Singing Time Plan: September #1

Did you know there's a Facebook group for Primary Music Leaders?  9,600 members strong!  I discovered it this past week, and I love it.  It's not run by the Church at all, but it's a great place to share ideas with others.  My new activity this week, Solo or So Many, I found on this group.  Credit goes to Rachel! :)

Junior Primary
Mixed Puzzle Pictures	"Tell Me the Stories of Jesus"  (p. 57)  Puzzle pictures.  Make copies of three or four pictures depicting scenes from the Savior's life.  Cut each into four puzzles pieces.  Hand out pieces for just one picture to individual children as you sing, and have them put the puzzle together on the board. After they've finished, bear simple testimony of the importance of the scene portrayed, and then repeat with the next puzzle.
	"He Sent His Son"  (p. 34)  Ribbon wands. Have the children follow your smooth, flowing actions with a ribbon wand.
	"The Holy Ghost"  (p. 105)  Take it in, take it out; Solo or So Many.  Challenge the children to sing with you and then stop at a signal (tambourine or the like).  The piano will continue, so they'll have to follow along inside their heads. (This is called audiation, and it's a powerful way to cement lyrics.)  After going through once, ask for a volunteer to sing a solo, and you'll change the activity slightly.  Instead of taking the song inside, the group will take turns with the soloist at your signal.  If they're still with you, repeat!
	"Follow the Prophet"  (p. 110)  Hot or cold.  The classic game where you hide an item, and the children sing louder or softer to direct the child seeking it.  We'll be singing the verse about President Monson, so I'll hide a picture of him.

Senior Primary
"Tell Me the Stories of Jesus"  (p. 57)  Puzzle pictures.  See description in Junior Primary.  We'll be working on verse 3 with Senior Primary, so I'll make sure to choose pictures that coordinate well.  To change it up for the older children, I'll mix up all the puzzle pieces and pass them out from one huge pile, as in the picture above.
"He Sent His Son"  (p. 34)  Ribbon wands.  See description in Junior Primary.  To challenge my Senior kids a little more, I'll use written symbols to designate the different movements, using the technique I outline in my post here.
"The Holy Ghost"  (p. 105)  Take it in, take it out; Solo or So Many.  See description in Junior Primary.  I'm expecting to repeat this several times with different soloists.

Happy singing!

Nature Daydream: A Senior Primary Activity

In the hills around Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, there are boulder-filled overlooks where you can get close to some steep, rocky cliffs.  I went hiking there with my district as a full-time missionary.  When we got to one of these overlooks, we spread out from each other a little bit, and I thought of a line of a hymn, which I started to sing to myself.  "When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur/ And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze/ Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,/ How great thou art!" (Hymns #86).  The place and the song fit so perfectly together that now, every time I hear this song, and every time I'm at a rocky overlook, I'm reminded of my missionary experience. Go ahead. Daydream!    Nature Daydream Some children learn very well through connections with nature, and we want to help them!  However, since Primary is generally held indoors :), I find it hard to think up Singing Time activities to tap into this learning style.  Here is one of my few, precious nature activities, which I call Nature Daydream. I gave a brief introduction to this activity in my Singing Time plan earlier this week, here.  Nature Daydream should only be used with Senior Primaries, since it requires symbolic thinking, and the little bitties in your Junior Primary need concrete representations in order to understand.  This activity can be a relief because it requires zero prep from you!  Well, you have to think through it, but that's it.  Here's how to present Nature Daydream in Singing Time: Presenting the Activity Begin by asking the children their favorite place in nature that they visited during the summer.  This is a perfect activity for the end of summer vacation!  Hear a few responses.  Ask the children to daydream themselves into that favorite spot, and suggest closing their eyes if they'd like.  (Don't try to require eye-closing. 1-They won't all do it anyway. 2-Some kids will be so focused on their embarrassment that they will miss the entire point.) Once they're in their daydream, ask the children to see if they can match your song to their favorite spot.  Sing through the song once, then ask the children to open their eyes.  Call on a few children to see if the song matched their favorite place, and then ask why or why not.  (For example:  "Help Me, Dear Father" (p.99) might match a quiet beach because the swaying beat of the song reminds us of waves.  It might not match a white-water rafting trip because the song is so slow and calm.) After receiving three or four responses, ask the children to daydream up another place, one that they think will definitely match the song. Sing through the song again, and again ask for the children's thoughts on why their location matches. In this age group, children are very keyed into their imaginations.  By channeling their ability to daydream, you can give them the opportunity to learn a song while they connect with nature, and all without leaving the Primary room.  :)

Happy singing!