Putt Putt to Called to Serve

Quick picture of the hole we used (or is it called a cup or something?):

Time to focus on verse 2 of "Called to Serve"! (Our lesson for 7.27.08)

Thanks to Sugardoodle this week. We focused on rich blessings a little bit then started our game. I used a dressed up broom for a putter and a cut up 2-liter soda bottle tied to a cardboard box as the hole. It was awesome. We did the first two lines of the 2nd verse, then the 2nd two lines of the 2nd verse (I only had like 5 minutes this week, so that's all we could do). The sweet storybook the kids helped illustrate was open to the words we were to sing over and over again. Then we played a very quick hot/cold game finding my "golf ball" and called it a day. The kids loved it and wanted more! Even though I don't think the leaders enjoy all the repitition, I just don't know how else to teach it to the kids. Similarly, I can't learn anything without some serious repition, so I guess these activities are as much for my benefit as anyone else's!

Here's what Sugardoodle had to say about it:
* Have one child come to the front and explain that as the rest of the primary sings only the phrase on the board, he/she needs to sink a putt. (Having a couple of children act as ball returners will help keep things moving along nicely. I plan to use those children that are hesitant to sing to keep them more involved). The primary will sing that same phrase over and over until a ball goes into the hole. Remind the children to be reverent and respectful as we are still in the church house!
* Hand the child the putter. Begin singing - the same phrase over and over until the putt is made.
* Ask a member of the primary presidency to be watching for excellent singers and choose the next child to putt.
* Add the 2nd phrase of the song to the board. This time you will sing both phrases over and over until the child gets a ball in the hole.
* Continue playing, adding one phrase at a time, using a new child as the golfer until all phrases are on the board or you run out of time

Hats & Called to Serve & Rich Blessings

Some fun hats we used are below. The kids LOVED making me wear the crazy ones when the got the question right:

Today (7.20.08) we messed around with my favorite hats. Beach bum hats, Dbacks hats, US Navy hats, Roadrunner hats (you know, the hockey team?), Disney Tigger ear headband/hat thing, even a ginormous clown hat. Special thanks to the Yahoo Primary Music Leaders group for the word scramble and Elder Falabella suggestions!!!!!!

One reverent helper came up to choose a hat, then with the threat of wearing the hat looming over their heads, they had to unscramble a jumbled phrase from the song "Called to Serve" in the time it took for another reverent helper to come up, spin my spinner, and choose how we were going to sing the next song. If they could unscramble the phrase in time, they got to choose whether I had to wear the hat or if they wanted to wear the hat. I have to admit, I felt a little silly wearing some of the goofy hats when they answered correctly. I didn't let them have any help from teachers after a while so I didn't have to wear the worst ones!

When we talked about the "richness of his blessings" in "Called to Serve" and "rich blessings are in store" in "I am a Child of God", I talked about rich blessings with the story I titled "Hole in Shoe" by Elder Falabella of the Seventy. The part of the talk I used is pasted below. More is found on lds.org. This lesson went well, but I think the primary was just being super good today. I probably could have gotten away with more. Will post some pics later...

SINGING TIME PLAN: When we choose numbers, use this list (but go straight through 1 to 7 rather than whichever number is actually chosen).
Called to Serve 174
Book of Mormon Stories 118
I Am a Child of God 2
Two Little Eyes 268
Pioneer Children 214
I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus 78
Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes 275
A Child’s Prayer 12
Need: hats, songs taped on hats, spinning bottle, “how to sing” papers, hole in shoe visual, called to serve scramble sheets, called to serve storybook, “Wheels on Bus”, pix for nursery songs, word king hat, hot/cold note, etc.

JR: 3:10-3:30 – HOLE IN THE SHOE, THEN PLAY…
Hats: Bonnet, AZ Stucco, Dbacks, Clown Hat, Beanie, roadrunner, halo thing, navy
Choose song (first will be Called to Serve), then spin the bottle to choose how we sing it (andante, a capella, move seats, etc.).

SR: 3:55-4:15 - HOLE IN THE SHOE, THEN…
Called to Serve Scramble, Word King, Hot/Cold, Head/Shoulders new verse, etc.
Ankles, elbows, feet and seat, feet and seat, feet and seat.Ankles, elbows, feet and seat, hair, hips, chin, and cheeks!

Nursery: 3:45-3:55
Print out “Wheels on the Bus”, use giant "Primary Buggy" as a bus.
bring dice with all the pictures of the favorite songs on it: print out pix for all songs, then we can pick from those.

