Ramblings on Lessons Learned

I had another opportunity to step in for a chorister this last Sunday and was reminded, yet again, that there is always more to learn in this calling. I was asked to review the 2nd and 3rd verses of "If I Listen With My Heart" with the children to help solidify the words. (Anybody else noticing how difficult this song can be for some of the kids?) I won't go into exactly what I did. Instead I want to list a few things I thought of as I planned and was reminded of as I taught.

*Sometimes it is best, especially in JP, to only focus on 1 verse of a review song. This helps the kids to really solidify the words and also allows for some additional songs that add the variety those little minds can benefit from.

*KISS: Keep It Simple Silly! I am guilty of planning elaborate singing times only to discover that something much simpler could have accomplished the same goal....and most times would have done so in a better way.

*I need to work harder at giving the kids a specific goal or directive when they repeat a song we are reviewing. Instead of just telling them I couldn't completely understand the words or hear them, I should challenge them to sing one particular work a little louder than the others (ie. "prophet"), or to complete some other task that will keep their focus and limit the chance things are getting monotonous.

*It is always a good idea to invite the teachers to take a break from singing so I can hear how well the children really know the words.

*There should never be a Sunday that is devoted to just singing "fun songs". We should always have a gospel theme associated with our plans. Each and every song in Primary is inspired and can help teach these children gospel truths that will strengthen their testimonies.

*It is always a good idea to get the little bodies in JP moving. This can be as simple as having everyone use their "pointer finger" to help you find a requested picture or object. It is amazing the attention and participation that you can get when you invite all the kids to help from their chairs, instead of just one.

*SP loves to be challenged. These kids are smart and we should not underestimate their musical ability and gospel understanding.

Teaching: Treasure Hunt

Here is the map I referred to in one of the learning/teaching ideas listed in the previous post.

I like to use this treasure map for both learning and reviewing in Primary. I can't claim responsibility for the idea, as I got it from another chorister years ago. Basically this is a map of my Primary room that I have labeled with different Gospel, LDS or Book of Mormon terms. Here is the key:

• Chairs: Waters of Mormon


• Aisle: Bridge of Friendship


• Podium: Mount Reverence


• Window: Light of Faith


• Talk/Scripture Chairs: Hills of Truth


• Table up front (or the chairs where the presidency sit): Island of Love


• Piano: Songbird Tree


• Extra Chairs on side of room: no name, just made it look like a forest


• Cabinet in back: Bishop's Storehouse


• Back Door: Volcano of No Return (this one is completely made up)


• Chairs where guests/parents sit when they visit: Watch Tower

I try to make one map per class and then they can share. The first time the kids see this map, I do not tell them that it is our primary room. Instead I just tell them that it is a map to the "treasures" they are seeking. It is fun to challenge them to figure it out and they feel so good when they do! I like to laminate it and then use the number stickers you see to depict where the "treasures" are. This way, I can take the stickers off and put them in new places for the next time I use the map.

The "treasures" I use are usually words/pictures that can be hidden pretty much anywhere in the room. This works great for teaching a song, but you can also use it as a motivator or tool for repeating since you could hide puzzle pieces or letters to spell out a special word, etc.

I don't really use this map too often so that it becomes a special treat for the kids. I have had great success with it!

September: 4 Ideas/1 Theme

I had the wonderful opportunity of filling in for two different choristers this past Sunday. As a result, I spent a good amount of time jotting down ideas and coming up with fun ways to review songs and even introduce new ones.

Let's start with the theme for September: I Obey Jesus Christ Because I Love Him. Of course there is no song for this month, as most people are reviewing and preparing for Primary Programs in the next month or two.

Here are the four singing time ideas I tweaked for the two wards I helped in. In the first ward I was asked to target specific songs for review. The second ward had an accidental death of a young child this past week and so I wanted to come up with something that would address the month's theme and the principle of eternal life and eternal families.

