Stuffing Stockings

Thought this was super cute, we'll try it tomorrow.

Thank you, Sugardoodle:

http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1811&Itemid=405

Have a stocking filled with little tiny presents and a tag attached stating a gift that Heavenly Father and Jesus have given to us. Also have a white stocking for Jesus and when a child drew out a gift, they in turn had to write on a piece of paper something they could give Jesus for Christmas and try to do throughout the year, then they put it in the white stocking. Then the child that drew out the tiny gift, hid it and we did the hot and cold game while singing a song. Keep all the slips from that year still in Jesus' stocking and take them out the next year and see how the children did over the last year. Also passed slips out to all of them so the stocking is full of gifts for Jesus from the whole Primary.

Learning Names

Okay, I thought I'd throw this one out there too.

I was substituting at primary pianist (which is the best calling in the church, by the way) in the old ward and the chorister did the world's greatest name game. She sang "Here We are Together" and had each primary child sing their name during the "There's (name) and (name)" lines. You end up singing the "(name) and (name)" like a thousand times and the kids love it! I can hardly keep up, but they do really well.

To make it easier on the kids, I bring in a little hand puppet duck that we lovingly named "Mr. Quackers" then changed to "Brother Quackers" last Sunday. First I tell them that sometimes I get nervous singing up in front of them, so I bring a friend occasionally. I tell them it's not as intimidating if we sing our name to Mr. Quackers because he's very nice and cute. But if that's even scary for us we can just say our name when it's our turn. Even the shy kids seem to like it. Two sunbeams opted not to do it, but it worked just fine because I actually remembered their names!

I did this my first week to start to learn names months ago and last Sunday was a test to see how many I remembered. I did okay, but I've got the worst memory ever. How can I be so old at 23? I think my son's aged me several decades. Anyway... I hope to post a picture of Mr. Quackers just because he's so cute! Sometime after Thursday...

Snow Day

We all drew pictures of our favorite songs on some white recycled paper my husband was throwing away. Then we crumpled up our masterpieces into little balls and had a snowball fight! Okay, not actually a fight, but the activity turned out really well. In junior, each class stood up and aimed for my little snowball-catcher (a recycled giant can that had way too many peaches in it). Whomever made a shot or at least got the closest had their favorite song sung. It ended up being super fun, but still spiritual because some of the kids really love the classics like "I am a Child of God", "Armies of Helaman", "I Love to See the Temple", etc. Then of course we had to sing "Once There Was a Snowman" and the like.

I'm trying really hard to learn how to have lots of fun while keeping the reverence in primary. I think it's unrealistic for me to expect the kids to never have any wiggles, so I figure I can help them sing some really great music while enjoying themselves. A big thing that seems to help tame is to ask from the very first minute for their reverence and help in our fun singing time. In senior, I tend to have to even "threaten" (naughty word, I know) to take away the fun and do a less-fun activity in its place... But then if we ever have a super fun song or extra wiggly moment, we take a minute to calm down before we move on or maybe even change the rules to a song or something. If we sang "Head, Shoulders" all fast and crazy the last time, then we'll sing it one last time in the most calm and reverent way possible, ending in our chairs with our arms folded. That works, but they start to catch on after a while to my plan! Oh well, it works the first time at least!

Hope to post pictures later... It's finals week. Maybe I'll do it after Thursday!

Post-Thanksgiving Thanks

Borrowed almost exclusively from Sugardoodle.net today. "Thankful Jar" and "Thankerchief" were too cute and I am not opposed to celebrating holidays a week late. I'm usually about a week late in everything, so here's my thankful lesson one week late!

JR: 3:10-3:30

This Thanksgiving singing time was very successful in my ward. I typed up a bunch of slips that asks the children to tell about something they are thankful for. For example, "Name a food you are thankful for" and "Name something you can hear with your ears that you are thankful for" and so on. Then I attached songs to some of the ideas. "Tell something you are thankful for in your home...p. 192" I put all of the slips in a big clear plastic jar and made a label that said "Our Thankful Jar" with a little turkey below. The children pulled a slip of paper out of the jar. If a song was attached, we sang it. If there was no song, they answered the question and someone else got a turn. This made it so more children could participate. This was really easy and didn't involve much preparation. - Mindy Burns (sugardoodle)

The songs (I changed a few to what our pianist knows):
210 Daddy’s Homecoming
207 Mother I Love You
236 Give Said the Little Stream
188 Families Can Be Together Forever
275 Head, Shoulders, Knees
249 Once There Was a Snowman
192 Home
57 Tell Me the Stories
77 I Belong to the Church
146 Keep the Commandments
214 Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked
242 Popcorn Popping

Hopefully I'll post pictures later. We'll see...

Sr 3:55-4:15:
Pass a "thankerchief" around the primary room, as everyone recites this poem:THANKERCHIEF, THANKERCHIEF, AROUND YOU GO—
WHERE YOU'LL STOP, NOBODY KNOWS.BUT WHEN YOU DO, SOMEONE MUST SAY,WHAT THEY ARE THANKFUL FOR THIS DAY.The player holding the "thankerchief" when the poem ends, must say aloud, one thing for which they are thankful. This continues until everyone has had their turn. - Debbie Loveland (sugardoodle)

Whoever it lands on says what they're thankful for, then we come up with a song that has to do with that blessing.

Nursery: I might want to teach them "Roll Your Hands" because I think they'd love it.

Our program was the bomb.

We finished! The kids are amazing! They could have done it without me I swear!

No break from singing time today, we kept plugging away. Happy Turkey Day... gobble gobble.

