Cupcakes

To review songs, you could use the steps for making cupcakes.

1.  Measure.  Slowly fill up a measure cup as you sing the song.  As the measuring cup gets more full, the kids sing louder.

2.  Mix.  When you mix the batter quickly, the kids sing quickly.  When you mix the batter slowly, the kids sing slowly.

3.  Bake.  Pass hot packs or oven gloves around the room and have the pianist stop every once and while.  Whoever is holding the hot pack must say the next word in the song.

4.  Frost.  Sing legato so the frosting on the cupcakes will be nice and smooth.

5.  Sprinkles.  Sing staccato as you throw sprinkles on the cupcakes.

At the end, pass out REAL cupcakes to all of your awesome singers!

Balloon Rockets

Today's singing time was a blast AND it required minimal preparation.  A win-win!  This is a great activity for reviewing a song.

I strung two strings across the entire length of the primary room and put a straw on each string.  I split the primary into two teams.  Each team had to sing one verse plus the chorus of "Praise to the Man," and one of the teachers on that team was in charge of blowing up a balloon based on how well the team sang.  (The teacher was also allowed to let out air if people on the team were not participating.)  After both teams had a change to sing the verse and the chorus, we attached the balloons to the straws and let them go to see which team's balloon rocket would go farther on the string.  EVERY kid (even the ones who normally do not participate) was invested in this game; it was so much fun.

Here are some different ways to split up the primary teams:
boys vs. girls
older classes vs. younger classes
January-June birthdays vs. July-December birthdays
dark hair vs. light hair
brown eyes vs. blue/green eyes
oldest siblings vs. younger siblings

I will definitely be doing this again!

Book of Mormon Stories

Recently we had a Sunday where the Junior Primary kids were behind in learning a song that the Senior Primary kids had already mastered.  So while the Junior Primary kids kept learning the song, I gave each Senior Primary class one of the verses from Book of Mormon Stories and asked them to come up with actions for their verse.  Then they came up and taught the actions to the rest of the primary.  Simple and fun!

Praise to the Man

The primary president and I combined singing and sharing time to teach "Praise to the Man."  The sharing time was all about Joseph Smith, so we just combined the pictures from the sharing time with different lines from the song.  Below is the outline that we used:

Assignments:
Primary President (Megan)—make A, B, C sticks; get JS pictures (first vision, reading in James, death of JS, temple picture, priesthood restoration, translating the BofM)

Singing Leader (Hillary)—make poster board with the lyrics of the song, bring word game

Before we start, split primary into teams.  (3 or 6 teams for senior primary; split junior primary so that each group has an older kid)  Hand out A, B, C sticks to each group.  Hand out JS pictures in sr. primary

Sharing Time

For every two lines of the song, complete the following

1.  Read through the lines

2.  Play the word game (have each group hold up their sticks to indicate their answer)

3.  Talk about the picture (have jr. primary help match the pictures; have sr. primary match their pictures and tell what they know about the pictures)

4.  Sing the lines of the song at least twice

Hillary: Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer.
 (First Vision picture)

Megan: Blessed to open the last dispensation,
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere. (Reading in James picture)

Hillary: (Chorus]
Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
 (death of JS picture)

Megan: Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren;
Death cannot conquer the hero again. (temple picture)

Hillary: Great is his glory and endless his priesthood.
Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
 (priesthood restoration picture)

Megan: Faithful and true, he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old. (translating BofM picture)

And here's a link to the word game we used:

http://basicprimarymusic.blogspot.com/2011/05/praise-to-man-week-two-big-words.html?m=1

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, I sent out this letter to the primary moms in our ward.  It pretty much explains what we did for Mother's Day singing time:

Dear Primary Moms,

Every week in primary, we have a special mystery bag spotlight.  One child or teacher is hidden in a big red bag (basically a giant pillow case) while clues are read about him/her.  All of the children try to guess who is in the bag, and all of the children love it.  

So for Mother's Day this year, I thought it would be fun to put some of the wonderful mothers in our ward in the mystery bag (or you could hide in the hallway if you're not comfortable being in the bag) for singing time.  I would read clues about you to the primary kids, and after they'd figured out who you are, you could join the primary kids in singing your favorite primary song.  Obviously, I can't spotlight every mom, but if you'd be interested in being a spotlight mom, please fill out the following questionnaire and return it to me.  Please note that if you have a Jr. Primary child, you would need to be available for your spotlight from 2:50-3:10, and if you have a Sr. Primary child, you would need to be available for your spotlight from 3:40-4:00.

