Singing Time Ideas Page!
YOUR SHARING TIME IDEAS!
YOUR SHARING TIME IDEAS!
SPIRITUAL CROCODILES - ANOTHER TAKE: I tried to do the crocodile hunt idea, but it progressed differently and the kids loved it.
I made very simple signs that said lake, forest, swamp, mountains, and home. I cut out crocodiles from clip art on the computer to put in the swamp, drew wavy lines in the lake, trees in the forest, and mountains on the sheet marked mountains. I'm no artist, it took 10 minutes. I hung these in our primary room walls.
I then brought in binoculars ( I couldn't find my safari hat until days later) and the kids wanted to use them, so I picked a child. The child choose a location and we all walked to it. We talked about relaxing in a lake, swimming, whatever the children mentioned and acted out some of the activities.
Then another child led us to the next location-at the swamp I talked about the crocodiles mentioned in Elder Packer's talk. When we got to the forest, one of the children said that there were wolves and we talked about more hidden dangers. We talked about how difficult it was to climb the mountains, but what a beautiful view we were now enjoying, etc
Things kind of developed as the children came up with ideas. At each stop, I had placed either a picture of a comforter, lantern, warning sign, something so that we talked about how the Holy Ghost could comfort us if we made a mistake.
I had planned to lead the children, but they really wanted to use the binoculars and our discussion was more interesting, because we decided that if we followed the right guide, we would end up back home with fewer mishaps then if we followed just anyone.
--Lorna
PIONEERS:
I built a pretend fire in the middle of the room. The kids sat around our fire (rocks in a circle, wood, and colored red, orange and yellow paper for the flames). I had pictures of pioneers that I had colored around the room hidden with Pioneer facts on them. For instance, Pioneers had to leave all of their toys and possessions behind when they left their homes. I picked a child to go around and find a pioneer fact. We talked about each fact, and how they would like it if they had to leave their iPods, stuffed animals, etc. behind, and never return to their homes. The kids really liked it. We talked about how they didn't have Spongebob gloves etc. to keep them warm like we do. It really hit home with he kids when it is put in their "language" of the current times. I had pioneer songs to sing if we ran out of time, but we were rushed to get through all of the facts.
--Jenny Davis, Elizaveth CO
Sunbeam Idea for Lesson on Pioneers:
For my Sunbeams, I made small cards with pictures of modern conveniences, such as a stove, bathtub, faucet, bed, and fan. Then I made another group of cards with pictures of what the pioneers probably used (a campfire instead of a stove for cooking, a river instead of a bathtub or faucet, a bedroll instead of a bed, and a bonnet or hat instead of a fan). I taped all of the cards on the wall.
I asked the children what they slept in, or what their moms used to cook with, etc. Then I had them go to the wall, find a picture of that object, and put it on a little board that I was holding. The next child would find a picture of what the pioneers used instead of the modern convenience, take the picture off the wall, and put it on the board next to the picture of the modern convenience. The children loved this activity.
--Shelsea
A couple of weeks ago, I did both sen. and jun, sharing time, and virtually did the same thing for both. I had covered an 8 inch box with white paper and with bright felt pens, made it look like a dice, although we called it a "cube". I also put some little coloured pictures on each section to help the juniors, eg.one red heart on No.1, two coloured balloons on No.2 etc. I had made a list from one to six with three different activities for each number. The children sat in a circle and one would throw the "cube", then I would look at the list and give them the instruction listed.
No 1. was sing an action song,
No2.
Nos. 3 and 4. They had to find pieces of puzzle that had numbers written on the back, that had been hidden around the room, (just to get a few wiggles out,) sit back down, and hand me the pieces when I called out the number and we made the piucture up of a family having Family Home Evening. We sang "Happy Families".
No5. was the favourite. They passed the cube around while they sang I am a "Child of God", and when the song was finished, the child holding the cube then rolled it.
No. 6 was a "Who am I" game.I gave out the clues and they had to guess who or what I was. The first one was the Scriptures. The second was Noah, the third was the rainbow.
This kept the children interested and we had a very happy, successful Sharing Time.
--Janet Pearson Bracken Ridge Ward, Brisbane Queensland Australia.
COMPOSERS
I wanted to find a new way to choose helpers for my Senior primary, and
this one has been a lot of fun. We have been learning a little about the
technical aspects of music; what the different notes look like and how long
you hold each one, the sounds of different intervals, etc. One day I played
a CD of the program songs for our upcoming year and let them compose their
own songs on two lines of staff paper. They wrote their name on their song
before turning them in and now every time I need a helper in senior primary,
I pick out a song and our pianist plays the song they composed before we
do whatever they were going to help me with. The kids have been so excited
to hear their songs played, and love hearing the songs their peers have composed.