I planned on doing "pin the hat on the turkey", but we had little time in junior and senior was too wild to do anything fun. We lasted one pinning in senior before I had to take that one away. Bummer. I got a "pin the hat on the turkey" package at Target in their sweet $1 bins. It would have worked well without a wild primary. Oh well, the one go at it was fun.


Next week we might all get a white piece of paper, write our favorite song on it, crumple it up, and have a "snowball" toss. We could have each class toss at the same time and the closest snowball to the target is the song we sing. Then, if we have extra time, we could have the teachers try one round at it or the presidency or something. The kids would love that I'm sure. Just an idea.

1 more week...

Sorry, no new and exciting things to post. We practiced the program the last two Sundays and our ward is the bomb because we don't do Saturday practice! I've always thought the Saturday practices were a bit silly and since these kids are the greatest group EVER they certainly don't need it. The practices weren't perfect, but they were pretty darn good.

The only new news:
We're singing more of "WTTOGFAP" than we originally thought, so I just cut up my huge poster of verse 2 and inserted in page protecters, followed by the words for verse 3. I use the flip chart of words as I squat on the stand behind the mic. It's great. Only half the kids can read and half of them can't see the words, but it'll all be okay. It works better than waving a giant sign.

One more week until we get to sing new songs!!!!!

Program Practice

Sorry no posts lately. We had regional conference last week. If I didn't have a 17-month-old I might have been able to hear more of it. Either way, what I did hear (since my husband and I took turns with the monkey) sounded wonderful.

For program practice today, we just ran through everything. A few awesome ideas I've incorporated into my own agenda include ideas from everyone at Yahoo group/Julie's Singing Time/Sugardoodle/etc. Here they are:

1. print all music and place in book in the right order. I also found out today that I'm in charge of running the whole thing since I sit right behind the stand to lead the music, so I added the children's parts in between all the songs so I can help out there too.

2. give the kids a 1-2-3 warning before standing. As soon as the intro starts, they must give me their eyes. Then I give them the 1-2-3, then the overexaggerated stand up sign. It works aight-we'll see if they're a little more attentive in a few weeks!

3. a few key words for IAACOG verses since we're singing v. 4 seperately from the rest of the song. I still haven't taken a pic of my signs, but oh well. Mine are pretty lame anyway.

I had a back up plan to entice the kids to sing louder since I didn't get a helium balloon for that motivation yet. I used the lips I had back for watermelon seed spitting day and cut a bigger hole. Then I was going to have a teacher blow up the balloon as the singing was strong and beautiful or whatev (kind of like the "Bubblegum Billy" or Sugardoodle/Sing a Song Journal and the like). We didn't do it today, but we'll have it for next week if we need it! Also, the helium balloon thing that everybody does seems to be a great idea too. Check out ANY of the links (especially sugardoodle) to find out what that's all about...

Well I'm sick and have a 5+ page paper to write tonight. The practice went GREAT, our kids are amazing. I'm not stressing about the program because, well, have you ever seen a bad program? No matter what I mess up, the kids are going to knock it out of the park because they are that cool.

It's official: LIFE IS CRAZY

Just wanted to write my late-Saturday-night thought real quick since this is as close to a journal as I've got.

Life is crazy...

So many aspects of life are hard. Most everything in life that is worth doing requires hard work. I'm no busy ant lifting 1,000 times my bodyweight or anything, but I do realize that the things in my own life that are worth my time and energy are very tiring. Exhibit A: my child. Exhibit B: my husband. Exhibit C: my education. Exhibit D: my calling. Exhibit E: my physical fitness. And I can't even remember what comes after E in the alphabet, so I'll stop there.

...but it is worth it.

I've had more ups and downs over the past 3 years than I know what to do with. But guess what? The downs are totally worth the awesome ups. I just need to remember that. I thank my Heavenly Father so much for both my ups and my downs. I pray for forgiveness for not thanking Him enough, but I know He loves me enough to put up with my self-inflicted downs. For instance, if I wasn't staying up until 1:18 am to finish my lesson for the following day, then I might be a little more rested when the time comes to share my lesson. Or not. Who knows?

10.26.08 - Repeat Parakeet and Sudoku

I promise one day I'll post all the pictures I've taken of my lessons. I'm sure of it. Just don't hold your breath.
EDIT: YAY I POSTED ONE! HERE'S THE EASY SUDOKU VERSION FOR JR. HOPEFULLY I'LL FIND THE SR ONE TOO TO TAKE A PIC. WE'LL SEE:
JUNIOR: We just gotta keep plugging away at really learning the program songs, so we'll hang out with "Pete the Repeat Parakeet" again. I'm pretty sure I have a picture of him several posts ago. The kids loved him and I even had a teacher compliment that one, so I think it's time he came back to say hello. EDIT: INSTEAD OF PARAKEET, I JUST DID AN EASY SUDOKU FOR JR. THEY LOVED IT, BUT WERE CRAZY, SO WE TRIED TO JUST FOCUS ON THE REVERENCE. I WAS WORRIED IT WAS EITHER TOO EASY OR TOO HARD, BUT IT WORKED OUT OKAY.

SENIOR: My dad's a primary teacher (lucky) and his chorister created a giant Sudoku game board. The kids were to figure out the covered numbers. I will probably put all 9 up on the game and we'll try to cruise through as many as possible. If it's a game, then senior is in. They're awesome with a little competition... (shh, don't tell). I'll choose one or two numbers from most of the groups of 9 to a square. Each will match up to a program song. If we sing the song well, we can uncover and move on. If we sing the song poorly, we'll recover and move on. They should love it assuming they're not too crazy. If we're out of hand, we can just continue with the scrambled song titles from last week or just simply sing praises. Whatev.