Thanks for your help!

Hillary Campos

Please circle one.

I would like to attend:                         Jr. Primary Singing Time (2:50-3:10)

                                                Sr. Primary Singing Time (3:40-4:00)

                                                Both Singing Times

Please fill out the following information:

Favorite Food:

Favorite Color:

Favorite Thing to Do:

Occupation:

Favorite Scripture Story:

Favorite Primary Song:

How many kids do you have?:

Something you always say to your kids:

Best Thing about Being a Mom:

We had about 6 moms come for each singing time, and all of the kids loved it.  It was so fun for them to see their moms in primary.  Definitely a winner!

My Heavenly Father Loves Me

For Mother's Day, I taught the children "My Heavenly Father Loves Me."  I brought in props for the different lines of the song (enough props so that EVERY kid could hold something), and we used the props to learn the song. 

I used the props in combination with singing juice to get everyone excited and involved.

1. Whenever I hear the song of a bird (bird beanie babies)
   Or look at the blue, blue sky, (blue pieces of paper)
   Whenever I feel the rain on my face (a spray bottle with water in it)
   Or the wind as it rushes by, (kids stood up and waved their arms like tree branches in the wind)
   Whenever I touch a velvet rose (flowers for the kids to hold)
   Or walk by our lilac tree, (kids walk in place)
   I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world (make a world with your arms)
   Heav'nly Father created for me. (point to yourself)
   
   He gave me my eyes that I might see
   The color of butterfly wings. (sunglasses for kids to wear)
   He gave me my ears that I might hear
   The magical sound of things. (brought in a bunch of baby rattles for kids to shake)
   He gave me my life, my mind, my heart: (brought in a foam heart to hold)
   I thank him rev'rently (brought a thank you card)
   For all his creations, of which I'm a part. (move hands out the side to symbolize all)
   Yes, I know Heav'nly Father loves me. (nod your head)
   
   In Senior Primary, we upped the challenge.  I brought in a globe, and we visited different areas of the world and practiced the song based on those areas.
   
   Alps: At the end of every line that had a prop, we would add a yodel.
   Antarctica: Everyone was frozen until their line/prop came up.  The primary kids thawed as the song went on.
   Atlantic Ocean: flibber your mouth as you sing
   Great Plains: parts of the song are faster to symbolize migration; kids have to keep up with the migration
   Sahara Desert: sing staccato because of the prickly cacti
   Cave: sing in the dark
   
   At the end of every place we visited, we had a teacher act like an animal from that place.  So after we sang in the cave, one of the teachers flew around like a bat.  After we visited Antarctica, one of the teachers walked around like a penguin.  It was a little extra motivation for the kids to sing well.
2. 
   

Easter

For Easter, I wanted to review all of the songs we have learned this year, but I also wanted to tie all of the songs in with the Atonement.  So here's what I did.

I brought two boxes to primary; one box was easily opened and the other box had a combination lock on it.  I told the kids that because of Christ's Atonement, we get many, many gifts, and today I wanted to talk to them about two gifts.  I told them that one of Christ's gifts for us is free; everyone gets it.  This is represented by the box that has no lock on it.  We opened it up and inside I had a paper that said "We are all resurrected."  But the other gift is not free; it requires each of us to do some work.  I told the kids that we were going to sing several songs about the things we need to do to open that box, and as we sing, we would find the combination to the lock.

My combination lock is 17 32 14.
So here's what I did for Junior Primary:

1

Sing “If I Listen with My Heart” vs. 1.  Count the number of times you sing scriptures.

7

Sing “The Books in the Book of Mormon” (pg. 119) and “Keep the Commandments” (pg. 147).  Add the number of times you sing “Mormon” with the number of times you sing “commandments”

3

Sing “Stand for the Right” (pg. 159) and “If I Listen with My Heart” vs. 2 and count the number of times you sing prophet(s)

2

Sing “I Love to See the Temple” (pg. 95) and count the number of times you sing temple.

1

Sing “When I Am Baptized” (pg. 103) and count the number of times you sing baptized.

4

Sing “If  I Listen with My Heart” vs. 3 and count the number of things the Holy Ghost does for you.

