Nativity Pictures

I found the cutest Nativity clip art HERE. 

I just knew I had to use it for my Jr. Primary kids.

I'm still deciding whether to make them into stick puppets or headbands.

Click HERE to download the nativity pictures for the activities.

Happy Singing!

A Hodgepodge of Things

This post has a random bit of several things.

First, I know everyone is looking forward to next years theme and thinking about what songs to choose. Here is a document I created that helps me see what's been used or coming up.

For those that don't know, the Primary Program themes are rotated every 5 years. 

I like to choose songs that AREN'T in the rotation. That way I get to teach some new songs that aren't repeated.

Click HERE to download the chart.

Also, for this month's theme "Jesus Christ Is the Son of God", I choose 

'Tell Me the Stories of Jesus' and 'Jesus Once Was a Little Child' for my opening and closing songs. Here are some flip charts for them.

Click HERE to download Jesus Once Was a Little Child

I only did the first verse of this one.

Click HERE to download Tell Me the Stories of Jesus.

*Update I have added all 3 verses to the flip chart!!

If you're looking for some Christmas Singing Time ideas, here are some I've used and will be using again.

Check out the post HERE with the downloads.

I love bringing my Fisher Price Nativity and let the kids recreate it. You can read that post HERE.

One of mine and the kids most favorite is ''Tree-eacher'.

We decorate a teacher as a Christmas Tree.

You can read that post HERE.

What a wonderful time of year to be the Primary Chorister with such beautiful music to sing!

I sure LOVE my calling! I hope you do too.

Happy Singing!

Scatter and Gather

We are busy with Christmas songs. We've been ask to sing at the ward Christmas party, which is only 2 weeks away. Plus we are practicing to sing in Sacrament meeting just before Christmas. But I still want to do something with being thankful and showing gratitude. 

An idea hit me this morning how I can do both.

Back when I taught 'I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus' I found an idea called 'Scatter and Gather'. You can read that post HERE.

I'm going to use that same idea as we practice our Christmas songs only with turkey cards and the gatherers will have to tell us what they are thankful for.

This is a GREAT activity that is kind-of like hot and cold so you can sing the songs over and over in a fun way.

I've made a download with various cards so you can scatter and gather throughout the year.

Click HERE to download.

Happy Gathering!!

When He Comes Again

Now that Halloween is over it's time to start thinking about Christmas and what we'll be singing in Sacrament Meeting. There are some very beautiful songs out there. We did one last year called 'Could I Hold the Baby' by Rachel M. Goates. It was an all time favorite. You can read about it HERE and HERE.  

This year however, We have decided to go with a song from the Children's Songbook. We are doing 'When He Comes Again'. Now some may not think this is a Christmas song but it has a very wonderful message that we think applies. 

Here is my lesson plan:

Click HERE to download lesson plan.

I have made PICTURE cards for my JUNIOR kiddos.

Click HERE to download pictures. 

I have made a flip chart for teachers and SENIOR Primary.

Click HERE to download the flip chart.

And I wanted a little fuller accompaniment with some variations in it so I wrote a fairly easy one for my pianist.

Click HERE to download accompaniment.

That just about does it. I start to teach it this week. Wish me luck!

Happy Singing!!!

Merry Christmas!

Pathway to Christmas

I want to have a Christ-centered singing time this Sunday for our Primary before Christmas. I discovered that my littlest grandkids (3-5 years) were pretty good at telling me the Christmas story. So I decided to let the kids help tell the story by asking some key questions, singing some Christmas songs, and move along a pathway as we do it.

It's a great way to involve the kiddos in telling the Christmas story and giving them a few extra facts along the way. The older kids can even use their scriptures to find some of the answers.

Here is my plan:

And a picture of what it will kind-of look like only with a little longer path.