Just for my own info, here's a list of who's singing what for p-day (i originally put d-day but thought that was a little awkward):

IAACOG
1. young 5-yr-old girls
2. whole primary
3. whole primary

TMTSOJ
1. whole primary
2. not sure yet
3. whole primary

WJCWB
1. whole primary
2. whole primary

ITSSBM
1. whole primary
2. whole primary
3. whole primary

Home
1. duet
2. family? or activity day girls (8+)?
3. whole primary

WTTOGFAP
1. whole primary
2. whole primary
3. congregation with primary

ILTSTT
1. whole primary
2. whole I think - ASL?

CTS
1. whole primary
2. whole primary

IAACOG
4. whole primary - THE END

10.19.08 Lesson Overview

10.19.08 was backward day. Or crazy mixed-up day. I can't remember what I called it. Basically, we sang the program songs in the backward order.

In junior for our wiggle song(s), we sang "Head Shoulders" backwards and "Roll Your Hands" as backwards as can be. If that doesn't make sense, then I'm sorry. It was a silly singing time, but effective. The kids were rowdy if I remember right, so we had some very reverent music to wind down (I am a Child of God), then we sang that (IAACOG) several times until the rowdiness mellowed a bit. In both junior and senior we worked on IAACOG with a simple cue card I made for each verse. We're singing the 4th verse separately from the other 3 verses, so I want to be sure they know what we sing when.

verse 1: envelope with "sent" written on it
verse 2: the letters "GR" with an "8" next to them (get it, gr8=great? i was tired)
verse 3: dollar bill with "blessings" (yeah, I know that's a poor way to symbolize "rich blessings", but I'm exhausted with these program songs)
verse 4: a gold crown with "promises" written under it

The only variation in senior primary was that I had all the song titles scrambled up and I gave a chosen reverent helper to try to unscramble and figure out which song was last/second to last/etc. They LOVED unscrambling the song titles. And they sang super well today, too.

We had good singers, so I guess I can't ask for more!

10.12.08 Singing 10K Race

Boy, was that break for conference nice or what? I got to enjoy talks without thinking, "Oh snap, did I remember to pack the broom for the junior primary singing time activity?" or "I don't remember filling up the sippy cup, the baby's not going to like that," or "Wait, will senior primary really respond well to my puzzle activity or should I change it to the backup straw activity?"

And now, we're back to real life. This lesson was great in theory. Senior responded okay, junior didn't totally understand I think (but got a kick out of counting 10 "k"'s all over the room). The biggest problem was that half the primary was out of town. But oh well, it was still fun.

I told the kids that I was running a 10k race next month (then quickly changed my terminology to "finishing" rather than "running"). To finish, I had to work hard and train a little bit every day so I could do well. Similarly, they've been training for 10 months for our primary program. Around the room I had 10 K's, each with a program song written on them in the order we'll sing them in the program.

To keep our place in the activity, I made a giant shoe connected to a sock-covered broom (I actually used some old school pink leg warmers - it was awesome). Half way through JR, I told them I was tired and needed a drink, so I had one helper choose a number off my water bottle. We sang the wiggle song that was found at that number. It was a nice little "water break" in our race. We ran a 5k in junior and an 8k in senior. It was fun. Neither made their way to the 10th "K", which had a finish line that we wanted to cross, but it was still fun.

Senior really knows all the songs very well, but there aren't very many in senior primary. Our bulk is in junior. Junior knows all the first verses to songs, but then they falter a bit after verse 1. I think we'll be fine in the long run (plus when have you ever seen a primary program not go well?), but I'd like to cram some more words into their heads. I gotta keep thinking of ideas to repeat the harder songs. We'll see.

9.28.08 Tentative Primary Music Plan

JR: 3:10-3:30

We will borrow from Sugardoodle’s “Dusty songs on a washday” idea that said:

Write the names of songs being reviewed on a different piece of wallpaper (or scrapbook paper or fabric) cut in the shape of little dresses, shirts, shorts, socks, etc. Place these items in a laundry basket. Tie a small rope clothesline at the front of Primary and be sure to include some clothespins for hanging the items on the line. Explain that we've waited so long to practice some of our songs they have become dusty and dingy. We've got a whole batch of songs that we will need to wash up and hang out to dry. Have children take turns selecting an item out of the basket on the clothesline to determine which songs will be practiced.

…But will have just program songs. Each verse will have its own piece of clothing. If a song has one verse, it will be a dress. If it has 4 verses, it will have shirt/shorts/socks/hat or something. One per verse. If we don’t clean the dusty song, then it’ll go back to the hamper! They also choose one clothespin per article of clothing, which has a way to sing on it (like a capella, upd/down, legato, strong/soft, hot/cold, etc.).

