the back of cute Dollar Store plates, which I called "the flower patch".  I also used my dancing flower to make things fun.

Duck Pond Review

I just happen to have this Lucky Ducks game. It squeaks as the ducks go around. I think the kids will get a kick out of it. I have 4 songs to review, so this works out great...

How I'll to use it:

1. Make a chart assigning 4 songs a color (or a shape).
2. Choose a child to pick a duck.
3. See the color and Sing the coordinating song.
4. Repeat.

The 4 songs we're working on: Feb 2015

"Spring Break"

Tell the kids that it's Spring Break. .... It's the day to sing some Spring songs and take a break from learning Program Songs!

I did my "Spring Break" with these activities:

1. Picking Flowers
2. Dancing Flower
3. On a Golden Springtime Moving Visual Aide

Picking Flowers

Make toilet paper tube flowers. The song to sing is rolled up inside. 

Suggested Spring Songs:
In the Leafy Treetops 240
Birds in the Tree 241
Popcorn Popping 242
Little Seeds 243
Little Purple Pansies 244
Happy Song 264
Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam 60
On a Golden Springtime 88

Dancing Flowers

I have these animated flowers that move when I push a button on the flower pot. I tell the kids that they have to sing well enough to make the flowers dance! Works like a charm. ;)

If you ever see a weird thing for a great price that just speaks to you, it probably means you'll find a use for it in Primary music!  ;)

(L) The dancing flowers my Mom used when I was in Primary!

(R) The flower I found for a great clearance price!! I just need to cut off it's hat and get it to stop signing
"I Feel Good", in the style of James Brown funk (not so much appropriate for Primary).

Moving Visual Aid for On a Golden Springtime

I used my Singing Meter Board to make a moving visual aide for the song On a Golden Springtime.

It is tricky to work and to re-load, so this is something I will operate - not the kids (I let them do the Meter Board sometimes).

Verse 1: seed
Verse 2: tomb
Verse 3: forest glade

UPDATE:
I must say, this really brought the Spirit in to round out the "Spring Break" activity.

The 6 Be's

TELL the kids that Gordon B Hinckley gave a talk with counsel to help us all be better, happier people.

1. Write 6 "Be's" down a column on the board.
2. Invite a child to choose a wordstrip.
3. Ask the Primary how they can act like that word. (IE; "Grateful. How can you be grateful?").
4. Tape it up on the board next to a "Be".
5. Sing the song on the back.
6. Repeat.

The Be's are:

• Be grateful. (I Am Glad For Many Things 151)
• Be smart. (Choose the Right Way 160, Hum Your Favorite Hymn 152)
• Be clean. (When I Am Baptized 103, The Word of Wisdom 154)
• Be true. (Friends are Fun 262, I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus 78, Kindness Begins With Me 245)
• Be humble. (I'm Thankful to Be Me 11, almost any gratitude song in the CSB)
• Be prayerful. (A Child's Prayer 12, Pray in Faith 14)

WRAP UP by paraphrasing what was said at the beginning and testifying that we can all try to BE our best every day with Gordon B. Hinkley's six Be's.

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*(To make it THANKSGIVING THEMED, display the words on turkey feathers that the kids pick off of a turkey (then you stick on the board). At the end tell the kids that the six Be's help us to be more thankful every day.)

*(To make it SPRING/SUMMER THEMED, make the wordstrips black and yellow striped to look like bees! Or actual cute bee shapes.)

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PREPARE:

• chalk / eraser
• 6 wordstrips
• tape

Singing Meter Board

The idea is that pictures are attached and as the children sing well the pictures go up. (Or down, or sideways, or however you are holding the board).

Here is my basic board. It's really easy to make:

• thick poster board
• string (I used yarn)
• scissors

1. Measure and mark where you want the holes for the string. If you want, leave more space at the top so you can put a title on it.
2. Poke the holes
3. Cut the string and thread it through
4. Tie it on the back side

*You want the strings tight, but not so tight that they won't move.  Too loose, though, and the items you attach to the front will droop and not stay close to the board.

5. Make the backing to which you'll attach items. Make sure the knot at the back is all the way up and the backing is all the way at the bottom. I used cardboard from a cereal box:

6. Attach items. I was making "fireworks" for the 4th of July, using gift wrap bows. I'm still working on putting the title on my board, but I was in a hurry to get this post up. When the kids sing well the fireworks will go up!

