Singing Time Plan: July #3

This week I'm presenting Silent Video--one of my very favorite activities for Primary music.  Simple yet impactful, it consists of showing a gospel-themed video with the sound turned completely off, while you sing a song.  If I have planned well for the activity, I never fail to feel the Spirit strongly.  See this week's Singing Time plan for how I've incorporated a silent video into the rest of Singing Time.

Junior Primary
Silent video activity, using The Life of Jesus Christ Bible Videos	"I Know That My Savior Loves Me"    ASL.
	"The Holy Ghost"  (p. 105)  Create actions.  Assign each class a line of the song.  Ask them to work with their teacher to choose an action for that line.  Sing as the children discuss, and then have them demonstrate before doing the actions all together.  This is a great way for the children to think about the lyrics in a concrete way.
	"Come, Follow Me"  (Hymns #116)  Egg shakers.  Use the shakers for soft taps and shakes, to match the feel of the song.
	"I Feel My Savior's Love"  (p. 74)  Silent video.  I will be showing this video, from lds.org, also shown on the left.  After singing the song through twice, I'll intersperse comments about the video as I sing again.

Senior Primary	Sharla's video for Egg Shaker Pass
"Come, Follow Me"  (Hymns #116)    Egg Shaker Pass.  I got this idea from Sharla, over at TeachingPrimaryMusic.com. Her video is shown on the right.  I'll be lengthening the pattern some, as my children will need more time to regroup after each pass.
"I Know That My Savior Loves Me"    Sing vs. sign.  My creative husband (who is also a Primary teacher in our ward) gets the credit for this idea.  Senior primary now knows all the sign language for this song, so to keep things fresh as we review, we'll either sing OR sign.  We'll switch back and forth at a predetermined signal (bell or the like) at unannounced times throughout the song.
"I Feel My Savior's Love"  (p. 74)    Silent video.  This activity is equally powerful for both Junior and Senior Primary.

Happy singing!

4 Ways to Boost Stale Wiggle Songs

He's all made of hinges!

"Popcorn Popping;" "Hinges;" "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes."  Oh, how we love our Primary wiggle songs!  The only problem is when you have smart kids. Or older kids.  They get really tired of the wiggle songs.  Wait, is that actually a problem? We love our smart, older kids!  They think they're too cool to move with the music, but they're still young enough to need to move their bodies in order to learn.  Here are 4 ways to give your wiggle songs a boost.

1.  Child-led

Sometimes it's fun to bring a child up front to lead the actions.  Sometimes I'll ask the birthday child or the visitors to come up and choose different actions for "Roll Your Hands" (p.274) such as stomp your feet, turn around, swing your arms, etc.  Reluctant children are more likely to participate if a peer is leading them.

2.  Funny voices

Why does playing pretend draw children's attention so well? I don't have a clue; I only know that it works!  Why not try singing "Hinges" (p.277) with voices such as cowboy, opera, English butler, or SCUBA diver?  You could even stylize your actions some.  One note on this style:  I only use funny voices with purely fun songs, never with doctrinal songs.  My mom corrected me on that when I was eight, and it's a lesson that obviously stuck.  Thanks, Mom. :)

3.  Animals

Children are fascinated by animals.  Sometimes I'll say, "I went to the zoo recently, and I was just thinking, let's try singing in some animal styles."  I'll ask for animal ideas, and then I'll pick one for "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" (p.275). Things like cheetah and turtle are easy--you just go fast or slow--but the kids will still like it more when you make it a pretend game instead of just announcing the song will be a different speed.  The trickiest animal suggestion I got was a sloth.  Hee!  We acted like we were lazy and tired, and the kids ate it up.

4.  Sports and Activities

Lots of older Primary children are involved in sports or other extra-curricular activities.  Participation in these activities helps form their self-image, and they are typically very eager to share what they are doing.  You could say, "Let's sing, 'Do As I'm Doing' (p.276), and for our actions, I want to hear some of the activities that you do on the weekend or after school."  Take a suggestion, and then quickly choose an action to demonstrate it.  Added bonus:  you get to learn more about the children!

These are some of my favorite ways to boost a wiggle song that's lost some of its charm.  I'd love to hear what's worked for you, as well. :)




Happy singing!