JP: Singing Pox

Intro--I came into the Primary room with bright, round sticker dots all over my face and body. Of course the children laughed and I explained that in preparation for today I had been practicing the songs the night before and even dreamed about them. I told them I had noticed the first "dot" over my heart before I came to church and then throughout the meeting more started to appear. I explained that I had contracted the Singing Pox, but unlike most spots these were something to happy about. I was so happy, in fact, that I wanted to share them with all the kids in Primary. I made sure to emphasize that these pox only started to appear from fabulous Sunday singing. I also told them that the first one always appears over our heart because of the love we feel when we sing the songs. I told the kids that I had a feeling as we started to sing their teachers would start to break out as well. ( I had handed each teacher a couple sheets of the dots to help with the delivery during singing )

Activity--The actual activity occurred after this intro (it really only takes a minute or two to explain). I had 6 round circles made from construction paper and on the back of each one was a primary song to practice. I actually only used 3 songs so I doubled each one up. Each time the kids sang they had to answer a question about obedience that was discussed in the song. I also tried to mix it up and only have them sing the chorus, or part of one verse, etc. so they could really focus on the words since they were having trouble in certain spots.

Final Verdict: I had planned to use some extra motivational tools, like balloons and slinky, but they were not needed as they kids were completely motivated by the stickers. I did have to remind the children a couple times that the pox start to "fall" off when they are not reverent. Overall, this was a successful review and motivational activity.

SP: Undercover Obedience

Intro--I started out this singing time by referring to the sharing time activity on obedience presented by the Bishopric member. I reminded the children that when we are obedient we use our words, our actions, or our minds. I challenged them to uncover a My Gospel Standard and then decide if it required mind, action, or words to follow.

Action--I selected six of the Standards and wrote each one with a white crayon on white computer paper. I used a colored marker to place a visible outline around the words since they cannot be seen. Each time a child came up they got to choose a marker and then color inside the square to reveal the words. The primary would decide on the method of obedience and that would determine the motivational tool to be used while singing. I used the same 3 songs as JP since these were the ones the chorister wanted reviewed. The motivations were:

• MIND=walkie talkie: One child goes out to the drinking fountain while another stands at the podium. Once the singing is finished the child at the fountain is asked, through the WT, if they could understand the words and the child at the fountain gives a yes or no. You can also send the child out without revealing the song and then they have to identify it after listening to the singing. Either way, you have to remind the children that they should not scream, but use their lovely Sunday singing voices.


• WORDS=word king: Pick one word in the song and the children delete that from their singing. The previously selected child has to identify that word at the end of the singing.


• ACTIONS=balloon. Have a teacher come up and blow up a balloon while the children sing. The speed at which they blow it up depends on how well the kids are singing.

Final Verdict: We didn't have time to get through more than 2 songs with the SP, but they absolutely loved the hidden words and the two motivational tools we did get to. I highly recommend this activity!

JP: I Spy

Inro--This was a new ward for me so I brought my Helper Hands (see previous post) and introduced them. I asked the kids to use their own helper hands to create some binoculars to view the 5 GAK pictures I had on the board.

Activity--I started the game off by selecting a picture of the temple. I said, "I spy with my little eye a picture that is blue and green and has a beautiful building". Once the picture was selected I talked about sealing. I explained that once our family is sealed we need to work really hard to be obedient so we can be with our family in heaven with Heavenly Father and Jesus. I also explained that all the other pictures on the board help us to remember what we can do to follow Jesus and be obedient. Each time a picture was selected we sang a corresponding song.

• Temple: I Love To See the Temple


• Heart: I Know That My Savior Loves Me; discuss what it means to give our heart to Jesus. One way to show our love to Jesus is by following Him and treating others with love.


• Scriptures: I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus; We can read about Jesus and what we can do to follow Him in the scriptures


• Tie: "We'll Bring the World His Truth" chorus only; We can teach others about Jesus and forever families.


• House: "Families Can Be Together Forever"; Talk about what we can do in our families to be obedient to our parents.

Final Verdict: This was great for JP since it got them using their hands and we were able to keep things moving quickly.

