Flags for Children All Over The World

Use these flags in THIS Lesson Plan

*Flag images (below) from: Flagpedia
*BLACK AND WHITE COLORING PAGE FLAGS can be found on Activity Village.

SPANISH  "Gracias" (grah-see-ahs)

TONGAN  "Malo" (mah-loh)

GERMAN  "Wir danken dir." (veer don-ken deer)

DANISH "tak" (tahk)

FRANCE  "merci," (mare-see)

JAPANESE  "Kansha shimasu," (kahn-shah shee-mah-sue) 

ACTIONS for Thanks to Thee

Here are some actions I made up for Thanks to Thee, page 6:

When I'm home     [hand house]

or far away,     [hand over brow]
Heav'nly Father,    [ASL Heavenly Father, or point upward]

hear me     [cup ear]

pray.     [folded arms]
Keep me     [point to self]

safely in thy sight;     [point to eyes]
Help me choose     [point to self]
and do what's right.     [thumbs up]
Thanks for home     [finger house]
and fam'ly too,     [ASL family]
Many things to love and do.     [cross arms on heart]
Thou art very good to me.     [point to self]
Heav'nly Father,     [ASL Heavenly Father]

thanks     [ASL thank you]

to thee.     [point upward]

Thank YOU For The Many Things...

"Send a primary child to go get someone who serves in our ward who we are thankful for. When they arrive the primary sings to them....

1. The first verse of "I Am Glad for Many Things",
2. and then the second verse I changed to "Thank you, Thank you, my heart sings, my heart sings, my heart sings, Thank YOU for the many things that *YOU do today."

*All of the primary kids point to the person on "YOU" and we thank thank them for all they do to serve in our ward."




--->  Idea from Amy D. on the Facebook Chorister's Group

We thank you, ___________

So there was this week I had something planned. And I didn't follow the plan. If you know me, I like my plans and it's NOT like me at all to ever deviate from a plan! But I did. And it turned out great.

After hearing a High Councilman talk in Sacrament about what he used to do in a family night where someone would sit in a chair and the others in the family would say nice things about them, my Primary Music plan was thrown out the window and instead an impromptu Music Time was full of thankfulness for Primary Teachers and Leaders. A few lyric tweaks to "For Health and Strength" and my creative kids came up with fun songs to individually thank their Teachers.

I asked the kids for 3 words to describe their Teacher. Each Teacher's song was different and adorable, but something similar to this one from Junior Primary; ♪ ... "For teaching, loving and bringing me treats - we thank you, Sister _____ ..." ♫

HOW TO DO THIS EASY SINGING TIME:

1. Get chalk and an eraser
2. Invite a Teacher to sit in a chair up front
3. Ask the children what nice thing this Teacher does for them
4. Figure out some words that will work and write them on the board
5. Sing the song (we sang it 3 times in a row)
6. Repeat

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

Pick a Pie

• Prepare pie visual aides that are missing pieces. Secretly, they are the songs you’re singing’s time signatures; 3/4, 4/4, 2/3, 6/8…

• Tape pies on baking sheet.

Wear an apron. Tell the kids that you’ve been baking this week! (show baking sheets with pies taped on). You’ve been baking musical pies!

• Invite a child to pick a pie.

Point out that you already sliced the pie. Show how the pie had four slices. Then explain how you got hungry and ate some of the pie (well, not true for 4 / 4 time - that’s still a whole pie - but this example is 3 / 4 time...). Show how there are 3 slices left. So, this makes it a 3 / 4 (three-fourths) pie. That means that the song we’re going to sing is in 3 / 4 (three four) time!

• Write the time signature on the board. Tape pie next to it. --Or, tape pie by a time sig already written on the board.

• Invite the pie picker’s whole class to help you lead with mixing spoons. Show them how to “stir in the air” the conducting pattern.  (Especially in JR, point out the pie parts every time and go over the leading pattern.) (In SR the rest of the kids sitting down could possibly clap the beat, with the 1st clap being the downbeat.)

• Pick another pie and repeat

see how music can be a pie?
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Tactile Thanksgiving

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I think this repetitive singing activity would work for reinforcing I'm Thankful to Be Me. The tactile portions would be great in Junior Primary. Senior may think it's to babyish...

• Sing
• Pick a child to choose a turkey feather to stick on the turkey body. The feather has a question, followed by something to do the next time you sing.
• Sing and do the action (well, the sign ones you don't do while you sing...).
• Pick a child
• Sing
• Pick
• Repeat...

FEATHERS:

We are thankful for our eyes.What can you do with your eyes that you are thankful for?
*Sing with your eyes closed.

We are thankful for our hands. What can you do with your hands that you are thankful for.
*Clap the rhythm while we sing.

We are thankful for for feet. What can you do with your feet that you are thankful for?
*Sing and march

We are thankful for our mouths.What can you do with your mouth that you are thankful for?
*Sing with a big mouth!

We are thankful for our ears.What can you do with your ears that you are thankful for?
*Sing touching your ear lobes.

We are thankful for our Mothers and Fathers.

*Learn the sign language for Mother and Father.

We are thankful for Sisters and Brothers.

*Learn the sign language for Sister, Brother and baby.

We are thankful for Grandmas and Grandpas.
*Learn the sign language for Grandma and Grandpa.

Thanksgiving Fill-In-The-Blanks

image source

Change the words and have the kids fill in the blanks using the songs "Here We are Together" or "For Health and Strength". Just write the words on the board and fit them into the songs. Or don't write them down at all. Easy peasy.

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HERE WE ARE TOGETHER -
We're thankful for our blessings, our blessings, our blessings. We're thankful for our blessings this Thanksgiving Day. There's _______ and _______ and ______ and _______. We're thankful for our blessings this Thanksgiving Day.

FOR HEALTH AND STRENGTH:
For _________ and _________ and _____ _____ _____ (three words, or a 3-syllable word), we praise thy name oh Lord.


*Idea from the ladies in the LDS Choristers FB Group.

Songs We're Thankful For

Year 1

Year 2

INTRO:

I am very thankful this time of year. Do you know who I’m very thankful for? YOU GUYS! I am so thankful that I get to sing with you every week! I know that you all are also thankful for the Primary songs. This week I didn’t prepare any music for us to sing. Instead, we are going to sing the Primary songs YOU are thankful for!

*pass out paper feathers* - write name and favorite song on feather

And, SING!

(**This activity takes me two Sundays to get to everyone's song.)

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PREP:

• turkey body (on a thick posterboard, laminated for week to week use)
• paper feathers

Musical Feast

image source

Put the names of songs on the back of pictures of things you'd have for Thanksgiving dinner. Can be done 2D with pictures or with 3D actual objects (found around the house, or make your own!). Have the items in a basket. One at a time choose a child to pick an item to put on the Thanksgiving Feast. Add item to the feast, sing, repeat.

Turkey Feather Thanks

1. A child picks a feather
2. Feathers have questions asking kids what they are thankful for, OR songs to sing
3. Answer the question or sing.
4. Repeat

1. *This can also be done as a build-a-turkey....
2.  Tape a turkey body on the board
3. Pick feathers from a pile and tape them up on the turkey body. 
4. Tape feather on board.
5. Repeat.

Sample questions...

Name something you are thankful for at home.

Name something you are thankful for at school.

Name a person you are thankful for.

Name a place you are thankful for.

Name a service someone has done for you that you are thankful for.

Name something you can do that someone would be thankful you did.