Hole in Shoe by Elder Enrique R. Falabella of the Seventy:
Why are we members of the only true Church? Even though I cannot answer this question for all 13 million members of the Church, I would like to express from my heart some answers that probably will fit with your own answers.
The Riches of Eternity
“Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich” (D&C 6:7).
Riches were not a part of my childhood. We were a family of five: my father and four siblings. My mother had passed away when I was five years old. My father’s meager income was used to buy our food; the purchase of clothing was put off as long as possible.
One day, somewhat bothered, I came up to my father and said, “Daddy, why don’t you buy me some shoes? Look at these; they’re worn out, and you can see my big toe through the hole in the shoe.”
“We’ll fix that up,” he replied and, with some black polish, gave a shine to my shoes. Later on he told me, “Son, it’s fixed up.”
“No,” I answered, “you can still see my big toe.”
“That can also be fixed,” he told me. He again took the polish and put some on my toe, and before long it shined like my shoes. So it was early on in life I learned that happiness does not depend on money.
As time went by, a pair of missionaries taught us the riches of the restored gospel, of the doctrine of the plan of salvation, and of eternal families. We were baptized, and when my father began his calling as district president, his first objective was to journey to the temple and receive the blessings which would come because of that sacrifice. It was a 15-day journey covering 4,800 miles (7,725 km)—a journey filled with difficulties and setbacks, highways in poor condition, uncomfortable buses, not even knowing the route, but with great hope in the ordinances we would participate in.
Upon arriving in the city of Mesa, Arizona, we headed down an avenue at the end of which we could see the house of the Lord, gleaming and beautiful. I remember the joy which filled our hearts; we all broke out in songs and praising, and tears ran down the cheeks of many Saints.
Later in the temple, we knelt as a family to hear the beautiful promises about an eternal family, with the certainty that our mother, though absent, was now our mother forever, and we felt the peace which comes from knowing that we are an eternal family.
The promise of life eternal thus gave us the riches of eternity! “Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich” (D&C 6:7).

Scrambled phrases:
Put these words in the correct order.
serve of Called Him, King to glory heav’nly
------ -- ----- ---, ----’--- ---- -- -----


Put these words in the correct order.
e’er for witness his Chosen name to
------ -’-- -- ------- --- --- ----



Unscramble these words.
Fra adn diwe ew etll teh her’sFat oryst,
___ ___ ____ __ ____ ___ _______ _____,



Unscramble these words.
Fra adn diwe ish elov laimproc.
___ ___ ____ ___ ____ ________.



Put these words in the correct order.
blessing to the his Called know richness of—
------ -- ---- --- -------- -- --- ---------

Put these words in the correct order.
daughters, King children of Sons and a—
---- --- ---------, -------- -- - ----


Unscramble these words.
adGl fo arthe, ish hloy mena fessconing,
____ __ _____, ___ ____ ____ __________

Unscramble these words.

Psesrai uont imh ew inbrg.
_______ ____ ___ __ _____

Make sense?

Called to Serve - week 2

First we talked about Pres. McKay's call for every member to be a missionary, then we asked specific questions about the song "Called to Serve", just like we'll be asked a ton of questions as member missionaries. We hopefully learned the song, learned more about the gospel, and learned that we can let our light shine just like Jesus and this little girl in the picture. After we answered the questions, the "Called to Serve" storybook that the kids drew illustrations for last week was revealed! It actually worked pretty well, the reverence was amazing this week and we even had quite a bit of fun!



What we’re up to this week…

So last week each class received some crayons and a big piece of butcher paper with a line from the song “Called to Serve” written along the bottom. Each class then drew pictures representing the words, so that these pictures could help (especially the junior kids) learn the song even better. I then pieced these pictures together to make a giant storybook, which we will use all month when reviewing the song.

HOWEVER, for this Sunday we’re going to learn a little more about what the song is all about and what it means to be a member missionary.

First of all, I want to steal a lot of the lesson ideas of a fellow member of the Yahoo primary music leader group. To start off, I will hold up my RS manual of Pres. McKay and talk a little about his call that he extended to all members to be missionaries. I have to reread the chapter again to be sure about my details, but I’ll tell a quick tale of Pres. McKay and then start with the song.

I will sing a line (or two or however I split it up above) and ask the child on the stick I pick to answer a question about the line.

