Singing Time Ideas

SINGING MEASELS : This idea was a big hit with the kids and the teachers as well. First I made up the "Singmometer" It looks like a thermometer with a few added features: cold, normal, luke warm, warm, hot, burning, and measles at the top. I made a movable ribbon that was half white and half red making a loop. (My paper backing was white) I gave each teacher a sheet of little red dot stickers. I had a primary leader be the doctor or nurse. (Use any props you have nurses hat, stethoscope, white smock etc.) I then made up numbers to choose from a bag. Each number was a song, but I told the kids it was the sick room they would be in. Then they sing the song and after the song the nurse/doctor would take their temperature. If they sang really well the "Singmometer" would go to the top and they would get to put a measles sticker on themselves. Of course all the kids left the room covered in measles including the teachers. It was alot of fun!

Monique

SINGING LIGHT - To help review the songs for the Sacrament Meeting program I bought a funny light and brought it to Primary. I had hooked it up previously to a remote on/off switch that I use for my outdoor Christmas lights. It's very small and the kids didn't know I was holding it. When the light was on they would sing. When it was off they didn't. It was a great way for them (and me) to review the song and they went crazy trying to figure out how that light was turning on and off. It really worked well and was a lot of fun.

Tammy Tarbet

Ice Cream Party - I took Styrofoam balls (if you can find the egg shaped ones they work better) and painted them different colors. Then I put strips of papers with the song names inside of waffle cones and put the Styrofoam balls on top. I then took and old shoe box and cut holes in the bottom, so they could hold the "ice cream cones".

The kids would come up and pick an ice cream and pull the song out of it. Then I would hand the kid a few unfrozen otter pops and they would keep one and pass out the rest to kids that were singing well.

Nicole Bogh - Highland, CA

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER? - I did my own spin on the popular TV show. On the chalk board, I wrote: "Are You Smarter Than a ____ Grader?". I separated the kids into their grades and assigned a teacher to each grade from preschool - 7th grade. The teacher would come up to the front and a helper (my husband in this case) would sit with the class. I would read a church trivia question, based on the level of difficultly for the grade. The kids would tell the helper the
question and the teacher would answer it. If the teacher got it right, s/he got to pick which primary program song we'd review. If the kids got it right and the teacher didn't, they got to pick whatever song they wanted to sing -- primary program or not. If it was a tie, we rewarded the teacher, so we could review the program songs! It wasn't very true to the TV show, but our version was a lot of fun. Questions

PRESENTATION PIE - Before the Primary Program, I brought out a beautiful pie with fancy toppings on it. It was bought at Marie Callender's, but I talked about the hard work and ingredients that were put into making such a dessert. Then, I called up a child to ask if he wanted a piece of the pie. When he said yes, I stuck my hand in the pie, grabbed a big chunk of it, and plopped it on a plate for him. Everyone was disgusted! I explained it didn't matter how much time or energy was put into something, if the presentation is sloppy, people won't enjoy it. I proceeded to give a few thoughts and tie it in to giving a nice presentation of the Primary Program for the congregation.

PRIMARY CD CHART - I put together a CD with all the primary songs for the kids to listen to and get ready for the Primary Program. I really want them to listen to it this month prior to the program. So, I came up with a reward chart. For every day they listen to the CD, they get to fill in a note. There are 3 levels of rewards, depending on how many days they listen to it. I don't want anyone to feel left out if they didn't do it and I'm bringing some prizes to give out on the day of for kids who don't normally come or forgot their chart. Everyone will get some level of prize after the program, but it seems to be a great initiative. I've been hearing from the kids that they are excitedly listening to the CD every day! The CD chart I used.

Judy Hut

PRIMARY HOSPITAL - To find out what songs were ready for the sacrament meeting program last year, we did a singing time called Primary Hospital. I wore a white lab coat with a stethoscope around my neck. I asked my assistant (child in nurse's hat) to choose a patient.

All the songs were on a sheet of paper on the wall. My helper would choose one and we would sing it. I had two or three "specialists" with clipboards, either kids or teachers, to give a diagnosis after we sang the song. One would check if we knew all the words, another if we were all participating, etc. They had had badges with titles on them, for example: Dr. Wordsworth. They also wore rubber gloves, etc.