Some of the kids act a little shy about having theirs played and if they
didn't want to compose a song, I just had them write their name on a piece
of staff paper, so they would still get picked. Out of fifty kids, we only
had 2 or 3 that didn't want to write one. When we get through all of them,
we will probably learn a more advanced technique and write new songs.
JR
Houston, TX
Choosing Sticks
When I was the chorister I wanted to make sure
that each child got a turn to be picked, so I came up with a simple and very
inexpensive idea (I also don't have to remember from week to week who has/has
not been chosen in a while). Because making cards and laminating them for
durability can get expensive, (and we are using tithing money!) I purchased
jumbo craft sticks at Wal-mart for about $3 for a box of 150 sticks.
I painted one end of each craft stick yellow and the other end red (any colors
will work). When dry, just write the names of the children on the center
of the stick. Use full names if you have some children with the same
name. Then place all the sticks in a jar or empty formula container, with
the yellow end up. During choosing time, select a stick from the jar.
After you have chosen a child, place the stick BACK in the jar with the RED
end up. This way you can remember that the red end has been chosen already.
When all the sticks have been turned to the red side, empty the jar, turn
them back yellow side up and start over! The sticks last forever.
Tip: paint several extra sticks so that when new children move into your
ward you have sticks ready for them. You can also have two different
containers - labled SR Primary and JR Primary.
I printed 1 Nephi 3:7 on a 1/2 sheet of paper then rounded
the corners to the shape of a boat. I cut construction paper to the same
shape. I glued the scripture on to the construction paper for reinforcement.
A popscicle stick was the mast and that was glued to the top/center of the
boat. A sail was a triangle cut from white construction paper and glued to
the mast. I pre-cut the materials for the children. Then it was simple for
them to glue together.
C.E.S
Deltona, Florida Ward
--Karen
I wanted to present something on keeping the Sabbath holy while we are focusing on "My Gospel Standards".This is really simple, but worked well with the Senior Primary.(I was not in charge of Jr. that day....didn't try it with them.)I split the rows of children down the middle, and told them that we were going to have a contest to see which team could come up with the most "appropriate Sabbath activities".Of course, I presented first that so many people think that Sunday is "their" day, but that it is really the Lord's day.I took turns picking a child from each team, and wrote the ideas on the board as they were given to me.I often had to prompt them with the question, " What is something else that would help you remember Jesus, or that would please Jesus?"I was amazed:At least 10 minutes of nonstop ideas from these children, and the blackboard was packed!I was very pleased to announce to them when the time was up that they had all won the contest...that there are so many wonderful things we can do on Sunday and that they don't ever need to be bored on Sunday.I think I will type out a list from their ideas and make copies for them, in case they ever need to refer to it on Sunday.
-Robin
NOVEMBER VIDEO
I am in the process of videotaping the parents of all the children in our primary (we have about 40) giving a short example of how their child has been a good example to others.The video will be shown in November in conjunction with that month's theme, "How can we help each other keep our baptismal covenant".I think the children are really going to love the recognition and are going to feel inspired to be good examples.
Amy Staley
Latter-Day Prophets
I am in
the stake primary presidency in Clinton, Utah. During ward conference
visits I was so impressed with a sharing time done by one of our wards.
They found a book about the latter-day prophets and read facts about each
ones' baptism, and held up pictures. They sang a song after two or
three of them that reinforced the principle. After they had done seven
or eight they had the kids pick a clue and read it about the prophets baptism
and match it to that prophets picture. It was a very interesting and
fun way to learn about our prophets and their special day.
Preparation: Tape record your own voice whispering phrases such as "The rhinoceros has purple spots." The first few phrases can be silly, then do a few serious ones such as Stop! Don't run!" or "You need to go home now."
Presentation: Start by telling the children that the Holy Ghost sometimes whispers messages to us and we need to be listening very intently to hear them. Play the messages one at a time and have kids raise their hands if they heard the message. When you get to the serious ones, give specific examples or tell brief, one minute stories to relate to the messages (When I was a little girl I thought I heard the Holy Ghost say, "You need to go home now." When I got home...)
Time length: The best part about
this sharing time is that it's so flexible & can fit nearly any time
frame, depending on how many messages you have recorded and how many stories
you have to tell.
Preparation:
Introduce your guide. (He/she could dress in a safari hat, binoculars, etc.) He is here to help us find the spiritual crocodiles and stay away from them.
Go on a crocodile hunt.
Chant:
Huntin'
for a crocodile (pat legs)
Huntin'
for a crocodile.
