Looking for ideas for an Easter Singing Time?
I'm toying with two ideas, one is more reverent than the other.
So I thought I would share.
One is this from the blog Primary Notes 29 and is a great list of Easter symbols, paired with scriptures and Primary songs!
http://primarynotes29.blogspot.com/2013/03/easter-symbols-with-scriptures-and-songs.html
The other is less reverent but a fun set of ideas for an Easter "Comp-Egg-Tition" from Sugardoodle.
http://www.sugardoodle.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1863&Itemid=5
I will be deciding between these two, or merging the two ideas somehow!
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Watercolor Eggs
I couldn't wait to do an Easter Singing Time lesson until Easter!
So we did the cool watercolor/white crayon trick that I've seen on Pinterest.
It was fun!
I started out showing them some beautiful artwork from the Gospel Art Book.
We talked about how there aren't cartoons on the walls of our church buildings -- there are beautiful paintings to help us feel the Spirit.
And that art can be a wonderful way we get to know our Savior better.
I had our watercolor set, a brush, and a cup with a little water.
I had six large construction-paper-sized eggs (one set for Junior and one set for Senior). I'd written in white crayon a phrase from a song (see below). They had to paint over it to reveal what I'd written.
So we did the cool watercolor/white crayon trick that I've seen on Pinterest.
It was fun!
I started out showing them some beautiful artwork from the Gospel Art Book.
We talked about how there aren't cartoons on the walls of our church buildings -- there are beautiful paintings to help us feel the Spirit.
And that art can be a wonderful way we get to know our Savior better.
I had our watercolor set, a brush, and a cup with a little water.
I had six large construction-paper-sized eggs (one set for Junior and one set for Senior). I'd written in white crayon a phrase from a song (see below). They had to paint over it to reveal what I'd written.
With the Junior kids, I called them up one at a time to paint, but it took longer than I'd hoped so we ended up starting each song before they'd finished revealing.
So for the Senior kids, I did the painting so they could all see it and it went faster. I'd recommend this.
Phrase on the egg and the corresponding song:
He is always near me / If the Savior Stood Beside Me
Joy fills our hearts / Jesus Has Risen
Raise your joys and triumphs high / Christ the Lord Has Risen Today
I thank Him reverently / My Heavenly Father Loves Me
He wakened and he left the tomb / Did Jesus Really Live Again?
Rise with living breath / He Sent His Son
It was a fun singing time and the kids loved to see the words revealed. The older kids already knew how it was done, but the Junior kids didn't and were excited to hear the trick!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
St. Patrick's Day!
I honestly wouldn't have had it on my radar that St. Patrick's Day was on Sunday if not for the Facebook group for Primary Music Leaders and other blogs.
So....yay!
One of our school colors happens to be green, so we have some fun green "stuff" for a leprechaun to wear including a sequined fedora. And one of our Primary teachers in the Senior group is named Patrick! So all of that got me thinking.
Here are my thoughts that I need to finalize, but I thought I'd throw it all out there in case it helps someone.
I plan to create a big rainbow visual with a "real" pot of gold at the end but the pot will be empty.
Our leprechaun will have to tell us where he hid the gold.
We'll have paper shamrocks with a song on the back and a clue from the leprechaun on how to sing:
"If you want my pot of gold, you must sing this very bold!"
We'll talk about Lucky vs. Blessed.
And sing the below songs.
The pot of gold will be a big vase of Rolos (or some other gold candy), to pass out at the end.
And behind the pot of gold will be a picture of the Savior to show that he's our real treasure!
I know we won't get through all of these, but I love that it's a fun way to review the songs we've already learned this year!
I Am A Child of God 2 / We are lucky to have a Father in Heaven who loves us
A Young Man Prepared 166 / We are lucky to have missionaries to teach us
My Heavenly Father Loves Me 228 / We are lucky to live in a beautiful world
If the Savior Stood Beside Me / We are lucky to be able to feel Jesus' love through the Holy
Ghost
Families Can Be Together Forever 188 / We are lucky to have temples so that our families
can be together forever
Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes 275
/ We are lucky to have bodies
When I Am Baptized 103
/ We are lucky to be able to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost
I Belong to the Church
of Jesus Christ 77 / We are lucky to be members of
the Church
We Thank Thee O God
for a Prophet 19 / We are lucky to have a prophet
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Word Trap
I decided on a game for Senior Primary that I adapted from here:
http://www.leadership-with-you.com/leadership-icebreakers.html
(For Junior we did "Who What How" which is always a fun review.)
I decided to call it "Word Trap" and I was kind of nervous because it wasn't a tried and true idea someone else had done. But I decided to throw caution to the wind and try it. It was fun! It does take some time so it's only good for reviewing one song.
Basically everyone sits on the floor in a circle with one kid in the middle with a butterfly net...or some other prop you can find at your house. I had words from the song on a card, spaced out within the song. I showed the first kid the word they had to listen for. The kids started singing the song, and the middle kid tracked the song around the circle - one word per kid. The kids didn't know ahead of time what the word was but when they sang it, the kid whose word it was got tapped in and got the net and I showed them the next word. And so on.