The team gave their diagnosis; either dismissal from the Primary Hospital, or perhaps Intensive Care, etc.

If the song needed Intensive Care, it got an ambulance ride around the room and we sang it again. A child in a hat with a red cross on it is the ambulance driver.

We gave the kids each a band aid as they left that day. Very popular idea and very practical.

Christine Hurst

NECKTIE - You will need: one old necktie and a pair of scissors. Get an old necktie from your husbands closet or a thrift store. Make sure it's not too far out of date or it will be very obvious. In a quiet moment before sharing time, have one of the men (hopefully you have at least one male teacher) switch his tie for the old one. Have him do this out of sight of the children and any other adults in the room. He then returns to sit with his class. Tell the children that as they sing today, you have a very special sing-o-meter, but it's a surprise. After the first successful song, grab your scissors and promptly walk right to this brother and cut off the end of his tie. You will get a priceless reaction from everyone in the room. For each successful song more of the tie is cut off.

The object - all that's left at the end of singing time are pieces of the tie.

SINGING HAT - You will need one hat, any sort will do but we used a cheap plastic top hat style hat from a party store. Garland, like the shiny stuff with starts, hearts, bells, whatever. Plenty of things to attach to the hat, ie. a whistle, a pixie stick, an old bubble wand, just stuff you'd pick out of the nickel bin at the party store. Attach them to the hat with hot glue and then wrap the hat with the garland.

The object - The class that sings best gets to have their teacher wear the hat for the next song.

The kids think this is a great thing, they love seeing the adults wearing the silly hat.

*Christy's note: We did this in our ward just a couple of weeks ago, and the Senior primary REALLY got into it! A great idea!

CREATION AND PLAYDOUGH

I originally used this idea when the theme for the month was on the creation. However, I have since used it again, because the kids ask for it.
The night before primary, I make 3 batches of home-made play dough. It's very easy and cheap! I color each batch a different bright color.

Playdough Recipe
2 C. Boiling Water
1/2 C. Salt
Food Coloring
2 Tbsp. oil
2 Tbsp. Alum or cream of tarter
3 C. of flour (you may have to adjust this to get the right consistency)
Store in gallon size, air tight baggies.

I explained to the children that in order to be like Jesus, it is important that we learn use our creative powers and gifts within. I explained to them that we are all creators just like Heavenly Father and Jesus. I used many examples that were different from the art world so that they may realize that
everyone is a creator. ie, someone created the cinder blocks that were used to create this building. Someone created the doors, the door knobs, someone created the light fixtures, the chalk board. Someone created the car you drive, the stereo. Someone created your favorite meal. Your favorite dress or sweater. (I use some specific examples of with what one of the children may be wearing to church.) I also point out that each of them creatively decided what shoes to wear, what socks. How to comb their hair that day. You get the idea.

Then I told them that today, we were going to flex our creative muscles and create both artistically and musically. Our kitchen has rolling service tables so I bring them in with cookie sheets or big plates and dough on each one.

I have 3-6 kids come up. (If I have 6 kids I split the dough in halves and use plates.) I then explain to them that all the great artists of the world rely on inspiration to create beautiful works of art. That music is a perfect way to inspire an artist. The more beautiful the music, the more inspired the artist. Then we pick out a song. And our child artists have approximately 90 seconds to create something with their playdough, while we sing and inspire them!

It's not unusual for me to remind the children in the song that the artists need more volume, better clarity etc. . . . I also remind them that I call on the next artists by how well they are singing and inspiring others. It's also not unusual to perhaps sing the song one more time to give the artists a chance to put on the finishing touches.

(Before we start I make sure the "artists" know in their heads what they are going to create and impress upon them to do it FAST! Otherwise they will just play with the dough.) This next part is important and fun!

After the song we show off the new creations but before showing off the new artwork, I explain to them how people revere great artists with Oohs and Ahhs and how they clap their hands. (We gently clap using only the ends of our fingers, mimicking the "rich and famous" with a satire flare to it that makes no noise.)

Then I pick up one of the cookie sheets with the "art" on it, and I display like Vanna White would, and we all say ooooooohhhh. . . .. . aaaaaahhhh! and we clap or tap or hands together.

