"Chews" the Right

"Chews" the Right

While browsing the many chorister blogs one day, I saw the headband game where the kids have to guess the word on their headband when we come to that part of the song....well I did a variation of that and the kids loved it! So this is how it went. I chose a child to come up to the front and put a word strip on their back so they couldn't see it. When we came to that word in the song, I put it up my STOP sign and all the kids had to stop singing and the kid had to say the next word. If they got it right, I had to put a piece of gum in my mouth. If they got it wrong, I didn't have to chew one. And so it continued until my jaw was broken from all the right words and I started getting a headache from all the sweetness! :) The kids though were extremely involved and lauhed as I could barely speak the words or sing for that matter. It was a great way to teach them the harder words in the song and remind them of the right phrases! This could be done with any song really. :) Enjoy!

Songs of the Heart Variety and a KISS

Happy Valentine's Day! I LOVE incorporating holidays into singing time. It really allows for extra creativity and fun activities. This week I chose a variety of songs in the Primary Songbook that had the word LOVE in it. Then I cut out hearts and put numbers 1-9 on them which each corresponded to one of the songs.
I also cut out and laminated 5 other large hearts and secretly hid them under random chairs. I also bought a giant hershey kiss at the dollar store. So, how did it all fall into place? Well....

I first talked about how we choose the right when we show love to others. I then did the HOT POTATO game with the giant hershey kiss. We started passing it around and whoever it landed on got to come up and two things 1) Choose a Heart on the board that matched the song and 2) Try to unwrap the hershey kiss with a pair of gloves (I only did this one with Senior) The kids loved it and all wanted a chance to try of course...esp. bc they got to eat the kiss after.

But before we started singing I told them to see if they had a Heart under their chair. If so, hold it up when you hear the word LOVE. After the song, I asked them to pass the heart to someone you love! It's always better to give love away! They seemed to really stay engaged and interested. We had a blast celebrating love and kisses! Hope you all had fun too! xoxo! I had boxes filled with kisses that I gave out at the door! If i really wanted it to be perfect I would have them individually wrapped with a cute quote attached but really....who has time for that. I didn't that week. :) I think in the end, they really only care about the chocolate anyways. right?

CTR Wands and Waving

I took a blogger's advice and printed out the CTR signs and attached them to popsicle sticks for the kids to use. The kids LOVED having something to hold. And I learned quickly that the more involved they are, the better they sing and pay attention. In particular for junior, I had a coupld kids that are usually staring off into space who were engaged and singing! I loved it! On a side note, I always wonder if anything I'm teaching is getting into their heads. So, the other night, I was tucking my little sunbeam into bed and he started singing choose the right. It warmed my heart and I knew all the work, effort, pictures, practice and fun is worth it!

So anyways, I had the kids hold up their signs every time they heard the word RIGHT in the song. The loved it and after a couple times of review, it was time to get the tune and rythm ingrained in their little heads! I chose a volunteer to choose how they wanted to direct their choir (In a Rainbow, Triangle or Circle) It was a great way to get the kids to still be involved with thier CTR sticks and learn the beat of the song.

In Senior, I heard they knew the song really well so I wanted to see how well they knew it. Surprise they actually mixed up a bunch of words in the chorus. I took some time to review the words and the main time went to teaching them the second verse of the song. We sang it silly ways and they got to choose what word we held their sticks up on. I taught the second verse with props (watch, book of mormon, knee pads) to help them remember the key words. I think that was it. To be honest, I can't remember it all. it all gets a little fuzzy. :)

February