Choose the Right Way Flipchart

Memory for Review

I guess it's been a while since I've posted. I'm really busy!!!! So, I'm trying to remember what I did...oh yeah okay so I knew the kids already were pretty familiar with Stand for the Right so we did some review by playing tic-tac-toe. I asked the kids a question about the song and if they answer right, they get to do a X or O. I set up 3 rows of little chairs and I didn't do teams because I don't like what the competition does to the kids sometimes. But, it was still fun because some kids didn't want to get the tictactoe. We sang the song silly ways and played hot and cold. here's the questions. I got this all from sugardoodle of course! :)

So, this recent Sunday, I wanted to come up with a fun way for the kids to pick the songs instead of rolling a dice or an apron. I got a great idea to play Memory. I put 12 pictures on the board turned around of course and if they got a match, we sang the song. I couldn't believe how much the kids LOVED this game. They were really into it. It's a great one for review. I put in a question mark and a picture of jesus for freebies.

2 bees - Stand for the Right
2 children - As a Child of God
2 CTR signs - Choose the Right
2 New Song - Choose the Right Way (I started teaching them the new song)
2 Jesus - Favorite song about Jesus
2 Question - Silly Song

I will definitely use this again!!!


1. What are the words the prophet has for you? Be true

2. Tell me one place that the song says you should stand for right? Work, play, darkness, light

3. Tell me another place the song says you should stand for the right? Work, play, darkness, light

4. Who said, "Stand for the right, even if you stand alone"? Pres. Thomas S. Monson

5. Tell me one thing you can do at school to stand for the right.

6. Tell me one thing you can do at home to stand for the right.

7. Your friends at school say bad words, what can you do to stand for the right?

8. There is a new boy in your class who has special needs. Some kids in your class laugh at him. What can you do to stand for the right?

9. There is a really cool movie your friends want to see, but you know it isn't appropriate. What can you do to stand for the right? 

10. You find a wallet in the store while shopping with your mom. What can you do to stand for the right?

11. Your little sister has taken your toy without asking. What can you do to stand for the right?

12. You are listening to a song and hear a bad word. What can you do to stand for the right?

13. Why should you stand for the right?

"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

Choose the Right - The Hymn

Today was simple. Just teaching the words and meaning to the new song we are learning. And, I learned the Junior doesn't know the song at all but the Senior do. So....I'm gonna have to think of some reivew or other songs to teach them, which will be fine. Here's my flipchart for Choose the Right. Oh, but for some reason it's out of order in this format but I think you can figure it out! :) What a great song with a great message. Felt the spirit today while the kids where learning and singing it today. They really are learning how to choose the right. My son, 6, also prayed yesterday to make good choices. It warmed my heart.

"Choose the Right" Lyrics

                  

So since they seem to know the song pretty well, we did Don't Forget the Lyrics or Choose the Right Lyrics. I had a volunteer come up to the front that thought they knew the song pretty well. So I had the primary start singing and then used the stop sign at a certain point and they had to try and continue the song. If they didn't know it they could use 1) A clue - I would turn over one of the flip chart sheets. 2) Help from the Audience or 3) You can choose from 3 phrases (i mixed up the words to see if they would remember the right one) It was quite fun! It's really a good way to see how well your primary knows the song. Next time, i'm going to do this and try it in class form to Really see how well they know it and where we need to work on the song. It was fun! The kids of course, are always great sports. We had some extra time though today because the stake came and I was trying to leave more time for them but things got switched right before so I had to be prepared with more ideas on the spot. I quickly got the cube out and sang a couple songs and then did the Hot/Cold Game. It's always fun and always a good learning experience.

Hullabaloo Cake Walk

So I was inspired the other day sitting at the computer trying to think of a fun activity, as always. And I looked over at our games, and saw the Hullabaloo mats. I had an idea to do a musical cake walk. The kids LOVED it!!! So, this is how it all played out. 


We have still been practicing "As a Child of God" However, the kids in Senior have it down really well already. Go them! 


I first  put up my laminated squares of "Fun Ways to Sing" on the board before it started and then covered it up sliding the board. So they weren't distracted with it before Singing Time. 


Singing Time: For Junior, I called up helpers to hold up each page of the flip chart for the song and we sang it all together first. 


Then we did the game. I put 6 mats on the floor and each had a number on it. (This could easily be done with just construction paper cut out) May not stand up as well with kids standing on it though :) Anyways, so then I had our wonderful pianist start playing the song and the kids walked in a circle until she stopped, when she stopped, I picked a number out of my bag. That number got to go the Fun Ways to Sing board and choose how to sing a verse of the song. Wow, we had plug your nose, stand on the chair, oink like a pig. but the very best one was KIDS ONLY! The Senior primary did awesome! I think I'm not going to sing more often because they really know it! It was an easy but fun day and good way to get the song in their head.

A Child of God - Choose the Right Words.