Stay
away! Stay away! (hands to eyes looking through binoculars)
The guide finds one of the crocodiles and shows the children where it is. BUT DOES NOT TOUCH IT. He encourages the children to stay far away from it.
Guide explains how this crocodile is dangerous to our spirits. Emphasize that sometimes it may look innocent. We need to listen to our guide.
Continue until all the hidden crocodiles
have been found.
We spent five or so minutes discussing our life in the spirit world. (I used one of the children who had just had a birthday, and asked them what very important event happened to them 5 years ago) We talked about being born, and living on earth, learning about the gospel. Then we talked about dying, and where did we go. Be sure to be armed with the correct scripture references, I used the ones in D&C 76. I also quoted 1 Corinthians 15:41.
When we came to discuss the three degrees of glory, I had them turn out the lights. I had brought three flashlights of different intensity (One would do if you didn't have three though.) I turned the telestial kingdom over and talked about the kind of people who went there, while a volunteer held the flashlight on the telestial kingdom. I took the list of inhabitants of each kingdom from D&C 76 too.
I did the same with each kingdom.
I made sure the children knew that little children (under 8) went to the
celestial kingdom, and that most people would to the terrestrial. Then
I had an older child read D&C 88:22. We talked about hell briefly
and I had several questions about repentance. It turned out very nice
and was quite dramatic.
It also
went over about 5 minutes.
What we are doing for sharing time is taping black spots onto one of the children in my CTR class. The other members of our class will take turns removing a spot from the child. On the back of each spot is a number. The number directs the teacher to a picture, activity, phrase, scripture about baptism to discuss with the Junior Primary.
Once all the spots are gone we have reviewed the topic of baptism and can quote the scripture of how baptism making you spotless.
Monique Eliason
I did a sharing time on "keeping the commandments helps us to build a strong testimony". I used two tool boxes. One with tools, and one with ‘spiritual tools' (scriptures, home evening manual, church magazines, pictures of families having prayer, sitting in church, etc.). I asked the children what the various items found in a tool box are used for. (Hammer - to build things. Screwdriver - to put things together, etc..) I pointed out that tools are used to make or build things with.
Then I showed the tool box with the ‘spiritual tools' in it. Taking the things out one by one, I asked the children to tell what the item can do to help us build our testimony and increase our spirituality. After guiding the answers in the way I wanted, I ended by explaining that these are our spiritual tools, they are the tools that we use to increase our spirituality, build our testimony, and keep the commandments.
Terry
Here are the questions that I used in the
tic-tac-toe game. Really they are not difficult to think of when you stop
and think about it. They are very simple, with answers that every primary
child should know. You want the children to have success and not be stumped
by questions that are really complicated or difficult. I made up a list for
Jr and one for Sr. But you can choose from one list also. You would be surprised
how many of our Jr primary could answer some of the Sr. questions.
1. How old are you when you are baptized?
2. What
color do you wear when you are baptized?
3. What
special gift from Heavenly Father do you receive after you are baptized?
4. Who
are we to think of when we take the sacrament?
5. Who
passes the sacrament to us during sacrament meeting?
6. Who
blesses the sacrament in sacrament meeting?
7. Who
baptized Jesus?
8. Who
interviews you before you are baptized?
9. The
Holy Ghost came to Jesus in the form of a ________ when he was baptized.
10. Name
a commandment that we promise to follow when we are baptized.
11. Name
the temple closest to our homes.
12. Where
do we go to be married "for time and all eternity"?
13. What
do we call people to preach the gospel?
14. Name
a way we can serve our Heavenly Father.
15. What
does the sacrament bread represent?
16. What
does the sacrament water represent?
17. Who
can whisper to you with a "still small voice"?
18. What
is a covenant?
19. Who
do we make covenants with?
20. What
does it mean to be "sealed" to our families forever?
21. What
book of scripture are the sacrament prayers found in?
22. Who
baptized Joseph Smith?
23. What
is the name of the river that Jesus was baptized in?
24. Repeat
the 4th Article of Faith.
25. The
gathering of the names of our ancestors is called ______________.
26. Name
something you need to do in order to truly repent.
27. Name
something you can do to prepare to be baptized.
28. Name
something you can do now to prepare to go to the temple someday.
29. We
can renew our baptismal covenants every week by partaking of the _______.
30. Who's
example are we following when we are baptized?
30 questions are enough to get 3-4 good games of tic-tac-toe in. You can alway ask for more commandments or articles of faith if you run short of questions and need more from off the top of your head. Our primary had a ball with this and have asked to do it again. If you create a general set of questions and keep them handy, you could use this as a time filler or an emergency sharing time. Just keep some masking tape in you closets along with some card stock or construction paper with a half dozen X's and O's on them and you are set. It is also a great review opportunity for the articles of faith or sharing time themes.