You can make a pathway with the red and green cards I've provided or go the easier way and just cut colored paper (construction paper or Christmas scrapbook paper). You can even print (2 pages per page) on a different setting so you get smaller cards and save ink. I've even done a path game before where I've laid the cards on the floor and had a child stand on them (they were a full sheet of paper). Anything works.

I made kind-of a script in order of the Christmas story with songs. But feel free to change, omit, or add whatever works for you and your Primary. I made easy questions for JR and harder ones for SR. Some questions they will need to find the answers in the scriptures. I hope the kids will realize how much they know about the story already and feel pretty smart and special. I also hope it will help bring the spirit  of Christmas to Primary.

Click HERE to download my plan and cards.

Happy Singing and ENJOY!

Christmas Singing Time

This week I am going to teach my SENIOR Primary 'Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus'.

I thought it went so well with the theme of 'The Scriptures Teach Me about the Savior's Birth.'

Here is my plan.

You can download my lesson plan HERE.

This is where I got the idea. Thanks to this fabulous book!

For JUNIOR we are still working on 'Could I Hold the Baby' for our Sacrament meeting number. So I thought I'd bring my Fisher Price Nativity set.

I'll hand out pieces to the kids and as we sing the song, I'll touch the heads of those with pieces one at a time. They will bring their pieces up and recreate the Nativity. We'll do it several times so everyone has a turn. I'll start with the oldest class so the Sunbeams with understand what we are doing. I will also have my new little Nursery-Sunbeams-to-be in there so they can have a turn too.

I also want them to learn or review 'Once within a Lowly Stable'. So I'm doing it for the opening song for the whole month. Here is a flip chart for it.

Click HERE to download the flip chart.

Happy Christmas Singing!!

Piano Solo

My granddaughter was asked to play a piano solo in Sacrament Meeting on Christmas Day but the piece they asked her to play was a little too hard for her. It was on an advance level and she is more on the intermediate level. So I made an arrangement for her. It's the same two songs but on a level she can play well.

I just thought I'd share it in case anyone could use a piano solo for a Christmas program.

Click HERE to download.

ENJOY!

Could I Hold the Baby lesson plan

I've been putting the finishing touches on my lesson plan for teaching "Could I Hold the Baby'.

I'm going with a very simple approach and praying the spirit will be there.

Click HERE to download my lesson plan. There is more than what is shown above.

Click HERE to see another post about this song with links to a flip chart, video, and music.

Happy Singing!!!

Could I Hold the Baby

I hate to bring up Christmas with Halloween just barely over but being a chorister you have to constantly be thinking ahead.

I've received permission from the Bishop to teach and sing a beautiful song by Rachel M. Goates called "Could I Hold the Baby". We will be singing it on Christmas Day in Sacrament meeting.

 It is on LDS.org if you search 'Could I Hold the Baby'. You can download the sheet music.

There is also an excellent YouTube video, one with words or without.

I also have made a flip chart for it. I know some people don't use or like flip chart but I do. I've had several teachers thank me for using them and if it encourages someone to sing with me I'm all over it. Of course I don't use them all the time, just when we are learning a new song or singing one we haven't sung in a long time. I find the kids learn the words much fast than adults.

Click HERE to download the flip chart.

I'm excited to start this Sunday. I am teaching the first verse and chorus to my JR. I'll start with the chorus. First, we are going to talk about questions and what we would ask Mary. Then I'll sing the chorus or show the video or have them listen to the recording. Then talk about the questions in the song. Same process with SR. For the second verse I am dividing it and I'll have my oldest class of girls sing one part and my oldest class of boys sing the other. I have some really great singers in both. Then everyone will join in on the chorus.

Happy Singing!!!

Tree-eacher

We did a fun practice time Sunday. We are practicing our songs to sing in Sacrament meeting. So I wanted something fast and easy. I had read somewhere about dressing-up a human so I put a Christmas twist to it and called it the 'Tree-eacher'. The kids in both Jr. and Sr. loved it!

