"Bravely Let Your Light Shine": A Glow Stick Singing Time

Every year, I almost forget that I have to plan a Singing Time for the day of the Primary Program!  This year, I was helped along by an idea on the LDS Choristers Facebook group. I'm going to lighten things up for the children by bringing in glow sticks and by singing some songs that they have no pressure to learn.  (I bought my glow sticks in 12-packs from the dollar bins at Target, which seems to be the cheapest place around.)  Also, because President Monson's General Conference talk last month was about being an example and a light, I decided to tie in some of the scriptures and thoughts he shared and make the whole Singing Time about light.

Both Junior and Senior Primary
Glow sticks for everyone!	"I've Got a Little Gospel Light"   I'm from the South, and I grew up loving this song! It's similar to "This Little Light of Mine," if you're familiar with that one.  I got permission from my bishop to sing it this week, and I'll teach the children the actions that go with it. It tells about not hiding our light under a bushel, about not letting anyone blow it out, and about letting our light shine everywhere we go.
	"Amazing Grace"     I got permission for this song, too. :)  I'll turn out the lights and tell the children that the Savior's atonement and grace were the first gospel light. I'll pull out the first glow stick (leaving the others hidden) as I sing the first verse. Then I'll say, "As wonderful as one light is, two is even better."  I'll hand my pianist a glow stick, and she'll come up and sing harmony with me.  After we finish, I'll relate sharing our light to sharing the gospel of Christ, and then I'll ask who would like a glow stick.
	"Shine On"  (p. 144)  This song is so perfect for this Singing Time theme, and the lyrics fit right in with passing out individual glow sticks from a large bundle.  I'll sing this song as I pass out the sticks, asking the children to think about how the song relates to what I'm doing.
	Various songs    Pres. Monson said, "Bravely let your light shine for all to see."  I'll ask the children, "What song is so important, that you wish you could share it like a light with everyone you know?" My intent is to have this feel like a mini testimony meeting for the children.  I'll have the child come up front to help me conduct the song, and we'll let everyone follow our correct conducting pattern. I'll repeat this activity for the rest of the time.

Happy singing!

Singing Our Thanks

Everyone is grateful for something! Hooray for Thanksgiving time!  It's such a wonderful season to help our children focus on the commandment, "In every thing give thanks" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  One of my favorite Singing Time activities for November is to help the children sing their thanks to Heavenly Father.  I use the song, "I Am Glad for Many Things" (p.151), and I help the children fill in the lines of the song with things for which they are grateful. My preferred way to sing this song is to mix and match the verses.  I place the first line of the first verse and the second line of the second verse together, like this: "I am glad for many things, many things, many things/ Thank you for the many things that are mine today." The song is so repetitive that I don't need to formally teach it.  I just sing it once, and the kids catch on right away.  Then I ask for a suggestion from one the children of what he would thank Heavenly Father for.  I plug his answer into the song, like this: "I am glad for my fam'ly, my fam'ly, my fam'ly/ Thank you for the many things that are mine today." I immediately ask for another suggestion.  The children are always so eager to share their ideas and hear them in song that we'll repeat this over and over, with lots of different suggestions.  Sometimes I'll add actions to match the suggestion.  The children are amazingly thoughtful. Truly, "the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me" (Doctrine & Covenants 25:12).

Happy singing!