And here's what I did for Senior Primary:

FIRST COMBINATION NUMBER

Step 1: Sing vs. 3 of “If I Listen with My Heart”

Multiply the number of times you sing “He” by the number of roles the Holy Ghost has in our lives.

Step 2: Sing “When I am Baptized” (pg. 103)

Add the number of times you sing “baptized” to the number above.

SECOND COMBINATION NUMBER

Step 1: Sing “A Child’s Prayer” (pg. 12)

Multiply the number of times you sing “pray” or “prayer” by the number of commandments given to Moses

Step 2: Sing “I Love to See the Temple” (pg. 95)

Add the number of times you sing “temple” to the number above

THIRD COMBINATION NUMBER

Sing “The Books of the Book of Mormon” (pg. 119), “Keep the Commandments” (pg. 147), “If I Listen with My Heart (vs. 1 and 2),” and “Stand for the Right” (pg. 159)

Multiply the number of times you sing “prophet(s)” by the number of members of the Godhead.  Then subtract the number of times you sing “scriptures.”

After each song, I tried to emphasize to the kids the things the song told us to do (read the scriptures, pray, etc.) so that we can receive the gift that Christ has for us.

After we figured out the combination numbers, we opened the box.  Inside I had a picture of my family and a sign that said "We can have eternal life and live with our families forever."

What I REALLY wanted to have inside the box was a picture of each of the kids' families with a note from the parents written on the back about eternal families.  Maybe next year I'll start planning my Easter lesson 6 months in advance so that I can make that happen.

Overall, I think it was fun!  

Ther-MOM-meter

This is a great review for the primary program and Mother's Day.

I made a ther-MOM-meter because I told the kids that their moms are all really happy when they sing their best.  The ther-MOM-meter has different rewards from mom on it:

Good job
Pat on the back
High Five
Tears of Joy
Hugs and Kisses

As we sang the songs, I determined where they landed on the ther-MOM-meter and the kids got the corresponding reward!  (I brought a spray bottle of water in and sprayed it on the kids for tears of joy; I brought candy hugs and kisses for the hugs and kisses.)

I Will Follow God's Plan

Here's what I did to teach "I Will Follow God's Plan":

http://www.camillesprimaryideas.com/2014/01/i-will-follow-gods-plan.html

Stand for the Right

Junior Primary

To teach "Stand for the Right" to the junior primary, we first learned all of the words with actions.
Our prophet (touch your head like you're really smart--because our prophets are smart)
has some words (touch your mouth) for you (point to "you")
And these are the words (touch your mouth), Be true! Be true! (pump your fist in the air on "true")
At work (sweep the floor) or at play (wave your hands in the air like you're playing/dancing)
In darkness (cover your eyes) or light (open your eyes)
Be true! Be true! (pump your fist in the air on "true") and stand (stand up) for the right

Then we practiced singing the song while standing like different animals/people.  Here are some ways to stand:
Muscle man
Ballerina
T-Rex
Flamingo
Egyptian
Model
Catcher


Senior Primary

To teach "Stand for the Right" to the senior primary, we learned the words with the actions (see above).  Then we played pictionary.  I split the group into two teams.  Each team sent one person to the front to draw (they sat in a chair at the front with a pencil and paper).  I gave each of them a word (the words all rhymed with TRUE), and they only had as long as it took us to sing the song to draw their word.  Then they handed their drawing to their team, and each team had to guess the word they drew.    If they got the word right, their team got a point.

Here are some words that rhyme with TRUE:
blue
chew
hairdo
barbecue
clue
fondue
canoe
horseshoe
kungfu
shampoo
tissue
moo
flu
glue
stew
zoo

To make it more fun for the singers, we sang the song in a different way each time.  Here are some ways to sing the song:

Opera
Low
High
Slow
Fast
British accent
Jazzy

The team that sang the song the best got a point too.

Children All Over the World

To learn "Children All Over the World," I made signs with face holes for the children to put their faces in that show people from the different parts of the world that the song mentions.  I also made a sign to hold that shows "thank you" in the corresponding language.  I put the children in pairs--one child to be the face and one to hold the thank you sign--and we practiced the different thank yous over and over.

Once the children were good at the thank yous, we added the rest of the song!