Then I ask for more artists! Of course every child wants to create. So I try to make sure they all get to have a turn.

At the very end of primary, I give the play dough to 3 different kids. Sometimes, I draw their names out of the "stick can" sometimes I hang on to it, and privately give it to certain children who I want to give an needed smile to.

I later used another version of the same idea just to have variety. . .
I bought the special water colors and water color paper where the paint is clear until it touches the page, so it doesn't stain anything.
I had the children "paint" while we sang. They loved this as much, but the paper and paint costs about $10. . .so it's not something I do often. . .and I think they prefer the playdough.

Yvonne Wall

HEART METER - I used the idea of a singing meter, but instead mine was a singing heart meter. I had hearts all over it, and then I took pictures of the bishopric, primary presidency, pianist and myself. I then printed the pictures and then laminated them. I put the pictures on the back of sticks, and then as the kids sang I moved it up toward the biggest heart. The picture stopped where I thought it belonged. It was then placed on a behind a heart (I had elastic hot glued behind the heart). The kids thought it was a blast to get the bishop and everyone else to the top. It was a huge success. I did use velcro for the hearts, so that I can make a new theme at different times of the year.

Abby Palmer

WHAT WORD IS MISSING? - The Primary Chorister chooses one child to stand out in the hall for a minute. After they close the door, the other children come up with a word in a song they had just learned. When the chosen child comes back into the room, everyone sings the song except for the word they have chosen. At the end of the song, the chosen child has to say what the word is. It could be "the" or "of" or "God" or even a word that was only in the song one time.

Audrey Edwards

PRIMARY IDOL - We did "American Idol" (or you can do "Primary Idol") for singing time review and let me tell you, IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

We chose 3 teachers to be Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul who sat up front in front of the chalk board where I had their names written above each one. I also put up under each of their names on a little cardstock poster what each judge would be basing their points on - Randy Jackson was Words and Melody; Paula Abdul was Volume and Participation and Simon Cowell was Reverence inbetween songs and during songs. One week I did it, I had hidden the names of the review songs behind cut out hands I had all around the room when we had the Holding Hands Around the World song theme and once I picked my favorite songs, started out with a name that tune start and then had them sing the songs. Each judge has a stack of cards (printed on cardstock) with numbers 1-10, 10 being the best they could get. After the kids sang each song, I called on the judges to give their scores and WHY they gave the score they did. By the end of the singing time as they sang a Child's Prayer, the spirit was so strong in that room, that I started crying and got goose bumps - and EVERYONE could feel it. Just thought I'd pass it on.Lori ThompsonGO FISH - I got this idea from my sister a while back and have used it several times. The kids love it! To make a fishing pole, I took a long thin dowel and tied kite string to one end. On the other end of the kite string I glued a small magnet. I then cut out a simple fish design and colored in the fish one side. On the other I wrote names of songs. On a couple of the fish I wrote things like, "Pick your favorite song" etc. I then attached a paper clip to the end one end of each fish. When the children are singing well I them to come up and try to "catch a fish".

This is great to do at the end of the year after you have done all of your program songs or on those Sundays when you don't have the time to prepare you as normally would.

Melona McCarthy
Salt Lake City UT

KID ART - Once when teaching a new song, I divided the song into eight or nine lines. Then I handed out the separate lines to small groups of children. The kids drew a picture that they felt represented the line of the song. When they were all done, we put the pictures together into a book and used it to help them remember the words. It was very effective, and the kids loved to see their artwork in singing time!

--Cathy Eldridge- Ucon Idaho

KITES - This idea has been great for me and I have been able to use it several times. I took a poster board and made a huge colorful kite. I then made small colorful bows out of the poster board. On the back of the bows is a song to sing, They get to place the bow any where they want on the chalk board. The kite is on the chalk board as well. When singing time is all done we take the chalk and connect the bows. Sometimes the string gets crazy! Once I told them that when I got to primary and opened my bag, I tripped and the bows blew everywhere. I told them that I didn't know where they went and that I needed help finding them. They love a good game of finding!