Songs:
When Jesus Christ was Baptized x2 (p. 102)
Home x3 (p. 192)
I Love to See the Temple x2 (p. 95)
We thank Thee O God x1 (H19)
Called to Serve x2 (p. 174)
If the Savior Stood x3 (book)
Tell Me the Stories of Jesus x 3 (p. 57)
I Am a Child of God x4 (p.2)

TO do before primary:
Tape articles of clothing all around the room
Hang up clothesline (one side)
Prep help for 2nd verse of “tell me the stories”

SR: 3:55-4:14

Borrowed from Christy's Clipart:

APPLE BASKET TOSS: Using an apple basket with 5 plastic cups glued to the bottom, the children toss a Ping-Pong ball in hopes it will land in one of the cups. Each cup except for the center cup has a color on the bottom. The center cup is a free choice. When the ball lands in the "red cup", the player selects a "red song". Write songs on different colored pieces of paper, (4 of each). Some days it is very hard to have the ball land in a cup. This is a perfect game to learn a song with. If they miss the cups, we learn another line of the song! The children love this! -Danae Leavitt

Changed this one up a bit, but it's pretty adaptable to any primary. I couldn't find a ping pong ball (weird, I know) so I wrote each verse of each song on a strip of paper and folded them up into those mini footballs. They were just like the ones I used to do with my brothers during general conference when we were "listening" growing up. I would never do that now that I'm an adult, though...

This was the plan:

Last Sunday we reviewed a bunch again. Here's a quick overview. Pictures would help explain, maybe I'll post some.

Here was the original plan (which changed considerably):

JR: 3:10-3:30
Junior needs special help on:
Tell Me the Stories verse 2
Tell Me the Stories verse 3
When Jesus Christ was Baptized verse 2
If the Savior Stood verse 2
If the Savior Stood verse 3
We Thank Thee O God verse 1
I Love to See the Temple verse 2
Home verse 3
Home verse 2
Home verse 1
I am a Child of God verse 4
If the Savior Stood verse 1

And probably many more, but we’ll focus on these ones. I stole Julie’s Singing Time’s 2nd verse for “Tell Me the Stories” verse 2, and then we have actions we use for verse 3. “When JC was B” second verse I have some ASL signs I started teaching, but I’m not sure how much they helped.
The kite idea was a success last week, so maybe I’ll use that one again. Maybe I’ll add some flip charts since we don’t know any songs. We can do actions too. Maybe we’ll even do some hot/cold in order to repeat the verse(s) once or twice.

SR: 3:55-4:14
Senior will get some words and we’ll rearrange, take away, etc.

I’ll go ahead and make it a giant puzzle, then when we complete the verses, we’ll play word king and hot/cold. Tons of fun.

“Tell Me the Stories” questions: Thank you, “A Children’s Songbook Companion” by Graham/GourleyShipp/Stewart
v.2:
what is the word that means Jesus’ face had a special glow? (Lovelight)
what words describe Jsus’ words and deeds? (words full of kindness, deed full of grace acts of love)
what shall I imagine? (His blessings resting on me)
What do I want to hear first? (how the children stood round his knee)

v. 3:
1. what did Jesus do to the wind? (hushed the wind)
2. what did Jesus do to the billows? (chided (scolded))
3. what two words describe the Master? (ready and kind)
4. where was the boat tossing? (in a tempest on Galilee)
5. What do I want to be told in accents of wonder? (how rolled the sea) explain that accents of wonder means “words of amazement”

Note to self

As of Sunday, here's a list of the songs we really don't know:

Well, pretty much all of them, but the real challenges include...

1. Tell Me the Stories verse 2
2. Tell Me the Stories verse 3
3. When Jesus Christ was Baptized verse 2
4. If the Savior Stood verse 2
5. If the Savior Stood verse 3

and maybe even...

1. Called to Serve verse 2
2. Home verse 3
3. Home verse 2
4. Home verse 1
5. I am a Child of God verse 4
6. We Thank Thee O God verse 1 (the only one we're doing there)
7. If the Savior Stood verse 1
8. I Love to See Temple verse 2 (need to work on ASL)

Well, that's pretty much all. Oh dang, we have a lot of work to do in the next two months.

How to learn these ones quickly: JUNIOR responds to actions. They love it and movement is the only thing that captures their attentions. SENIOR responds to real ASL signs. Actions aren't so exciting. They also like to read the songs word-for-word, but that's no bueno. TEACHERS do best when I have the words straight up written on the board or on pictures or something. But that's cheating, so I don't know what to do.

Kite Review

Junior get's this idea from Christy's Clipart page:

KITES - This idea has been great for me and I have been able to use it several times. I took a poster board and made a huge colorful kite. I then made small colorful bows out of the poster board. On the back of the bows is a song to sing, They get to place the bow any where they want on the chalk board. The kite is on the chalk board as well. When singing time is all done we take the chalk and connect the bows. Sometimes the string gets crazy! Once I told them that when I got to primary and opened my bag, I tripped and the bows blew everywhere. I told them that I didn't know where they went and that I needed help finding them. They love a good game of finding!
--Elizabeth Prisbrey - Henderson, NV

Love it. Maybe I'll have each bow with a key phrase on it (sort of like how Julie's Singing Time did the key phrase game a while back). Then JR tries to figure out which verse of which program song has that key phrase in it, we'll sing it, then we'll put the bow on the board. Unfortuantely, I don't know if they can make it the whole time without some wiggle songs though. I've been contemplating making an apron with tons of pockets with a bunch of the more reverent wiggle songs in the pockets, then they can choose one. We'll see if I get that ambitious. I'll try to take pictures if that actually happens. For now, I need to study for my four tests next week. Seriously four. Come on, that's not cool.


Senior's probably going to get to play the straw blowing game from Sugardoodle:

I'll have straws in my coconut summer cup and different ways to sing taped onto the floor. They blow through the straws to find a song curled up inside the straw. Whatever "way to sing" paper the song lands on tells us what's next. If "Tell Me the Stories" lands on "Staccato/Legato" then that's what we'll do! We did it once before and the papers didn't always come out of the straw, so I'll have to figure out a better way to insert them.