Review Ideas

1) Name That Tune: Have the pianist play one note at a time and let the kids guess the song.  In senior primary, I divided the kids into teams and each team got a turn to guess.  I also award points for the best singers so that the kids are encouraged to sing loudly and beautifully after they've guessed the tune.

2) Birds: Have several songs attached to birds (I have a bunch of beanie baby birds, so I put the songs on the beanie babies).  Have a child pick a bird, and then sing the song alternating between singing and using one of the following bird things:

Owl: Whoo

Hummingbird: Hum

Robins/small birds: Tweet tweet

Flamingo: Girls only

Chicks: Awww

Peacock: Boys only

Woodpecker: Staccato

Swan: Legato

3) Secret Words: Have a secret word in every song that the kids have to guess.  Use the following template to create your secret words:

YOUR ASSIGNMENT…SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT

Today as we are singing, please do the corresponding action every time you hear the word in the song.

The kids are going to guess at the end of the song what your secret word was.  So don’t let them read this!

You’ll need to be ready to do your action loudly and quickly!

Song                                                                        When We Sing the Word                  Do This Action

The Holy Ghost                                                      Holy                                                  Hop Up and Sit Down

Popcorn Popping                                           Window                                                      Bark Loudly

The Church of Jesus Christ                  Know                                                                     Hiccup Loudly

Wise Man and Foolish Man                  Foolish                                                                   Disco Dance

Come Follow Me                                    Come                                                       Clear Your Throat Loudly

If the Savior Stood Beside Me                  Would                                                    Clap Three Times Quickly


4) Use chimes!  

5) Don't Eat Peep!  Make a board of peeps (3x3).  Have one child go out of the room and hide a song under one of the peeps.  Have the child come back in and put one magnet on a peep until he/she gets to the peep with the hidden song.  Once the child gets to that peep, everyone yells "Don't Eat Peep!"  Then the child gets a peep and tries to sing the song with the peep in his/her mouth.

6) Magic Singing Spray: Fill a spray bottle with gatorade or lemonade.  Tell the children that they have to sing loud, and if they do, I spray a little bit of the gatorade or lemonade in their mouths.  They love it!  (Note: Make sure the bottle is on stream and not spray!)

He Died That We Might Live Again

I wanted a new Easter song to teach the primary children--one that they haven't heard before--so I chose "He Died That We Might Live Again."  It's short and beautiful and perfect.

So here's how I taught it.

Junior Primary:

First Week

To teach the junior primary the rhythm of the song, I had each of the children create an imaginary frog who would hop on the short notes and splash on the long notes.  I've underlined the long notes of the song below:

He died that we might live again

Lord Jesus our Redeemer true

He died on Calvary's lonely hill

His life He gave for me and you

He rose from the grave on Easter morn

Our Savior and our King

He showed His love for all mankind

For His great love, give thanks and sing

Rejoice, rejoice, and sing, sing, sing!

We hopped and splashed the rhythm a few times before we tried learning the words.  We still hopped with our frogs as we sang the words.

Second Week

We needed to practice the song over and over, so we competed in the Winter Olympics--a fun way to repeat the song over and over without getting bored.  I had a kid choose an Olympic event, and then we sang the song according to the event.

Figure Skating: Spin on every long word (underlined words above)

Ice Hockey: Switch singing between sides

Curling: Pin the stone on the target (I put a picture of Jesus on the wall, and the kids sang loudly or softly to help guide a blindfolded child to put a stone on Jesus.)

Ski Jumping: Hold certain notes as long as possible (underlined words above)

Bobsleigh: Keep your heads in line as I point different directions

Speed Skating: Sing the song as fast as you can while still staying with the piano 

At the end of the day, I gave medals to all of the children for being such great singers (reeses on a string for gold medals, yorks on a string for silver medals).

Senior Primary:

First Week

To teach the senior primary the rhythm, we used frogs also, except with the senior primary, we jumped like a frog on every long note.  We jumped to the song 3 times before we started learning the words.

When we started learning the words, I brought out a toy frog.  On every underlined word, I would throw the frog to one of the kids, and on the next underlined word, the kid would throw the frog back to me.  We did this as we learned all of the words--it was a blast!

Second Week

We did the same Winter Olympics ideas as in junior primary, except I split the senior primary into teams and the teams competed for points.  It got very competitive--but I think everyone still had fun.