--Elizabeth Prisbrey - Henderson, NV

CUBE TOSS - 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,

a) "Do as I'm Doing"; (they had to stand up and shake hands with everyone) b)"When You're Happy and You Know It
c)"Jesus Said Love Everyone"

No2.

a)HONESTY. I asked for examples of being honest then told a little story. b)BE A PEACEMAKER. Asked what it meant, then gave a few examples. Explained this would be setting an example to the other siblings in the family, and showing the parents they are following Heavenly Father's plan.
C)BE PRAYERFUL.. Explained how much Heavenly Father loves to hear their prayers etc.

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.

Singing Olympics When it comes time for the sacrament program we review by having a Singing Olympics. We invite four or five judges from the ward to come (we are fortunate to have our Stake Primary President in our ward, one of the Bishopric if they are available, someone from the Primary Presidency, a music leader or really well known good singer in the ward, maybe the choir director etc). A poster is made with all the songs on for review and each song may receive a bronze, silver or gold medal. The judges have a board with points, 3, 2, 1 that they can award for each song. The kids really enjoy the challenge of trying to receive a gold medal for each song. Julie Bell --Trioaks Ward, Utah

Who's Got the Rhythm? As part of my program for learning new songs, we do different rhythm exercises. One of them involves: for the junior primary, rhythm wands that they wave in a pattern I make up to go along with the rhythm of the song and for senior primary, we have rhythm instruments (tambourines, jingle bells, rhythm sticks, maracas, clappers, and a few more).

One day for the senior primary, I chose 3 rhythms that occurred often in the song and taught them each rhythm. I then divided the kids into 3 groups and assigned a rhythm to each group. Then I put the song on overhead so the kids could look at the music and we sang the song together. Each time we sang a rhythm that was assigned to a group, that group had to stand up while we sang it. I don't think the junior primary would be ready for this, but the senior primary did very well and really focused hard to get their rhythms right. --JR, Houston, TX

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

Plastic Carnival Duck Game: I ordered some plastic weighted carnival ducks. I wrote the name of a primary song on the bottom of each and allow the kids to come up and pick their favorite duck. Then we flip it over to see which song they chose and then sing it. You can buy 12 ducks for about $3.00 at Oriental Trading Co. --Krista Bateman

I saw your idea for hanging shirts with clothespins. I took that idea and changed it a bit. I am know for my crazy socks. So, instead of drawing t-shirts, I unfolded a bunch of my socks, placed a song in one sock and a way to sing it (western, opera, etc) in its match. I mixed all the socks up and threw them in a laundry basket. I dressed like a maid (hair in a bandanna, an apron around my waist) and walked into the primary room with my basket of socks. The children got a kick out of matching my funny socks and singing the songs in new ways. One child even asked his mother, who was also his teacher, if they could play the sock game at home!

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.

TIC TAC TOE: I always like to play Tic Tac Toe with my senior primary. I would use a big poster board and make the squares right on it. I would cut out the "X and O's" (I just made then on poster paper as well). Of course the boys wanted to be against the girls. And the kids always pick the middle square. So the middle square would be the song they were learning for that month. The squares would have song tittles in them or a questions regarding a song. Before they got a chance to come up and put the "X" or "O" in the square, I would ask a question or dare.... This was always soo much fun.
--Amy Branch

GRAB BAG BOARD: I bought a 3-fold cardboard display board for science projects and cut 9 holes in the middle section. I attached rope handles to the circles that had been cut out and use them as "plugs". Then I taped plastic bags to the back of the board and put slips of paper with songs to sing. (Or portions of one song that the have to put in order on the chalkboard). This can also be used as a punchboard with tissue paper tape to the front and a thin posterboard with corresponding holes cut in it over the tissue paper. Lots of fun.
--Tiffany Jones
Leeds 1st Ward, Utah

BIT BY BIT: I had to teach a more difficult song last week and could not think of a creative way to make them learn it. I finally came up with something very simple but very effective. I took small segments of the song and wrote them on separate pieces of paper. I passed them out to small groups of children and gave them a minute (exactly) to memorize that small line. Then when the song was played through, they would sing their part and listen to everyone else sing their part. Then I would switch the pieces of paper around.

Not only did they master small pieces of the song at a time, they had to pay attention in order to sing at the right time. They really enjoyed it and I really enjoyed having their attention!!