The questions are arranged a little differently this week. I have an awesome picture by Simon Dewey that is a cherished gift given to me by my in-laws. It is a rendition of Christ with a beautifully innocent little girl on his lap. They are holding a small candle that emits a relatively tremendous amount of light. To me, this pictures helps to symbolize the light that all these amazing primary children contain and can share with friends, neighbors, and other loved ones. As member missionaries we can share our light with others by being great examples, baring our testimonies, and taking Christ’s name upon ourselves. Love the picture!

With very unsticky tape, I taped up a bunch of “Who, what, where, when, how” words all over the picture so that the picture is pretty much unrecognizable until most words are removed. (Glass cleans up well, right?). Anyway, the word questions are numbered.

I sing the line, the chosen children come up (depending on how many are needed per line), they pick the first/second/etc questions (remember I have them numbered) and ideally they help answer the question. Repeat until all questions about this line are answered. (example: 1st line “Called to serve him” – what are we called to do? To serve Him and be member missionaries).

After getting through all the questions, revealing the picture, talking about it a bit, then we get the REAL surprise. They get to see the awesome STORYBOOK they created! The illustrators can explain their pictures a little bit if we have time, then we can use the storybook to review the song all the way through.

If we don’t get through all this, we can always extend until next week. HOPEFULLY we’ll have ample enough time to get through most, if not all, of the initial part of the lesson.

Called to Serve p. 174-5
Called to serve Him, heav’nly King of glory
1-what are we called to do?
2-who are we called to serve?

Chosen e’er to witness for his name
3-what are we chosen to ALWAYS (e’er) do?

Far and wide we tell the Father’s story,
Far and wide his love proclaim
4-what 2 things do we do “far and “wide”?

Onward, ever onward, as we glory in his name;
Onward, ever onward, as we glory in his name;
5-what word do we sing 4 times?
6-who’s name do you think we glory in?

Forward, pressing forward, as a triumph song we sing.
7-why will we sing a triumph song?

God our strength will be; press forward ever, Called to serve our King.
8-Who will be our strength?
9-how long should we press forward?

Called to know the richness of his blessing— Sons and daughters, children of a King-
10-why are we called to be member missionaries?
11-who is called to be a member missionary?
12-who are these children and who is the King?

Glad of heart, his holy name confessing, Praises unto him we bring.
13-When can we always be glad of heart?
14-Why does our heart feel glad when we share our testimony?
15-Where can we bring praises to Christ?

NURSERY:
None of us leaders like picking and choosing which songs to sing with so many kids hoping for so many different songs. SO, we will be instituting a method of choosing songs that eliminates all other decision-making processes that waste our brainpower. I found a bunch of adorable clipart things on the Yahoo primary music leaders group and decided to print em out. I will pick six songs (randomly or not) to place on six sides of a giant die. Then we’ll have one closing reverent song to sing too. The kids roll, we sing, we end reverently, we go home. Whew, that is way easier than actually using my noggin to figure out what to sing when. Possible songs:
One Little Apple
I Am Like a Star
Scripture Power
I Am a Child of God
Two Little Eyes
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Here We are Together
Smiles (If you Chance to Meet a Frown)
If You’re Happy
My Hands
Do as I’m Doing
Speckled Frogs
Alligator/Monkey
Mary Wore…

Two Little Eyes

These goobers on the left are what I made to hand out to the nursery kids. I haven't quite yet because I'm still a little worried that they'll try to eat the eyes. We'll see. They were just little smarty-type candies with permanent marker on bigger popsicle sticks. Easy as pie.
Then those big eyeballs on the right (and below) were somewhat of a challenge. I wanted eyes that actually blinked and that would make a ton of noise when they blinked so the kids could hear when they were to open and close eyes. Junior primary LOVES these guys. Nursery still doesn't really sing the song and even the leaders have a hard time with the tune, so I'm trying to think of a better way to teach it. Maybe I'll bring in a keyboard or something. Who knows.
Two little eyes that blink, blink, blink. Get it?

Called to Serve - week 1

Last week we had a ton of kids and a pianist that were out of town, so we sang some wiggle songs and then I pumped up the jam with my iPod, playing "Called to Serve" repeatedly. Then each class got to help draw a poster on butcher paper that will help us all learn the song a little better. The senior kids got the harder lines of the song and I think they did a great job, such as the "Chosen e'er to witness for his name" shown above. After they drew all the pictures, I took them home and made a sweet storybook out of their drawings, which I took a picture of above. They LOVED it when I revealed it yesterday (ya, I know I'm posting a week late, but better late than never right?). Thought I'd toss this up real quick.

Watermelon Pictures

Here she blows...