Motivator: Helper Hands and their friends

These little guys are my Primary Helper Hands and they have worked wonders for me in Junior Primary. I have to admit that I have not tried them out in Senior Primary because, well....you can probably guess why. :)

To Make: I bought a pair of gloves at the dollar store and then added the googly eyes (don't have to be the same size), balls on each of the fingers (these are the ears) and for the nose, and a sticker mouth. I chose to have one hand with a smile mouth and one hand with an "unsure" mouth.

To Use: I explain to the children that I have brought some friends with me to Primary and then I pull them out from behind the podium. They always get some great laughs from the teachers and big smiles from the kids. (BTW, you have to go all out when talking about, to, and with these guys for it to work so I realize this is not for everyone.) I explain to the kids that these are my "helper hands" and ask them to look closely at them. I explain that they have small mouths because they don't speak much and only whisper when they do. I explain that they have 5 ears because they really like to listen.

I have used them in a variety of ways:

1. I explain to the children that the great thing is that everyone has helper hands and then invite the children to raise their "helper hands" in the air. I then explain that today we will use our helper hands to learn actions and words to our new song. I keep the gloves on while I teach the actions.

2. I use the "helper hands" to help me pick helpers. I will look at the "helper hands" and talk to them as I ask them for help in finding someone to help me. I then turn the "hh" to the kids and walk around. Finally one of my "hh" will point to someone. This has been the single-most useful tool in creating reverence quickly. The only downside to this is that all the kids get really reverent and not everyone can be picked. You could also ask the "hh" to nod when they can see and hear that the kids are ready and reverent to move on and then the "hh" can pick the next helper from the sticks or whatever your ward may use to choose helpers.

3. I let the "hh" gauge how well the kids are singing. I will hold them out for the kids to see as they are singing and I will walk around. At the end of the singing, I point the "hh" to me and ask them how they think the kids did. Since I have two "hh" with different mouths, the "hh" with the correct emotion will wave to signify if the kids did fabulous, or if they need to try again. I have never had to use the "try again" "hh".

There are a couple things to remember about these "hh". The most important is that you must leave your dignity at the door if you plan to use them because you will get laughs and smirks from the teachers. (I gave up worrying about the teachers' reaction a long time ago.) If this isn't your personality, that's ok. The other thing to remember is it doesn't have to be "hh" that you use. I have learned that the little kids love just about anything that you introduce as a guest and is a little different. I have also used a spider puppet, an alligator stuffed animal, and a wooden mini-spatula that I name Sally to achieve similar goals with my kids. I do have to say, though, that these "hh" are the favorite and most successful of my "friends" that visit the Primary.

I know there are lots of things to use to motivate the Junior Primary. I challenge you to look around the house and see what you may have that you can turn into your special Primary friend!