--Jenny Quigley
Twin Falls, ID

OLD SHOES: At the beginning of the year I wanted to see how well the children knew the new songs for this years theme. This is what I did. I grabbed a bunch of old shoes from all around my house. All different sizes ranging from my husbands to my newborn baby's. Then I attached a song to each shoe. The shoes represented our footsteps in following the example of our Savior so we can one day attend the temple. The children chose a shoe from a big bag and we sung the song on the shoe. The kids loved to see which shoe they would pick. It was fun asking them if the shoe they picked would fit them. This gave me a feel for how in depth each song needed to be learned. (This is something easy and quick that can be done last minute when you can't prepare the way you'd like that week. And can be used for other ideas, too.)

--Emily R. Crow
Evansville, Indiana

"THE SACRED GROVE": In our Primary Singing time we learned the words to "The Sacred Grove" by acting it out.
I ask for trees and select a few hands (how many trees you will need will deepend upon how big you want your grove!)

Then, I ask for a morning sun.(I select one of the children) Next, I ask who will be Joseph. ( At first when learning the song, I had a boy come up to the class and kneel down, but it works out better for us to have a child hold up a picture of Joseph Smith. (boy or girl) As we sing the song I point to the grove. (children who have their hands in the air like they are trees) I point to the Morning Sun (a child with his/her hands in a circle above head) Then, I point to Joseph (child with picture) I point to the ground when we sing "upon the sacred ground" They learned this song so quickly, and they look forward to participating. It is a beautiful song.

--Tamara Loy, Gilmer II ward, Texas

BISHOP'S TIE: When my dad was the Bishop of his ward, the music leader had him come into the primary and she told the children that if they sang really well, she would cut off the Bishop's tie. (She had given him an old tie to wear that day, but the children didn't know that) The children started singing and she held the scissors up to his tie. Meanwhile, he's acting really nervous like he can't believe she's going to actually cut his tie off. In the end, he got his tie cut off and the children cheered - they had so much fun, and they sang really well, too.
-Beth Clark
Chandler, Arizona

INCREASE THE VOLUME: I took a quart jar of water and some different sized rocks and a ping pong ball, and taught the children about finding the volume of a rock by displacement of the water. (Water starts at one line, and when you drop the rock in, the water goes up so many cubic units, and you can get the "volume" of the rock) So I had "volume" rocks, and I filled the jar of water almost to the top, and put the Ping-Pong ball in to float. After we sang our song, a child would drop in a "volume" rock--large if they sang well and knew the words, and a smaller rock if they missed some parts. The idea was to "increase the volume" and get the water and ping pong ball up to the top of the jar. I did set the jar in another pan to help with the spillage (towels are handy also!)

"Connect the Stars"
There is a song about Gordon B. Hinckley called "Gordon B. Hinckley - Constant as the North Star" it's from the June 1996 Friend magazine. You can find it online at http://www.lds.org I taught this song by telling the stories that went along with the verses about Gordon B. Hinckley. Then I made a poster full of stars. Out of the stars I made a Big Dipper, a Little Dipper and some other random shapes. I also included the North Star and showed the children how the prophet would find the North Star (follow the bottom left star to the top right star of the cup in the big dipper). The children would see if they could find the shapes and sometimes they would find ones that I didn't even put there and they would "connect the stars" similar to "connecting the dots". The kids really got into it and it was fun to see them learn.
-Shauna

"3-Headed Broadway Singer"
One desperate day, I was searching for fun ways to help the children review the program songs. I took my cue from the popular TV show, "Whose Line Is It, Anyway" where they do a skit called the three-headed Broadway singer. To review the songs, each child had to sing one word from the song in order. I pointed to each child in a row and then went to the next row. It proved to be extremely challenging for my older singers (who generally don't like to sing anything). But it required a lot of thinking.