I taught the primary kids the new song last Sunday, As a Child of God. I got an idea from The Crazy Chorister
However, I adapted it a bit. I didn't want to find a bunch of items and print out pictueres I would never use again. So instead, I used wordstrips. The kids LOVED it. I really played it up with how silly the words were and the kids played right along.  In preparation, I wrote the song on the board and then put the words strips up in the blanks where they needed to Change the word and "Choose the Right" Word. On the other side of the board I had the word strips to the correct lyrics. Here's an example"

I came to MARS with the Power to MAKE COOKIES. Good Choices bless me me and my STUFFED ANIMAL TOO. As a SUPERHERO, I receive special light, the Holy Ghost helps me to know WHEN DINNER IS READY.... You can fill in your own words. but this idea could be used for any new song you are learning. I did realize that the V-Word should never be used in Senior Primary again. Wow, such laughing and talking and yellling out after I said Video Games. (I feel so SILLY and happy because such feelings of peace come from VIDEO GAMES.) X DANGER!!!! :)

I called up a volunteer from the sticks and they got to choose the right word that fit in its place. Kids liked it. And we sang it all through. Something I would different, would do the Fun Ways to Sing dice still because singing it over and over is necessary but having them sit or stand at different words or wiggling or clapping, would've made it more fun. I'm learning :)

Anyways, I'm slowly understanding the ropes and just realizing that the Opening and Closing songs need to be those that they've learned in the last couple years so it's continual review. Luckily or through the spirit, I happened to choose one of those last week. I do enjoy my calling a lot and I love being with these sweet children. I am really trying to learn all the kids names but it's hard but it's a goal of mine so I'll be working on that. If you have any suggesstions, let me know! I always ask when the volunteer just so it gets in my brain but i often forget!

January Schedule

As A Child of God Flipchart

Snowballs and Cookies!

For Junior Primary, I started out with singing a Sugar Cookie Fun to Do song for our opening wiggle time. This definitely set the tone for our activity! We did fun Christmas songs again but they correlated to a cookie cutter! I brought 5 or 6 cutters and the idea was for the kids to come up with their own song that went with the tree or star or heart...etc. However, for Junior, it was a little harder for them to come up with songs that worked with the cutters. So, I let the class help them out. We did this a few times until we started practicing our Focus Song. Picture a Christmas. I put up the words and the kids had to match the picture with the words. They all seemed to enjoy it.

Senior, we had little more fun. Since I knew they all could write, I handed out half sheets of white paper and little pencils at the beginning of primary and had them write their name on it. For singing time, they were all ready to do something with this paper. So, I told them, we haven't been having enough snow and if they could help me out. They crumpled up the paper and threw it infront of me. It was a fun way to pick helpers for the day! Because of the difficulty with Junior and the cookie cutter idea, I decided to let the kids pick their favorite primary song. They rolled the dice for how to sing it and it was really fun! We also did the focus song and it sounded so lovely. I'm beginning to see that having the words helps but then the kids don't watch me either...so I'll have to figure out the balance there!

The Joy of Christmas in Primary

Seriously, I forgot to blog after last week and really I can't recall that much what I did. I know we reviewed Reverence is Love again and I mixed up the pictures and had the kids figure out where they all went. Oh yeah, we did Primary Colors again and did the same thing. We did Hot/Cold game for the first time in Senior and wow, those kids love that game. They really get into it. I can tell though it can get a bit irreverent if not controlled.

So, yesterday was really fun! Of course, because it's Christmas! My favorite time of year because of all the christmas songs and spirit of Christ in the air. I kind of did a combination game of Stockings and Symbols. My first thought was to take things out of the stocking that had to do with Christmas, but I expanded it to have the True Meaning Of Christmas through certain symbols.

Tree - Everlasting Life - Joy to the World
Candy Cane - Shepherd's Staff - There was Starlight on the Hillside
Candle - Light of Christ - Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus - I chose this song to teach this month. However, it's so hard to pick which songs to teach because there are so many great ones with great messages. The Senior primary knew it pretty well and I'm thinking about teaching a different one for them.
Gift - Gifts of the Wisemen and the Gift of the Son of God - He Sent his Son - I had all these items in a gift box and we sang this one last to bring the spirit and emphasize the greatest gift we have is our Savior.

I'm learning through trial and error what songs the kids know and which they don't. But, that's okay. Next week, I really want to teach the Hillside song. I really loved the sound of it. I also looked at the Friend new song but without a piano it was pretty hard to figure out. The Friend also has a whole library of songs in the Friend way back.... i found some good ones too. Too many good songs...not enough time! :) I think that's why it's so important to feel close to the spirit in choosing the songs. I'm learning and making mistakes and learning and changing. It's good. Can't wait for the next couple weeks! They are going to be so fun!

coming up....Christmas Snowballs. :)

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!!!

Starting Out

It seems silly that I'm starting a new blog for my calling but I have found so many great blogs to help me out that I thought I should probably document my own experiences and perhaps help someone else out too. So....I'm the new Primary Chorister! To tell you the truth, I'm getting pretty excited but still nervous. It's Stake Conference this Sunday, so I have another week to fret and another week to prepare. I already figured out what me biggest issue with this calling will be....balance!!! I could spend hours researching games and activities and make elaborate signs and posters and cards and on on an on.... But the one thing I do know is that I have to stay within my limits. I'm a a mom of 3 and also have two stay-at-home jobs. Needless to say, my time is precious and I'm gonna have to be very careful and considerate of it. I will soon post my monthly schedule. Thanks to http://basicprimarymusic.blogspot.com/ I came up with a simliar layout. So cross your fingers for me that my first Sunday goes well! Have a happy day!