Nursery is learning "Roll Your Hands", so maybe I'll use different words than slowly and swiftly, who knows? Maybe we'll do it as low-ly and up high or something much much cuter and funner. Or not. Other than that, I'm beat, so we'll do the same songs again and again. They won't know the difference.

Laundry Day

Reviewing program songs again today. We'll be matching up my clean socks, which will conveniently strewn around the primary room. Found this idea on the SWEET Christy's Clipart website. I had always ignored that site (I know I'm bad) because I thought it was just clipart and we can't really use that, you know? But I finally checked it out thanks to a suggestion from another blogger and it is awesome. This gal took a clothesline idea and expanded it to a matching the sock game. Naturally, I loved it and tried to adapt it to my primary.


JR primary plan:
First, one of the two socks is in my laundry basket. That sock has a prop that refers to one of the program songs. Here's my props inside the socks:

I am a Child of God (2): a giant "C" for child (lame, I know)
Tell me the Stories (57): Bible
Home(192): Marshmallow Fluff (long story, but I basically told the kids I love to eat Fluffernutters at home for lunch, so that represents the song "Home")
Love to see temple(95): some ginormous ugly glasses (see)
When Jesus Christ was B(102): a water bottle
We Thank Thee Oh God(H19): one of those R.S. manuals of a random latter day prophet
Called to Serve(174): husband's mish tag
If Savior Stood(book): a tiny newborn shoe from Old Navy

They choose one, then they help find the matching sock around the room so I can put the socks away when I get home. The 2nd socks have these "ways to sing" inside them:

I am a Child of God (2): in/out - sing out loud when I have the ball, think the words in your head when I toss it to you guys (thanks to Alpine Stake Website for the clarification on this idea)
Tell me the Stories (57):
Home(192): learn some new signs (like father, mother, Father, love, etc)
Love to see temple(95): 1st verse, 2nd verse
When Jesus Christ was B(102): 1st verse, all sing who have a missing tooth, 2nd verse can't remember
We Thank Thee Oh God(H19): can't remember
Called to Serve(174): can't remember
If Savior Stood(book): 1st verse: march (do), 2nd verse: can't remember, 3rd: same

SR plan:
I can either do part of my laundry game if the SR is fun today, or I can use these scrambled titles of the program songs (thank you, Sugardoodle) and just sing through the songs. SR's been pretty feisty lately, so I think I'll just have lame days from here on out. Ah hem, I mean I'll focus on reverence and steer clear from games. Who knows?

I Ma A Dichl fo Ogd

Letl Em Eth Isroset fo Sjeus

Fi Eth Rovasi Toods Bidsee Em

Ew Kanth Heet O Gdo Rof A Opherpt

Meho

I Vole Ot Ese Eth Lempet

Ledlac Ot Verse

Hnew Sjeus Stirch Saw Zapbited

Nursery:
A little bit of the same 'ol same 'ol. They'll love it.
2 green and speckled frogs, one little apple, itsy bitsy spider, i am a child of God, mary wore a dress, i am like a star, etc.
Ooh, I might want to teach them "Roll Your Hands" because I think they'd love it. We don't do a whole lot of songs from the Childrens Songbook and sometimes that makes me nervous that I should be doing more, so I'll try to slowly add a couple fun ones.

Pop Quiz

I'm adding a pop quiz to our Back-to-School lesson for SR primary today... hopefully we'll have enough time to do it. We didn't get enough WJCWB learning done last week, so the questions I had prepared for last week will be used today. Using the trivia flowers that I've used before, we'll ask these questions to the chosen person when we need a break from singing:

Who's example will we follow? ("his", or Christ's)
How are we baptized? (by immersion) USE HOW INSTEAD OF WHY
What kind of power are we baptized through? (sacred priesthood)
Where will I belong if I am baptized? What will I be a member of? (Heav'nly Father's kingdom)
When will the Holy Ghost guide me if we are baptized and become members of HF's kindgom? (ev'ry hour)

Whew. And now I'm done.

Back to School - Program Song Review Day

Okay, here goes nothing:

JR: 3:10-3:30 – When Jesus Christ Was Baptized p. 102
BACK TO SCHOOL activity: I will have a giant sack with a bunch of props that represent each “subject”. A ton of people have suggested cute Back-to-school lessons, but I especially wanna thank Nicole at Sugardoodle. See http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2909&Itemid=429
§ Reading: “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus” p. 57: Let’s learn about a few stories of Christ’s life. 3 stories: (1) Sea scenes (2) Children received blessings (3) Jesus calming the sea. I’ll have to bring pictures for these ones. BOOK WITH PICTURES THAT I MAKE
§ Language: “I Love to See the Temple” p. 95: Let’s learn some more sign language for 2nd verse! It’s always good to be able to communicate. Let’s use Sis. Carpenter’s sign language for this song! (Emphasize that my ASL might not be completely accurate, but is pretty close.) ASL BOOK
§ Writing: “We Thank Thee Oh God” H19: We read the words of the prophets in all scriptures, including modern day words in the Ensign. Just like the Prophet writes words for us to read in modern day scripture, I wanted to see if we could all “write” in the air and lead the song “WTTOG” while we’re at it! Here’s what we’ll be writing in the air (draw on the board how to lead 4/4 time). PAD OF PAPER
§ Recess: “Called to Serve” p. 174: in my recess class, we do a lot of walking and shuffling. As missionaries, we do a lot of active movement. For instance, we walk to our neighbor’s house to invite them to FHE, etc. March with me to the verses of “Called to Serve”, turn sideways when I do, in good old “Follow the leader” fashion. TENNIS SHOE
§ Math: “WJCWB” p. 102: How many members of the Godhead? Turn 180 degrees when we sing about one member of the Godhead. CALCULATOR
§ Lunch: “Home” p. 192: I like to eat lunch at home, but making lunch can be hard. To make a perfect sandwich, I need some very necessary ingredients like bread, cheese, etc. To make a perfect home, we need certain necessary ingredients too. Whip out the “Home” 3 story house and piece together as we sing. SACK LUNCH