-Lauri Cale, San Angelo, Texas

"Good Marks"
All you need is one or a set of stamp markers. I show them to the children and tell them that the markers are going to help them sing better. I then choose a stamp--a smiley face, footprint, heart, etc--and tell the children that as we sing I will stamp whomever I see singing. I then look for those that are singing, making an effort to follow along, being reverent between songs, etc. I often use different markers during singing time. (sometimes I will call on a child to choose a marker) This works wonderfully, soon every one is doing their best! It brings out the individual's best effort, yet no one is excluded. Somehow every one leave Primary with at least one or two stamps. I have gotten no negative feedback about "He had more that I did", and with a polite warning the parents as to why their children's hands are covered in stamps, they share in the children's sense of accomplishment.

-Chavonne Klatt, Upper Mich., Milwaukee Stake

"I Want To Be A Super Singer!"
I am our ward's chorister, I have the 5th Sunday's Sharing Time. I was having a hard time coming up with a singing time/sharing time activity. So my sister gave me this idea she did for a Sharing Time she did. It goes with the TV show "I want to be a Millionaire". It was a big hit! The children look forward to the 5th Sunday.

I made a big sign that said, "I Want To Be A Super Singer". Big enough that two children can fit under it. (I cut 2 a poster board in half. Found a cardboard box big enough when flattened to fit the four pieces of poster board, glued the poster to it then wrote on it and glitered the words Super Singer! . Then went to the lumber store and bought 2 - 3 foot stakes. Then I used 2 large juice cans, covered the juice cans with some wrapping paper that had musical notes on it, put in rocks to hold the stakes in. Then using duck tape, taped the sign to the stakes on the backside. By doing this I could move the sign back and forth from home.) I got 3x5 cards and wrote the questions on them. On the front I glued a paper that I made on the computer with the words "I Want To Be A Super Singer!" with musical notes around the words. I asked one of the children prior to Sharing time to help be the announcer (Regis). I would pick a child, they would come and sit face to face with the announcer. I would have questions about the songs we were singing that year. If they could not answer the question they could ask for a "Life Line". This is some one in the Primary room they could ask for help with the question. If they got the question right I would give them a CTR ring, a bookmark, a card with a cute saying, or a candy bar. Then we sing the song that was the answer to the questions. Here are some questions you could use (I used a highlighter to mark the answer):
Going with the theme for this year in Primary. What voice do we listen to?

A. Easter Bunny
B. Satan
C. Our Prophet
D. A friend

Name the song of who we should follow:

A. Neighbor
B. Prophets
C. People at the store
D. Friends

In what song do we "Remember the F"?

A. Latter-day Prophets
B. Families can be Together Forever
C. Faith
D. Fun To Do

What is something that is important to keep?

A. Worn out shoes
B. Broken Toys
C. The commandments
D. Dead Flowers

What Article of Faith talks about Apostles and Prophets?

A. 23rd
B. 6th
C. 14th
D. 18th

I have many more. It is just fun to make up questions with the songs you are singing. Make some easy for the Jr. Primary. I make a copy of the questions so I know when it is a Jr. Primary child's turn. We have a great time and a lot of participation.
-Luanna Hatch, Taylor Arizona

THAT'S MY MOTHER
I wanted to do something different than the same old Mothers Day songs for the kids to sing on Mothers Day. I made up some verses to #135 (He's our Bishop), only I called it "That's My Mother". The children really liked it and really sang out. The parents thought it was a kick too. Our 2 year old is even singing it -- it's kind of catchy.

THAT'S MY MOTHER
(Sung to the tune of "He's Our Bishop" CS #135)
Busy as a bumblebee, That's my mother. (do a "rah, rah" signal with your arm on each "that's my mother")
Always cleaning after me, That's my mother.
Drives me all around the town. Helps me write my homework down.
Hugs me when I have a frown, That's my mother.
Teaching my what Christ would do, That's my mother.
And she's serving others too, That's my mother.
Baking bread the whole day long; could be someone else's mom. (put finger to head like you're wondering)
It's for her I sing this song, That's my mother (child points to his/her mom in the congregation).
-Gary Miner

REMOTE CONTROL CAR:Both junior and senior primary aged children love this game. I place bowling pins (with songs on bottom) in a straight line six inches apart (more depending on the size of your RC car). The children try to drive the car though the course without knocking over a pin. When a pin is knocked down, we find the song to sing on the bottom. If they are successful in driving through the course without an accident, they can choose the next song to sing. :)
-Danae Leavitt

