Birthday idea

Found this idea to celebrate the Primary's Birthday.  Each candle will have a number.  As the kids pick them, either tell a Primary history fact or we'll sing a Primary song. Here's the link to the birthday candle clip art: 

http://wip.creativiteach.com/2011/09/26/why-wont-this-work/

And here are some fun Primary facts to refer to:

*Primary was first organized in 1878 by Aurelia Spencer Rogers in Farmington, Utah, she was a 44 year old mother of 12.
*Children ages 4-14 were invited to the participate in the first primary
*It was adopted church wide in 1880
*Rogers was concerned because younger Latter-day Saint children weren't being taught basic principles and values.
*Rogers felt that the younger boys in the community were becoming unruly and mischievous.
*The first primary... meeting was held on August 28, with 224 children in attendance. They decided that girls were allowed to come so the singing would sound prettier.
*At the first primary boys were specifically taught not to steal fruit from orchards and girls were taught not to hang on wagons. In addition, they were given lessons on faith, manners,obedience, and other worthy principles.
*Sister May Anderson, the second general president of the Primary Association from initiated what became Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City.
*In the 1970s the Primary Association was renamed Primary.
*There have been 12 General Primary Presidents since 1878!
*135 years later there are now over 1 million primary children all over the world!

4th of July idea

Our sweet baby boy was born last Friday so I won't be leading the music for a while.  But I saw this great idea and wanted to remember it for next year:  Make a paper flag with everything but the stars. Cut stars out of paper and write song names on them, hide the stars around the room, and have the kids find them and put them on the flag. Happy Independence Day!

Planning Ahead

Next year I'd like to do this for Father's Day: http://www.camillesprimaryideas.com/2013/06/fathers.html.

June Singing Time

I'm a week late for June.  Last week (6/2) we went over the Father's Day medley we're singing in Sacrament Meeting on the 16th (found HERE) and we also reviewed We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet by using idea #5 found on THIS PAGE at lds.org.  The kids remembered it from before and it was a fun review day for them.

Tomorrow (6/9) we'll sing the Father's Day medley once or twice.  They know it pretty well now so I won't spend much time on it.  After that we'll review the first verse of If the Savior Stood Beside Me with the idea from a blog called "What These Hands Do" found with THIS LINK.  If they remember it well enough we'll go on to the second verse.

On Father's Day (6/16) we'll be singing Families Can Be Together Forever in Jr. Primary and the Sr. Primary will review We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet and If the Savior Stood Beside Me.  I'll probably use the same silly dad picture I used last year because it's cute and I already have it. This day is also my due date for baby #6! so I don't think I'll be around to lead the singing for the rest of June and I'll have a substitute for July and August as well.  If you don't see any new posts from me, this is why.  Have a good summer!

"Hot"... Whatever

I saw this idea online today and wanted to post it to remind myself that's it's a good idea for reviewing a song.

"We play "Hot ClipBoard" like hot potato but I pass around a clip board with paper and pencil on it. When the pianist stops (at her will) the kid holding the clip board has to write the next 5 words, and so do I. It actually stumps me too and sometimes the kids win. For Junior primary I have them pass around an object and when the music stops I just have them say the next words.  Any object is fine, just call it "hot."

Thanks,  Amanda Dickerson Merrill from Primary Choristers forum on facebook.

May Singing Time

The primary children are singing "Mother, I Love You" next week in Sacrament Meeting. The Sr. Primary kids know it pretty well, but the Jr. Primary needs some help with it.  While I hold a flip chart with pictures and words for the kids to see, I'll have one child come up and hold a Popsicle stick with a big heart on it.  Every time we say the word "Love" the child will hold up the stick heart.

HERE is what I'll be doing for Mother's Day next week.  Thanks to Primary Notes 29 for the idea!

The following Sunday I'll be teaching the kids "Families Can Be Together Forever".  We'll play a memory matching game inspired by THIS LINK, but I think I'll tweak it a little to make it my own.

And for the last Sunday in May we'll review all the songs we've learned for the program to date with a review game of some kind.

April Singing Time - A Child's Prayer

The first Sunday in April was General Conference and the 3rd Sunday is our Stake Conference, leaving me with only 2 Sundays in April to teach a new song.  I chose A Child's Prayer and will be using an idea called "Fun With the Phone" I found here to introduce it.  I'm only going to teach the 1st verse to the children because I think it would be very appropriate for some parents to sing the 2nd part with them for the sacrament program this fall.