SR: 3:55-4:15 - WJCWB p. 102
Wrap up all my ASU textbooks for each class. Each kid can unwrap one. We’ll actually talk about my college courses in SR…
§ Mixed Martial Arts: p. 174 Teach them the fighters stance, teach them to keep loose (stretch arms, wiggle shoulders, etc). HAND WRAPS (note: teaching this in an effective, but reverent way is a tough one. I'm taking a fighting/self defense class, so we'll talk about fighting Satan's evil influence and working hard to build up the kingdom of God and sharing the gospel).
§ Strategic Management: p. 102 It’s all about formulating, implementing, and evaluating plans. I always have to evaluate my baptismal covenants, reformulate, and implement. STRAT MGT BOOK
§ History of Art: p. 95 we’re learning to appreciate art in today’s society. The temple is one of the most artistically beautiful pieces of architecture I’ve ever seen. It makes it even better that it is God’s house on earth. PICTURE OF TEMPLE “ART”
§ Guitar: H19 guess which prophet plays the guitar? GUITAR BOOK.
§ History of Elvis: p. 57: in my Elvis class, we learn all kinds of stories about a really pretty singer. In church, we get to learn about an even more important person. We hear lots of stories in my Elvis class and some are very happy, but some are very very sad because he sometimes made bad choices. That’s why it’s so important to look to Jesus Christ as our ultimate example. In one song, we sing about a few awesome stories about Jesus’ life. (1) Sea scenes (2) Children received blessings (3) Jesus calming the sea. BOOK WITH PICTURES IN IT.
§ Finance: p. 192: at home, families have to work hard to keep their finances in order. For one, we always pay our tithing in our household. There are lots of important pieces to a house and lots of people that work together to create a perfect home. Let’s piece the Home puzzle together. CALCULATOR


My Baptismal Covenants (Renewed Each Time I Partake of the Sacrament) (found this info on LDS.org search: baptismal covenants)

At Baptism I Covenant with the Lord to: 1. Come into the fold of God (become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ).2. Be called his son or daughter (take upon me the name of Christ).3. Bear others’ burdens, that they may be light; mourn with those that mourn; and comfort those in need of comfort (help others).4. Stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things an din all places (testify of Christ and set a good example at all times).5. Serve God and keep his commandments.

When I Keep My Baptismal Covenants, the Lord Covenants to: 1. Forgive my sins.2. Pour his Spirit more abundantly upon me (give me the companionship of the Holy Ghost).3. Redeem me that I might be numbered with those of the first resurrection and have eternal life (permit me to enter the celestial kingdom to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ).

Thank you, President Faust!

For all of us crazy women out there, President Faust's talk titled "Instruments in the Hands of God" jumped out at me tonight (yes, I"m still finishing my lesson at 11:55pm on a Saturday night).

Some of you sisters may feel inadequate (emphasis added) because you can’t seem to do all you want to do. Motherhood and parenting are most challenging roles. You also have Church callings that you fulfill so capably and conscientiously. In addition, many of you, besides all this, have to work as well as care for your family. My heart goes out to the widows and the single-parent sisters who bear so much of the responsibility of parenting. In general you noble sisters are doing a much better job of holding it all together and making it work than you realize. May I suggest that you take your challenges one day at a time. Do the best you can. Look at everything through the lens of eternity. If you will do this, life will take on a different perspective.

(for more encouraging goodies see http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=1ed178de9441c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1 ). I say this because that's about as far as I got before tearing up, realizing I still need to keep searching for some more info, and moving on.

One day at a time... I can do that!

WJCWB success...

So the kids were a little crazy, big deal! Pete the repeat Parakeet was fun, the Olympic torch was fun, yadda yadda. Oh and my pianist didn't know WJCWB so we didn't sing it, we just spoke the words. That didn't go over great in JR, but SR didn't mind.

The best part of Pete was that I had all the kids speak in their best "Pete the Prakeet" voices when repeating the words. They got a real kick out of it and we repeated the phrases like a thousand times!!! I still don't think JR knows it well, but that's aight. We'll just struggle through the program like every other year!

8.24.08 WJCWB

We'll probably be reviewing verse 2 of "When Jesus Christ Was Baptized" big time this week. I have a funny feeling we still don't know it very well.

Page 102:
1. When Jesus Christ was baptizedDown in the River Jordan,Three members of the GodheadWere present there in love.The Father spoke from heavenWhen Jesus Christ was baptized;The Holy Ghost descendedAs gently as a dove.
2. And now when I am baptized,I’ll follow his example—Be baptized by immersionThrough sacred priesthood pow’r.Then I will be a memberOf Heav’nly Father’s kingdomAnd have the Holy SpiritTo guide me ev’ry hour.

Junior Primary:
Special thanks to the Yahoo Group (see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/primusic/files/Repeat%20FUN/Repeat%20Parakeet/ ) for the cute Repeat Parakeet idea.