MAGIC WATER: I place six clear cups of water on a table in front of the room. One cup is half vinegar, half water. Each cup has a spoon with "magic powder" next to it. (The "magic powder" is baking soda). Each spoon has a drop of food color hidden under the baking soda. When the children are called up to help me with my magic trick, they put the spoon in the water and stir. We sing certain songs depending on the color the water changes. I make up a chart to help us know what to sing: Green = Give said the little stream; Blue = Book of Mormon Stories, etc. If the water "explodes" (vinegar and baking soda mixed), the child who is mixing during the explosion gets to choose the next song. Make sure you have a rag or paper towels near by to clean the mess from the water going over the cup. I usually do the activity in a cookie sheet with a lip.
-Danae Leavitt

POPCORN TREE: I made a "popcorn tree". I hot glued popcorn to a tree branch, and tied popcorn balls to the tree with a song attached to each popcorn ball. When the children were picked, they would cut the popcorn ball from the tree and read the assigned song. We started singing time with "Popcorn Popping". Now our little ones know there really are popcorn trees!!
-Danae Leavitt

SONG TELEVISION:I made a "television" from a cardboard box. I used the cardboard tubes from wrapping paper to rotate the long piece of paper with the pictures representing words from the song. The children enjoyed learning the song and singing with the TV.
-Danae Leavitt

APPLE BASKET TOSS: Using an apple basket with 5 plastic cups glued to the bottom, the children toss a Ping-Pong ball in hopes it will land in one of the cups. Each cup except for the center cup has a color on the bottom. The center cup is a free choice. When the ball lands in the "red cup", the player selects a "red song". Write songs on different colored pieces of paper, (4 of each). Some days it is very hard to have the ball land in a cup. This is a perfect game to learn a song with. If they miss the cups, we learn another line of the song! The children love this!
-Danae Leavitt

BALLOON POP: We popped the balloons to find which song to sing next. Each balloon had a song inside it. The only way to find out what to sing was to pop the balloon. This is a loud game! The children really enjoy it though, and they sing very well to be able to be the "one" to pop the next balloon.
-Danae Leavitt

WHICH CUP? : Set three cups upside down on a table in front of the children. Under one cup, place a piece of wadded up paper or something else small that makes very little noise. I have found that paper works the best. Make sure your cups are identical. Let the children see which cup hides the small piece of paper, then try and confuse them by changing places of the cups as quickly as you can, sliding them place to place! If the children can guess which cup the paper is under, they can choose the next song! If not, you choose the next song! I like to save this game for the hectic weeks that I don't have time to prepare for singing time as I would like too.
-Danae Leavitt

SWEET TREATS: For an attention getter and to help pick songs the week of Valentines Day, I took a heart shaped candy box and filled it with paper chocolates. Under each chocolate was a song to sing or an idea of how we can show love to our family, Heavenly Father, friends or ourselves. Let the children come up and choose a chocolate and read it. When they are done let them match the song with the loving action. For Senior primary you could use scripture and match them to the songs.

HAIR-RAISING IDEAS: The first (idea) is that we gave our 1st counselor in the Bishopric hair. He is bald and the kids just ate this up!! He was such a wonderful sport and is a very funny guy anyway, I took many different colors of ribbon and curled them up as if to put them on a present. We sang our songs and if it was nice he received one curl, if it was great he received 2 curls. If it was perfect, he received 5. Perfect meaning that they were reverent in their chairs and I could hear all of them and they were clear on their words. This was so fun. I let them pick the colors so that they could participate. We had silver, red, pink, purple, gold, etc... This is a way to get the songs that they are tired of singing to be fun again.

The second is along the same line. I have Long red hair and from time to time, I bring in my clips, barrettes, and curlers and allow them to make me beautiful. If they are reverent and are singing good, then I choose 3 kids to come up and put "pretties" in my hair. I have a small primary, so those of you who have a large one could call on the Presidency or a teacher to make you gorgeous.