I got a cute holiday box and loaded it with things to decorate a Christmas tree. I found most of the stuff at the dollar store and extra decorations I had around the house. Things like tinsel, lights, ornaments, stars, bows, a Santa hat, and a tree skirt. 

When we started practicing our songs, I stopped them in the middle and said, "that could really sound better. Maybe we need a little encouragement." Then I brought out my box. I told them I had decorations for a Christmas tree and each time they sing well, we will put something on our tree. Then someone said, "but where's the tree?" "Oh, no I forgot the tree! I know let's decorate a teacher and call it a 'tree-eacher'." That had them all laughing! So I brought up a good-sporting teacher and we wrapped lights and tinsel around him and so on. I feel bad I didn't snap a picture to show but I hope you get the picture.

The kiddos sang their hearts out and I think we're ready to sing in Sacrament meeting next week.

HAPPY SINGING!

Handbells

Look what came in the mail the other day!

I bought the 13 Note Chromatic set from Amazon.com

Click on the picture above for a direct link to Amazon.com

My grandkids and I have had a blast playing with them.

I'm using them for the Primary to sing in Sacrament Meeting. We are doing the song: Christmas Bells. Because this is their first time using bells I decided to do chords with the bells instead of the melody. It's much easier. Plus, my Primary already knows this song well.

If you look at the song in the Children's Song book there are chord markings.

In this song there are only 3 different chords: G, D7, C. They are played 11 times during the song.

Next I looked up the notes that are in those 3 chords. I found I had 8 different notes:

A, B, middle C, D, E, F#, G, treble C.

Here is a handy chart for finding the notes in chords. There is also one in the Children's Songbook.

Click HERE for a download.

If this is confusing, just ask your pianist for help. He/She should know how to find the notes in a chord.

Next, I made a chart with the words and chords.

Click HERE for a download of the note labels I used on the chart.

I printed a sheet of each and placed in a file for future use with other songs.

Click HERE for the words to the song.

I underlined the words in the song when the bells are rung so the kids would know when to play. 

We got permission from the Bishop to do this but he was a little worried about reverence because I'm having my 10 & 11 year old boys do it. My older girls are going to be singing the descant. So we had a very nice discussion about reverence in Sacrament meeting, the proper way to play the instrument, a little history about the instrument, and how the Mormon Tab. Choir uses them. I am also hand picking my 8 boys that will be playing the bells.

Last Sunday, I introduced the bells to my Sr. Primary. As we practiced the song and descant, I rotated the bells so every child got a chance to play them. They LOVED it and were very well behaved. It was simple, fun, and sounded great!

HAPPY RINGING!!

The King of Primary Songs

We are learning 2 new Christmas songs to sing in Sacrament meeting this year. I hate to start Christmas songs before Thanksgiving but we need the time. At least Halloween is over.

We are singing: 'Christmas Day' by Jenny W. Francis and 'The Baby Jesus' by Jo Marie Borgeson Bray. They are both found in The Friend and on LDS.org. However, The Baby Jesus copy is kind of hard to see with the yellowish background. A chorister on the LDS Chorister Facebook page took and cleaned it up in Photoshop so it's much easier to read. Thanks Cindi Brown Meier! (I've included it in the download).

Here's how I'm teaching the songs:
I found the cutest puppet on Amazon.com.

I'm calling him the KING OF PRIMARY SONGS. He is going to sing each line of the song and the kids will echo him. Then when they have it pretty good, I'll bring out some of the 'citizens' of his kingdom. (Other puppets, I'm borrowing them from my granddaughters) I will pass them out to good singers to come up and help us sing the song again with the other puppets. We'll do this several times, passing the puppets to good singers.

Not sure if I'll do this with the Sr. Primary. My 11 year old boys might not get as excited as my Sunbeams.

I have made flip charts for the two songs if you're interested in using them.
Click HERE to download 'Christmas Day'.
Click HERE to download 'The Baby Jesus'.

You can read how I like to use flip charts HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!