It was fun to do.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
If the Savior Stood Beside Me poster
You know those days you spend hours putting together a visual for one of the Program songs? And you're all, "Dude, I can't believe how long this took me!"
And you kind of feel sorry for yourself and then you feel kind of proud and then you go take a nap.
And you kind of feel sorry for yourself and then you feel kind of proud and then you go take a nap.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
If the Savior Stood Beside Me: Four Corners
Oh how I pondered and pondered and PONDERED for weeks on how to present this song.
My modus operandi is games, but this song felt too sacred and special to start it off with a game the first week.
So I used a combination of the ideas in my previous post!
First I asked the kids if it's hard to always choose the right.
I was holding that picture from the Gospel Art Kit of the Savior holding a lamb.
Do they think it would be easier to choose the right if we had someone standing next to us each time?
What if our best friend was standing next to us? Our Primary President? Our Mom or Dad?
What if Jesus was standing next to us? Would it be easier then to always choose the right? Would we be more kind to others? Would we listen to the same music, watch the same shows? Be more honest?
We do have someone very special in life that is always there for us. We may not always be able to see or hear or feel Him, but He is always there.
For the Junior kids, I then went more methodically through the first verse, singing it once through (DON'T WE LOVE SINGING SOLOS!!! HAHAHAHA)
But for the Senior kids, a lot of them remembered it! I was pretty impressed.
So I started right off with putting things on the board, as detailed below.
In going through the first verse, I pointed out that the Savior is mentioned at the beginning and at the end.
I put up two pictures of the Savior (the same one) -- on the right hand side and on the left hand side of the board, leaving room for four pieces of paper between.
We talked about how there were 4 questions, all starting with "Would"
I put up four different colors of paper, each with a question mark, between the pictures of the Savior.
We sang it through, talking about the questions.
I then handed out the same color papers, dividing the kids into 4 groups. They were numbered.
They had to tell me what their question was, we sang it, and then we played "Four Corners."
The groups each went into a corner, and we sang the verse through with just the 1st group singing the 1st question and so forth.
We switched a few more times and then we were done!
This could be done for the second verse too, although I will come up with something different.
This was a more calm Singing Time, no wild game or distracting props. It was nice to do this once in awhile, especially for a song so special as this one about the Savior.
My modus operandi is games, but this song felt too sacred and special to start it off with a game the first week.
So I used a combination of the ideas in my previous post!
First I asked the kids if it's hard to always choose the right.
I was holding that picture from the Gospel Art Kit of the Savior holding a lamb.
Do they think it would be easier to choose the right if we had someone standing next to us each time?
What if our best friend was standing next to us? Our Primary President? Our Mom or Dad?
What if Jesus was standing next to us? Would it be easier then to always choose the right? Would we be more kind to others? Would we listen to the same music, watch the same shows? Be more honest?
We do have someone very special in life that is always there for us. We may not always be able to see or hear or feel Him, but He is always there.
For the Junior kids, I then went more methodically through the first verse, singing it once through (DON'T WE LOVE SINGING SOLOS!!! HAHAHAHA)
But for the Senior kids, a lot of them remembered it! I was pretty impressed.
So I started right off with putting things on the board, as detailed below.
In going through the first verse, I pointed out that the Savior is mentioned at the beginning and at the end.
I put up two pictures of the Savior (the same one) -- on the right hand side and on the left hand side of the board, leaving room for four pieces of paper between.
We talked about how there were 4 questions, all starting with "Would"
I put up four different colors of paper, each with a question mark, between the pictures of the Savior.
We sang it through, talking about the questions.
I then handed out the same color papers, dividing the kids into 4 groups. They were numbered.
They had to tell me what their question was, we sang it, and then we played "Four Corners."
The groups each went into a corner, and we sang the verse through with just the 1st group singing the 1st question and so forth.
We switched a few more times and then we were done!
This could be done for the second verse too, although I will come up with something different.
This was a more calm Singing Time, no wild game or distracting props. It was nice to do this once in awhile, especially for a song so special as this one about the Savior.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
If The Savior Stood Beside Me: Ideas
This song is so beautiful!
I didn't really want to come up with a silly-seeming game for such a spiritual song, so I've been compiling ideas from others and am sharing below. Still have to figure out what exactly I'm doing. It's Saturday. Yep, seems about right! Sigh!
Great idea for all month from the blog What These Hands Do:
And this flip chart is perfect, from the blog Singing Magic:
I also really liked this PDF from Sugardoodle!
Will add more if I find more that I like the best!
I didn't really want to come up with a silly-seeming game for such a spiritual song, so I've been compiling ideas from others and am sharing below. Still have to figure out what exactly I'm doing. It's Saturday. Yep, seems about right! Sigh!
Great idea for all month from the blog What These Hands Do:
And this flip chart is perfect, from the blog Singing Magic:
I also really liked this PDF from Sugardoodle!
Will add more if I find more that I like the best!