First, I'll talk about my friend Pete, the Repeat Parakeet. Emphasis on his pretty feathers. I say a line, he repeats it in a squeaky voice (that's embarassing). We'll all repeat it with Pete once we get the hang of it. Then we'll practice singing the line one-two times. When we've mastered a line, we'll sing a wiggle song of the pianist's choice. Four lines and four wiggle songs later, we've successfully repeated the 2nd verse enough to get it in our noggins.

If we finish these goodies early, then we can play with the Olympic torch (see SR below). We could even have the holder of the torch come up and "talk" for Pete or something. It could be sillly fun.

Senior Primary:

First we'll review the whole WJCWB song and I'll use some kind of flip chart thing to see what we know. Then we'll get serious about learning the 2nd verse through questions like:

• Who's example will we follow? ("his", or Christ's)
• How are we baptized? (by immersion) USE HOW INSTEAD OF WHY - I'M NOT SMART ENOUGH TO THINK OF A NEW QUESTION FOR WHY!
• What kind of power are we baptized through? (sacred priesthood)
• Where will I belong if I am baptized? What will I be a member of? (Heav'nly Father's kingdom)
• When will the Holy Ghost guide me if we are baptized and become members of HF's kindgom? (ev'ry hour)

I'll use my "trivia flowers", which are basically just 5 flowers with "Who, what, why, where, when, how" on them. I gotta double check to be sure which words really are on them... For some reason, senior gets a kick out of my trivia flowers. Oops no "How" in my garden. Oh well.

After we learn the 2nd verse well enough, we'll use this cutesy Olympic torch idea. Special thanks to ePrimary for a cute Olympic torch idea:

A very very easy torch idea is to take a flashlight and use tissue paper cut with edges that look like flames, using yellow, orange, and red combined.
Have the children pass along the torch and when the pianist stops playing, have the children that is holding the torch say the right word for the note.
This is an easy easy visual that I have used in past Olympic years.

Will do!

Nursery:

Honestly, I am just planning on winging it. I'll bring my giant school bus that I made so we can sing "Wheels on the bus", but that's about it. I am too worn out to think of a third lesson every week! Plus the kids don't even care!!! I'll also probably bring my "Two Little Eyes" because the teachers were asking about them a couple weeks ago, but we'll see. Some kids like to try to eat the eyeballs. That's no bueno.

SUB!!!

Wow, I'm going somewhere! My perfect attendance is now shattered. If I weren't going to the beach then I would be much more heartbroken. However, I can guarantee you that my toddler (who will be accompanying us) will find some way to teeth, run a fever, unlearn how to sleep, etc.

Here are some suggestions I'm giving to my sub:

Hopefully we can go over the 2nd verse to WJCWB (p. 102).
Some great pages for flip cards are at this website http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2843&Itemid=429

Some awesome spiritual application of the verse can be found at
http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2752&Itemid=5
which could be great with the other clipart.

Then some word king might be fun with the 2nd verse...
Word king: send one child outta the room, everyone chooses one word from the song, the child (word king) comes back into the room, the rest of the primary sings all of the song but that one word. Kids love it. Choristers love it. Pianists love it. It's awesome.

OR

http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2880&Itemid=429
This was super cute. It's ideas relating to the Olympics. I especially liked the volleyball (just need a ball as prep, like hot potatoe), racing, archery, kayaking (cute idea), taekwondo, or diving. There have been many versions of this one, but these seemed like less prep. You'd need wads of paper with song titles on them, a ball, an easily thrown soft ball, and some enthusiasm!

I hope this is helpful to my last-minute substitute! And I really hope someone loves me enough to sub at the last minute... I found out that we were going about 11 pm, which is approximately 6 hours before we are leaving at 5 am! I'm going crazy, but that's okay.

When Jesus Christ Was Baptized

Here are my notes that I will be using tomorrow. Sorry if they don't make sense. Special thanks to the "Reporter" info on Yahoo group, the "Memorization Technique" from Yahoo group, and the old 2nd verse of WJCWB on Eprimary website.

Singing Time Plan:

JR: 3:10-3:30
WJCWB – I am a reporter and I’ve been given my first assignment to cover a baptism. Who was the last person baptized? I'll be interviewing ______.
On board: (Questions I want to cover) Who:, Where:, Who came:, Speaker:, Anything else:
Sing the song with these answers.

When ____ was baptized
Down in ______________

____________ were present there in love.
_______ spoke from the stand when _______ was baptized;
_______________________
(as gently as a dove.)

I’ve been called on an even bigger assignment, another special baptism. Matthew 3:13-17
Who: Jesus Christ, Where: River Jordan, Who came: 3 member s of the Godhead (heart), Speaker: Father, Anything Else: Holy Ghost descended
Sing again.

SR: 3:55-4:15
WJCWB
Write words to 1st verse on board before… Choose 6 sticks #1-6 for questions.
Ask:
Who was baptized?
Where was He baptized?
Who was present?
Who spoke from Heaven?
Who descended?
As gentle as what?
As kids answer, underline answers on board. Erase half underlined, sing, all then sing again.

Finish with word king. Possible words: love (hard), descended, etc.

If we have extra time (could happen-all primary pres. is outta town), I'll show them the words that were posted in the July 1977 Friend that used to be the 2nd verse of WJCWB. Interesting and helps bring the message that much closer to children (at least I think so).

2. I wonder what John felt like,Who baptized by immersion,To hear a voice from heaven approving of the way.Although I was not presentWhen Jesus Christ was baptized,I always will rememberIt was a sacred day. – Friend, July 1977

Or have them draw picture helps for JR primary of 2nd verse if we have a ton of time.