SP: Treasure Hunt

Intro--The sharing time focused on the gift that the Savior loves to recieve (us), so I took that idea and flipped it. I told the children that when we are obedient there is a gift that we are given that is priceless. I explained that today we are going to go on a treasure hunt to find the gift. I had placed numbered envelopes around the room with clues inside to lead the children to the treasure.

Activity--I gave the children the first clue, which was "the temple". I had the entire primary point to the picture of the temple (once they found it) and then selected one child to come up and find the clue that was hidden near the picture. This method of participation seemed to really help the reverence factor throughout the game. Each time the kids found a new envelope they had to sing the song on the envelope before they could open it to find their clue. I used the same method to write each clue as I did in the other SP plan. This group of kids also LOVED the idea of uncovering the "invisible" clue. The final treasure was GAK 238 so we talked about eternal life with our families and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We talked about the baptismal covenants and promises and how important these are if we want to be give the gift of eternal life. (I made sure to point out that all children who die before they are baptized are automatically given this gift since the little boy who died was 3). We closed with "Familes Can Be Together Forever". Here are the clues/songs:

• He Sent His Son: Split the questions and answers up between the two sides of the room as you sing. What are the 4 things that Heavenly Father asks of us?


• I Know That My Savior Loves Me: Walkie Talkies. Discuss what it means to give our heart to Jesus (we actually sang this one two times because the first time was not strong enough)


• We'll Bring The World His Truth: Use a balloon we learn and practice the chorus. (due to lack of time, we didn't actually get to use the balloon :( )

Final Verdict: This singing time also went great and I will keep it for future use.

**I want to make sure I don't forget to mention that with these all singing times I do I make sure to bear my testimony in closing of the things that we have sung and talked about. This is so important!!**

Review or Repeat: Back To School

There are quite a few great ideas on http://www.sugardoodle.net/ for back-to-school activities. I picked my favorite and tweaked it just a little. I think this would work great in both Junior and Senior and could be used for a full review of program songs or just a review/repeat activity with the song you have chosen for August.

All you need is a backpack filled with objects that the children either see at school or take with them. Here is a list of items and ways to use them:

Eraser: There are quite a few ways to use this. You could "erase" some words/letters from a prepared posterboard, "erase" some of the picture cues or pages to your flipchart, or have the kids "erase" a word or two from the song as they are singing it. You could even play "Word King" with this one and have the kids erase the word on the crown.

Crayons: You can have kids with certain colors on take turns singing. Have three different colored papers and each time you hold up a different color the kids wearing it have to sing. Another idea, probably more for Junior, is to have the kids take their imaginary crayon and draw different shapes as they sing the song. (When I did this with Junior they loved it!)

Ruler: You can measure the kids singing. You can have special judges, use the teachers, use the presidency. I always like to have the judges wear some fun rabbit ears or sunglasses to make it a little more fun. They can judge a variety of things or focus on whatever you feel is most important for that song.

Gluestick: Have the children glue their legs together and their arms/hands to their sides as they stand up to sing. This is a great practice for program singing and would probably work best for a more reverent song.

Calculator: Ask the kids to calculate how many times a particular word is said while singing a song. "The Church of Jesus Christ" is a great one for this activity. ("I" or "I'll" is a tricky one) You could even have the classes make their guess and then you count with your hands as they sing so they focus more on the singing then counting in their heads.

Sharpener: Sharpen your skills by enunciating the words to a song they may have difficulty with. You can also add a game where you stop the song periodically and ask someone to tell you the next word in the phrase.

Scissors: You can cut your words short (staccato) in a song to help the kids really focus on the words.

Water: You can use the water to fill a container as the children sing a song. Their goal is to fill the container by the end of the song. Of course, you fill it based on how well they are singing. My Juniors really liked it when I added a duck to the container and we tried to get it to the top.

Paper: You can have the key words to a song on different pieces of paper and challenge a child or two to put them in the correct order as the primary sings the words. This one could be played a couple different times and is great for song you really want them to sing a few times.

I am sure there are even more things you could put in the backpack. If you think of any leave them in a comment for me and others...if I think of any more I will be sure to come back and add them.