Item ideas are -

• flowers that grow up
• fireworks that go up
• cars that race (side-to-side, turn the board horizontally)
• thermometer
• snowmen that melt
• raindrops that fall down
• shooting stars (side-to-side)
• rocketships up to the moon
• tortoise and the hair (side-to-side)
• hearts for a "love o'meter"
• kites
• ... let me know your ideas! I want to know more ways to use this singing meter board so I can get lots of use out of it!

Here is the Pioneer Children (sang as they walked) version.

It's horizontal (which kind of causes the strings to sag if the pictures are too heavy).

I used sticks to put the sign on the side (it is on the top when the board is vertical):

Here is the "Build a Temple" version, used in THIS lesson:

Here is the "Family Vacation" version:

Here is the Valentine's Version:

Another Valentine's Version with "Conversation Hearts":

The March/windy weather version:

For all 3 verses of On a Golden Springtime

(more of just a visual aid than a singing meter)

two pics:

Meter Board for learning/reviewing more verses of the Sunbeam song:

"Tie Guys" Singing Meter Board for Father's Day

(Yes!,  They are the suns... repurposed!)

Rainbow Singing Meter

image source

1. Get a long piece of butcher paper.
2. Adhere long strips of colored paper in rainbow order (They Might Be Giants Roy G Biv video helps me remember rainbow color order).
3. Roll up the paper (with the rainbow on the inside).
4. Enlist Teachers to help you unroll the rainbow as the kids sing.---> The better they sing, the longer the rainbow will be!

*You could make a horizontal graph (7H x 10W) and color it in line-by-line (in rainbow order) according to how well they sing.

*If you were teaching this song in March it would be cute to have a pot of gold as the very last thing that unrolls. Be sure the kids don't see it until the very last time you sing it through. Even better, if it had chocolate coins on it - one for each child to take home.

Popcorn Popping - Mother's Day and Father's Day Verses

MOTHERS VERSE *by Pat Preston (England):

I woke up this morning and what did I see?
The sun was shining on the apricot tree.
Spring flowers blossomed right before my eyes,
Just what I needed for a big surprise.
I gathered an armful, a bouquet sweet.
Enough to make my mother such a lovely treat.
I wrapped a ribbon 'round, I went inside to say,
'I love you Mommy, happy Mother's Day!'

FATHERS VERSE *by Janelle Morris:

I woke up this morning and what did I see?
My Dad was working on the apricot tree.
Spring had brought us such a nice surprise,
Popcorn popping right before our eyes.
I went outside to help him a little while,
Being with my dad always makes me smile.
Dad you are the best, So I want to say,
I love you daddy, happy father’s day!

Butterflies Flutter By

image source

Butterflies land on (choose what you need for your Primary):

• kids who are sitting reverently
• kids who are singing well

*You could have the last child the butterfly landed on be the next 'chooser' and fly around during the song and land on next person. (and so on)


*Idea from Primary Singing Blog

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Hang paper raindrops from an umbrella. Put song names on the rain drops. When a child picks a raindrop put in on the board in a circular motion and it will become petals of a flower (on a stem already taped on the board). Bring a spray bottle filled with water and if the children are singing well make it rain on them!

Use as a review, or....

Fun Spring Songs:

• Rain Is Falling All Round 241
• Birds in the Tree 241
• Little Seeds Lie Fast Asleep 243
• Popcorn Popping 242
• In The Leafy Treetops 240
• Little Purple Pansies 244
• My Heavenly Father Loves Me 228
• Wise Man and The Foolish Man

My raindrops turned in to ....

....a flower!

*umbrella idea from Beehive Messages
*flower idea... all mine!

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UPDATE:

• Lesson went well.
• Got "oooohs and ahhhhs" when the flower appeared. Kept the kids interested.

Lamb & Lion

I call this one... Lamb/Lion, aka Piano/Forte, aka Hot/Cold. Sometimes I'm indecisive. :)

image source

THE PLAN:

March is in like a lamb, out like a lion. (Or vica versa), right?

IDEA 1:
Make a lamb and a lion on popcicle sticks.
Lamb - sing Piano (soft)
Lion - sing Forte (loud). *sing, not scream!

IDEA 2:
Play hot/cold. One child goes out into the hallway. Another hides an item. The children sing Forte like a Lion if the 'finding' child is close to finding the item or Piano like a Lamb if they're far away.

IDEA 3:
a) Add-on to Lamb and Lion visual aides. (the class singing best gets to tape up stuff)
b) After all parts are up, point to Lamb (sing piano) or Lion (sing forte) while singing.

This is how Idea #3 turned out:

the kids get to add the pieces

all assembled

they come apart for storage...

...and fit in a 1GAL storage bag