Susan Hulsey – Mesa, AZ
I had to pass along a cute lesson we had a few weeks ago.
It was on Lehi's dream of The Tree of Life.
The teacher had made a white paper tree with little candies on it for the "fruit" on the tree and she had kids act out the various parts; like a kid with a squirt bottle for the "mists of darkness" and the kids lost in the mists of darkness wore sunglasses! They loved it! She made a "large and spacious building" from some boxes and the kids stood behind them mocking the people on the straight and narrow path leading up to the tree. The "iron rod" was a broom stick wrapped in tin foil. The kids LOVED going up to the tree and getting the candy off the tree and eating it!
It was a blast!
Tami
Our Primary President had a WONDERFUL sharing time today! On a movable partition, she put three doors, numbering the doors 1 - 3. Behind the partition, she had a helper and a bag of gag gifts (i.e.: a sock, a spoon, a candle, shampoo, etc.) as well as a desirable prize. (Since it was fast Sunday, we used bookmarks for the Sr. and stickers for the Jr.) The children would come up and choose a door. randomly, the helper would come out with one of the gag prizes or the desirable. After a few rounds (and a lot of laughs!), Melanie told the children that she was going to change the rules, and make a 2 way promise with them. If they would choose door number 3, they would get the desirable prize EVERY TIME! She had some more kids come up and choose a door. Sure enough, when they chose door number 3, they got the "good" prize!
Melanie then explained that a covenant is a two-way promise we make with our Heavenly Father. We promise to do something, and he promises different things in return. And Heavenly Father NEVER breaks His promises! If something turns out in a way we don't like, it is because we didn't hold up our end of the covenant. Just like the doors!
We had a young man, (actually it was my own 18 year old son) come in dressed as a stripling warrior.
He told them the the story of the stripling warriors from a first hand account. starting from the time he was a little boy and watched his parents bury their weapons and how important their covenant was. He then went on to tell about the circumstances that led to the forming of the army with his friends and the astonishing results that no one was killed although many were wounded. He has a broken elbow right now and told the kids he got it fighting the Lamanites. He was very animated with his presentation, especially telling about the battle. It was great to hear it from this perspective and the kids really enjoyed it. After he finished talking, for Jr. Primary, he sang the first verse of We'll bring the World His Truth but he changed it to I was born... and I was in the Army of Helaman, I was taught in my youth. etc...
After he was finished, we talked about how the stripling warriors had received provisions from their fathers and that helped to boost their spirits.
WE correlated that to today and the how the missionaries of today are like the stripling warriors. We have 2 boys in our ward that are in the MTC right now, so we prepared provisions to send to them.
For the younger children I had the words to "We'll Bring the world his truth" written one line at a time on sheets of paper. I had them draw pictures to illustrate the song so that it forms a book. The older kids helped wrap cookies to put in a care package. I had invited the young men in our ward to come in and sing for the older kids. They sang all the verses to "We'll Bring the World His truth" It was really cool to see all of these young men in their white shirts and ties dinging about preparing now to serve the Lord. (OF course I had to bribe them a little and promise them that they could have some of the left over cookies after they sang) They were very willing and it ended up to be a really good experience for everyone.
I love it when we can help the children understand how to liken the scriptures to today.
--Chris Dietzel
--Jennifer
This year as we're studying about the temple, our ward has created a take home bag. We purchased inexpensive canvas bags from Wal-Mart and used fabric paints to paint the name of the bag "Galena Temple Take-Home Bag" on one side and "I Love to See the Temple" with a picture of the temple on the other. We've filled it with a family home evening lesson on the temple, music about the temple (will help kids learn primary songs for the program!), pages for each family to journal on, crayons, markers and pens, a message from our Presidency and stories about the temple. Each week, we'll hand it out to a different family of children in our primary and they'll return it the next week. We made two so that we'll always have one ready.
In our Primary we have slipcovers that have the class name on them for each class on the teacher's chair. We have a lot of visitors during the summer months and this helps the visitors know where their kids go.We also have chairs at the front of the room with slipcovers that have the closing exercises on them (talk, scripture, theme article of faith, prayer).We have the children who are participating in closing exercises sit on their assigned chair.We have newly added a "Holy Ghost" chair.I made this with white satin and painted the words with gold.We always remind the children that we would like the Holy Ghost to be with us today and that we should be reverent to invite him.
Sue Ferguson,
Salmon Arm Ward, Canada