Science Experiments - Colory Mystery 8.3.08

This week is finals week... Summer school finals week. Therefore, I didn't have some big elaborate spiritual lesson planned for primary yesterday.

Instead, we did the "mad scientist" science experiments that are so popular at the Yahoo Primary group. I stole the overall idea from the Yahoo group and changed a few things here and there to create my own version. I wore goofy glasses as my "safety goggles", read the letter as if I was "Dr. Sing A. Rainbow" in JR, and even taught a few quick spiritual appetizers with "When Jesus Christ Was Baptized". I stole the cute actions to WJCWB from the Julie's Singing Time blog, with a few quick changes to a few actual ASL signs. The kids were excited to learn the sign for Christ, so that was one awesome little tidbit. I also talked about the colors of the rainbow (Roy G Biv) and noted that there are 7 colors in the rainbow and we only got to get to two or three. Therefore, we'll have to keep going in the upcoming weeks and try to match all the primary program songs to colors. Actually, I might have to add an extra color or eliminate matching one song because I think there are too many, but whatev.


Singing Time Plan:
Color Mystery for Primary
Hello my friends,
My name is Dr. Sing A. Rainbow, (write that on the board) and I am here today visiting you from your local science color lab. I have heard that you might be able to help me with a problem I am having. You see, I love to sing, and I love colors. My job is to find songs and match them with the colors of the rainbow. Singing makes things sound beautiful, and colors make them look beautiful, so I get to put them together. But I am having a problem with some certain songs. I don’t know what color will go best with them. I need your help to decide which color works. Here is what we will do. I have a list of songs that I hear you are supposed to sing for a program. Those are the exact songs I need colors for. So, if we sing the song well, then we will decide what color it should be. But we don’t just pick any color. We have to do an experiment to decide. When we are done singing, we will see what color it is by mixing up the solution. Some are very easy, some have surprises. We won’t know unless we sing it good. Okay? Let’s go ahead and start!

Songs
When Jesus Christ Was Baptized p.102
Tell Me the Stories of Jesus p. 57
We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet H19
If the Savior Stood Beside Me (book)
I Love to See the Temple p. 95

Colors
Red
Orange
Yellow
Blue
Green

#2 and #5 are vinegar
“Oh, thank you so much. Now I can go back to my lab and tell everyone I have found the missing colors. I couldn’t have done it without you. You are all wonderful!”

When Jesus Christ was baptized (touch right index finger to left palm, then left index finger to right palm)
Down in the River Jordan (make waves with hand)
Three members of the Godhead (hold up 3 fingers)
Were present there in love (cross arms across chest)
The Father spoke from heaven (hold up 1 finger -- 1st person)
When Jesus Christ was baptized (hold up 2 fingers -- 2nd person)
The Holy Ghost descended (hold up 3 fingers -- 3rd person)
As gently as a dove (interlock thumbs and have fingers fly like a dove)

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...

Watermelon Puzzle

Well, this one didn't go over as well as I hoped, but I think the afternoon church/out of school combo is the main culprit behind our primary's behavior (I hope it's not just me!).

Junior Primary:
I had eight pieces of a watermelon, the number of seeds on each piece designated which song we sang. They placed the piece up on the puzzle board (they were cut like puzzle pieces-ish) and we sang the song. (Actually, I always cheat and no matter what number they choose, have the pianist go down the list of songs in the order I predetermined to sing the songs in. Does that make sense? I was limited on my songs this week because the pianist was a sub and very uncomfortable at the bench. Man, I wish I could have switched spots with her, I love that calling!)
To step it up a notch, when reverent, we got to "spit" watermelon "seeds" to decide how we should sing the song. I had a giant pair of lips that the junior kids got to slide a "seed" (it was actually a black triangle/football that I folded up) onto a paper that had all the styles of singin on them. Today we included andante, a capella, sing on one foot, word king style, slide a seat, etc. on the sheet. I also taped all 12 of the ways to sing onto a serving tray I had so it would "catch" the watermelon "seed". In junior primary, we just slid the seed off the giant lips onto the serving tray. It was well received (the watermelon part was boring, but it got the job done), but the kids were crazy this week!!

Okay, on to Senior Primary...
The first thing senior primary said when I whipped out my watermelon was "that's cheesey"! It was awesome because I asked who thought it looked cheesey and no one would fess up to saying it! Then I told them that I agreed it was cheesey, but they had to do it because I liked to do it. So they chose a piece of watermelon, we actually sang the assigned song, and then I added the second element.
The kids got to "spit" the watermelon seed a little different in senior primary. We took the football and flicked it from the giant lips which were placed on a chair about 3 feet from the serving tray. They got 3 seeds (3 tries) to choose how we'd sing the song. If they didn't get it, I got to choose (which was awesome for our pianist, a capella, baby!). Senior loved the "spitting", as did I. It reminded me of all those times my brothers and I "listened" in church playing flick-football.

Nursery time!!!
The nursery was packed this week and so we barely got through our songs. I've been teaching "I Have Two Little Eyes That Blink, Blink, Blink" or something like that and made two giant eyes that "blink". I grabbed two paper bags and put the eyes (with eyelashes and all) under the flap, so they would open and close with my hands in them. Then I decided to make something to hold for the little ninos. I grabbed big popsicle sticks, glued on eyeballs made out of colorful little candies with black pupils drawn on. Then I added a nose and mouth with just marker on the stick. They're not the cutest, but they'll do. I only made 9 because we usually have about 5, but we had 10 this week, so we didn't all get to play with the popsicle stick eyeball men. That will be next week.

I will post my pictures later, the camera is now dead. I hope batteries are on sale.