Hymn Chase Turkey Day

This last Sunday was fun! I obviously focused on Thanksgiving a bit. So for the JR primary, we played Disguise The Turkey. I brought a hat, mustache, boa, glasses and sign that said I'm not a Turkey. The kids absolutely LOVED it and laughed the whole time! My only thing I need to figure out is how to keep the reverence while still enjoying the music. This time, I controlled that by making sure the sign went on last and it was for the "Reverence is Love" song we've been learning all month. Also for each song, we roll the "fun to sing" dice but i think i'm going to revise the choices on that..it was from a prior chorister. The kids really love being able to sing it a certain way because it keeps things interesting.

For Senior, I did something a little different. At home, I drew a large turkey and cut out paper feathers to attach to the turkey but to get the feather......
This idea came to me on my own and I think i'll for sure use it again. Hymn Chase. I was thinking about how fun it is to do scripture chases and learn while doing it. So I picked 6 songs out of the hymn book that related to reverence or gratitude. I gave the hymn number and first person to get there got to put the feather on, which correlated to a specific song to sing. The kids really enjoyed it. They like the competition. (You have to gather all the hymn books first...don't forget.) After someone got to the right page, I had them stand up, say what the song name is and what it means to them. I love hearing the children's testimonies. It was fun and can be used for a lot of different themes. :) Thanks for Heavenly Father for that inspiration! On to next week..... gotta figure it out!

Mad Gab

Last Sunday was so fun. We did the gratitude tree and picked songs from the leaf colors. For Senior, I played a game called Mad Gab. I first had one child come from each class and find a leaf in the room. The leaf had a number which correlated to the song. I wrote silly wording for each song and the kids had to figure it out and then when they did, we sang the song. The child would roll the 'how to sing dice' and they seemed to love it! Man, those kids are smart too. I'll attach the list for those of you who don't want to come up with your own...it was a little tricky. But the kids enjoyed it so much, I think I'll do that again for sure! 

Something learned - I need to know both verses of the song for Senior Primary. I really couldn't remember the second verse of I hope they call me on a mission. How sad is that? It was fine though. I'm pretty laid back and asked the kids to help teach me! We had a great time. But the thing this, as soon as it's over I start getting stressed about what I'm going to do for next week. Anyone feel that way? 

Also, I need some nursery ideas. I know they are easy to please but I've never been given any instruction as to what I teach them, if it's just for fun, do I teach them reverent songs too, how long do i do it for? I brought instruments for the kids to play but they were all too young to really have fun with them. 

One thing that was interesting was we wanted to end on the focus song of the month: Reverence is Love Someone actually did choose that one but it was about 3 minutes before we finished. So the last leaf I made sure was another reverent one as to not lose the spirit moving into sharing time--which was in the chapel. 

First Time

K, so yesterday was a bit crazy and unique because they only had me do Junior Primary so all the women could listen to the Visiting Teaching Conference for R.S. It went okay. I only had about 7 minutes so I ended up only starting to teach Reverence is Love. Got some good feedback that instead of the flip chart, it's better to have the kids more involved so holding each picture up individually. That makes a lot more sense. I just need to print them on harder paper then. Also, I know there are tons and tons of ideas on how to have kids pick the songs... dice, apron with strips, pop sticks, cut outs with numbers. I'm just a little confused on how to prepare for that. So, do I just have like 5 or 6 songs prepared to teach them or do I only do that with songs they already know. And the problem there is I have no idea what they do or don't know. It's easy to do that for the wiggle songs but for opening song, we sang one they didn't know. I guess if any of you out there have advice on that, it would be great! I feel like I have all these expectations to live up to. Yesterday, half of the kids sang, but the other half just stared at me. :) Our pianist said I should give kids something to wear or hold each time they participate. I'll have to think on that. I'm really hoping and praying that creative inspiration will flow to me soon. Maybe it's because I haven't been set apart yet. I need that!!!

Reverence Week 1

This month's theme - Reverence.

Because I'm new to this calling and to the children, I thought a fun gratitude getting to know you game would be appropriate this month. I cut out a bunch of leaves for our Gratitude Tree. I'm going to call up 4 REVERENT helpers to choose a leaf from the basket. It's like the M&M game. According to the color of leaf, they answer a question about themselves. Then they say something they are grateful for. Put it on the tree. We'll then learn the song, Thanks To Thee. (flip book of pictures)

Since I'm not sure how fast time will really go being my first, I planned three songs to sing/learn. My next activity will be the Recipe for Reverence. A helper will tell me what their favorite food is and then we disect the ingredients....what are the ingredients for Reverence. Quickly name a few and then learn the song, Reverence is Love. Talk abou the meaning and the words and why it's love? Teaching through hand actions and gospel picture art. (reminder. need a notebook)

Lastly, if there's time, learning Our Primary Colors. I think the kids will really enjoy this one. If they don't already know it they, will soon :) This is easy. Colored papers and we'll use the Stop, Go and Slow Signs.

Please Please Please if you read this and have a tip or input or a comment, let me know. I love constructive criticism. At first I was gonna have them learn a new song every week but I learned that it doesn't usually work that way. I'm used to adult choirs :) I am really excited for this opportunity to strengthen the testimony and faith of these children. However, I believe they will be the ones strengthening mine.

November Schedule

After my first day, I think I'll be changing a lot of these songs to just doing some really fun ones until we start learning the new ones in January!!!