"Seeking Baby Jesus" Singing time Idea

While we just finished up our Sacrament meeting Primary presentation this last week, I was thinking we'd have a little break from performing but I guess we are singing two Christmas songs in Sacrament meeting, and then two at the ward party.  I don't want the kids to feel burned out from always practicing to perform so I thought I'd throw a little twist into our practice time this Sunday. While we will work on the songs for the programs, we will also "Seek Baby Jesus" while we do it.

I'd done the "Lost sheep" missionary singing time a few months back (scroll down for more on that one) and the kids loved it.  Unfortunately it had been a busy day in primary that day so we didn't get to do it very many times.  I thought I could revise that same activity and make it Christmas themed.

Here's the plan:

I have a cute little plush nativity (any nativity will work though).  I showed the kids the baby Jesus (unfortunately he'd gone missing the day before, thanks to my four-year old who loves to play with him-so I had to whip up a new one late Saturday night). :)

I began by telling the story of the wise men who came searching for the Savior.  While everyone knows that they used the star to help guide them, the herald angels also proclaimed his birth. 

I called up three kids to be the wise men.  Just for fun, I'd brought crowns for them to wear (Burger King is really good to give those out for free if you want a few).   The wise men were then instructed to leave the room.  After they left, someone hid the baby Jesus.  When the wise men returned to the room they had to listen to the herald angels (which will be the rest of the kids singing) to find him.

As they got closer to the hidden baby Jesus, the kids sang louder; quieter as they moved further away (same as the hot/cold game).  We repeated the song until the wise men found the Savior.  The nice thing about this is that it's repetitive singing so they were actually polishing the song but they didn't even realize it.  Practice makes perfect! :)