Enjoy,
Rhonda Huntley, Paola, Kansas, Olathe KS Stake

NAME THAT TUNE:Just like the TV show, the object is to guess the song that is being played. Divide into teams. Go back and forth having the pianist play one additional note each time. First team to guess it gets the point, then sing the song. You could even hum that tune or whistle the tune or do a certain action to the song eg.: Book of Mormon stories, the wise man, popcorn. It’s a great way to get attention of the children when they are alittle rowdy.
Mele Lasike

SINGING TIME BOOKMARKS:This year, I wanted each child to take home something to remind them of the CMSP songs. I went to our Elementary school and used the Elison Die's to cut out bookmarks. Each bookmark had the song on one side and the theme and scripture for the month on the back. When they were able to sing the song to a member of the primary presidency perfectly then they earned their bookmark. We laminated them, punched holes at the top and gave them a binder ring with the first one and as they added a new one each month they just put it on their ring. The senior primary carried their bookmarks on their scripture totes. For 2001 I am going to use a footprint pattern to put the songs on. The parents knew when the kids brought home their bookmark that they should be able to sing the song to them and many families then used the songs to sing in Family Home Evening.

Michelle Hemmelgarn
Dayton Ohio East Stake
Huber Heights Ward

Christy's note: I LOVE THIS!!! Here is a footprint that you can copy and use for 2001!

SINGING TIME BIRDS:I have made copies of four birds that I printed out from the encyclopedia. they are a parrot, hummingbird,owl and canary. I put them on cardstock and switch the pictures during the song. when I hold up the parrot they are to speak the words, when I show the canary they sing them, when I show the owl they oooh and hum when I hold up the hummingbird. I just use one or two for the junior Primary. They all love it and have to pay attention!

SINGING TIME SPOON: The children thought I should have a conducting stick for the program Songs to direct them, well, I took a wooden spoon and put a smile face on one side and frown on the other and if they are singing the song well, they have the smile side of the spoon and if not, they have the frowning side to tell them they need to sing a little louder. The kids really like it and are learning to follow the chorister so we can do some holds in places on certain songs.

Gail, Summerville Ward, SC

SINGING POLICE: Last Sunday I took a cowboy hat with flowers glued all over it. I chose someone to be my "singing police (man/woman)" and we sang the songs for the program while the policeman watched to see which class sang the best and their teacher got to wear the hat for the next song! The seniors loved this and were yelling out who should wear the hat for the next song! The juniors would rather wear the hat themselves, but it got them all singing which is the goal!

The birthday child had her name on her slice. She came up front and opened the box to find a little sticker treat. We sang Happy, Happy Birthday and then the other children came up and opened their slice of cake. I had put little slips of paper with song titles on them. I also put slips that said how to sing the song. (i.e.: hum, all girls, all boys, stand up etc.)

Dear Sister Scott we love you
For all you do for us.
We thank you for your service
Your shining faithfulness. . .

As the children sang, I would pull the back of the ribbon down and the front with the pin would rise toward the balloon. They would have to sing it just so it make the pin rise and when they really out did themselves POP the pin would get the balloon. They really liked it.

I get the pictures from my old manuals or from my Print Shop Ensemble program. It is a great help to the children and to me. It also will make it easier for the time when we put on our Program and the smaller children are having trouble remembering the words we can sit in front of them and use the notebook that is already prepared with all the songs.

Once it was in the hospital, we would sing the song again so that a "specialist" could diagnose what was wrong and what we needed to do to release the patient. I had another set of scrubs that I put on one of the children to be the specialist. That child would consult with his "team" (the rest of the primary) and ask what they thought was wrong, such as they don't know the words well enough, etc.. Some songs were put on the critical list because they needed a lot of work, some were in fair condition because they just needed a little polish etc.. The next few weeks, our goal was to get every song out of the hospital and the kids worked really hard to accomplish the goal. Both Sr. primary and Jr. primary loved this activity.

It got everyone involved. I changed hospital positions with every song, so every child had an opportunity to do something fun. (Even the older boys wanted to wear the nurses hats) It was so successful in reviewing the songs that in September, I will bring out the primary hospital again.

For "Find Everlasting Light" I had a volunteer to come up and look like she was a light. She put her hands up to her face, and smiled. (Her smile was radiant, and she really did light up.)

When I can't think of pictures for the kids to hold, usually they can come up with actions to depict what words we are going for.
-Karen Briggs