David and Goliath Singing time

On my second week as Chorister, I was trying to come up with a fun way to get the kids ready for our Primary Sacrament program.   To be honest, at the time the thought of the program felt like a Goliath to me as there was so much that needed to be done so I thought I'd run with the whole Goliath idea.

I'd found a 4-ft Goliath in one of the F.H.E. kits I'd made years ago (YEAH!).  I brought him out for the Primary kids and explained that we had a Goliath before us-referring to the Primary program.  I quickly shared the story of David and Goliath and how David had faith and the help of the Lord and he was able to conquer Goliath. I made sure to stress that our Goliath's are not always a bad thing. The primary program is a good Goliath but just a monumental, huge task that would require a lot of work on our part but just like with David, with the help of the Lord we would be successful.

I'd gathered up a bunch of stones from my back yard and numbered them 1-10, each one corresponding to one of the songs we're singing in our program.  I put the stones in a bag and let a child come up and pick a stone.  We then sang that song.

Here's the fun part, depending on how well they sang the song, they got to take a shot at the target on Goliath.  If they sang the song just okay, I let a child come up and try to hit Goliath with a small marshmallowt.  If they sang it really well, they got to use a large jet-puffed marshmallow.  If they did it perfectly, they could use one of the jumbo-sized marshmallows (these are kind of new but they are at a few stores here).

While this activity could have gotten a little rowdy, the kids were really good about keeping a reverent tone.  It definitely engaged them and got them singing. I think we did a pretty good job with conquering Goliath! :)