Christmas Bells

A month ago, I was in Michael's and I saw this bell set (reg. $24.99).  I had a 40% off coupon so I thought this would be a great thing to have for Primary...and at home-my kids have LOVED them.  I assumed they wouldn't have a very good tone where they were really inexpensive but surprisingly, they were in tune with the piano and sounded pretty good.  

Anyway, last week I introduced the bells to the kids and they were a huge hit.  We did Christmas Bells as the last song so I told them I'd be watching them through singing time to see who was participating. They were going to be the bell ringers. Needless to say, great participation by all. :)  I'm going to pull them out again tomorrow and maybe do this song for the Christmas sacrament program.

"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! :)

The "Holiday Cheer" Experiment

A few days ago I was browsing Pinterest, looking for ideas for Advent calendars to count down the days to Christmas. The only thing is that I wanted there to be a purpose behind the calendar.  I didn't want to just give the kids a piece of candy each day.  I wanted there to be more of a focus on the spirit of Christmas and why we celebrate it.  Then I came across this awesome idea Light Em Up and decided that this was the perfect combination.  Christmas is about the Savior and he spent his whole life serving. That is the best way we can honor him and his birth.

My mother-in-law had commented the other day that everyone these days seem so down and unhappy.  While I hadn't made that observation personally, I tried really hard over the past few days to be more aware of the people around me. While I can't say that I had the same impression (maybe Georgian's are just really happy people), I did make a greater effort to be warm and friendly in my daily interactions.  Life is hard and everyone can use a little boost every now and then.  So anyway, when I saw this "Light Em Up" idea, I thought this was the perfect way to try and spread some holiday cheer in our community.  We talked about it as a family and everyone was excited to put the experiment to the test.
Here's how it works:

I made a fun label to attach to the jar (feel free to use it if you want to join in on the experiment-just right click the image and save it to your own computer. I sized it to about 4.5" x 4.75" but you can resize it to whatever size your jar is)

I printed out the labels from the above referenced website.  It has tons of fun ideas of acts of service you can do.  The nice thing is that they are all simple enough that they are doable.  Our weeknight schedule is pretty crazy so I needed the ideas to be simple.  I think the point of the experiment is not to do grand, elaborate things but simply to do SOMETHING. ANYTHING. After all, sometimes the little things are all it takes to turn someone's day around.

I attached one label to each candy cane in the jar (there are 25). Each morning before the kids head to school we will draw one of the candy canes out and whatever the label says, that will be our act of "service" for the day.  I figure if we pick it in the morning, that will give me ample time to prepare any items beforehand that may go along with the service, and help us to plan how much time we will need to set aside for the service, etc.

Below is just one cute idea of an act of service.  Another fun one was to go through your house and collect as much loose change as you can find.  Then go to the Salvation army ringer and drop it in their bucket.  I also threw a couple blank ones in there so that the kids could choose the act they wanted to do that day. 

 

After we've completed the act of service for the day, the kids will each get to pick a Hershey's kiss from the jar.  I lined the outside with the candy canes and filled the inside of the jar with the kisses.  That way they get a kiss for their act of kindness-both will make them feel good inside. :) 

I am so excited about this project and I think it will be a good way to help the family focus more on others this holiday-something that's hard to do sometimes when you get so caught up in the hustle and bustle.  Anyone care to join us in our "Holiday Cheer" experiment?

A light to all the world

We FINALLY had our primary program today.  HOORAY!!!  I am so happy to have it behind us as it's been months of hard work in preparation (as anyone in this calling can attest). 

I had to share the next few photos just because I thought they were so cute.  Yesterday I got the following card from my 8-year old daughter.

 It reads "Hope everything turns out great...at the program.  When I think of hard work I always end and start with you MOM.  I mean it Mom!  You deserve it to be a good program and you have it"!

And indeed we did have a great program and I am so pleased with all of the kids.  They were wonderful!

 

This is what our front room looked like yesterday with a homemade podium (complete with a lego table, an ottoman, a box, some duct tape, a few blankets, and a microphone-so funny) as my girls rehearsed the program from start to finish.  They wanted to make sure they had their parts polished and songs perfected. :)

 

Moving right along to music time today.  For weeks I've been stressing the importance of the children having conviction in the songs they sing for the program.  We had lots of visitors so it was important that the kids had that conviction so that the message, and the spirit, would be received by all present in the audience.

I started out by turning off the lights in the primary room (the security lights were still on and there were windows so it wasn't completely dark but just enough so that the kids would really get the point I was trying to make.  I got out a glow stick and showed the kids how brightly it shone in the darkness.  I then read the scripture in 3 Nephi 12: 15-16, "behold, do men light a candle  and put it under a bushel?  Nay, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house;  Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven".

I explained to them that we live in a world that can be dark sometimes.  So many people don't have the light of Christ or the gospel in their lives but today they were a light that shone bright to many of those people.  They shared the light of Christ with everyone that was present at the program.

Because each of them had been leaders (or examples of Christ), I was going to let them lead the music during our music time.  I had purchased enough glow sticks for everyone in the primary (they came in a pack of 15 from Target Dollar spot).  I had each class come up one at a time and had each of the kids in that class pick a glow stick. As a class they selected a song to lead us in singing.  I thought for sure that we'd be singing all of the fun songs but instead they mostly wanted to sing the songs we'd done in the program.  Then again, we've pretty much been working exclusively on the program songs for months so they probably don't remember any of the others anymore. :) 

Prior to giving the kids the glow sticks, we'd set a few ground rules to ensure this activity remained reverent (i.e. the glow sticks were not weapons and were only to be used in leading the music). The kids were so well behaved and engaged.

Many of them tried really hard to replicate the pattern I did for leading so I'm thinking I will spend some time another day teaching them how to lead correctly, as there seems to be some interest with this.  But for now, I don't want to think about anything other then heading off to bed for a good night sleep.  What a day-a great one, but definitely tiring!

The Past is the Past Quote

I love Subway art.  I'd seen this quote and thought it would be fun to display in my home so I whipped this together in my favorite colors.  You are welcome to use it (right click and save to your own computer). I blew it up to 11x14 for myself.

"Mormon Idol" music time idea

I am pretty certain that our ward is the only ward in the world that has yet to have the primary program for the year but we are so close-WAHOO!  Today was our final music time before running through the program in its entirety next week.  

Today I wanted the kids to take ownership of the music and to recognize the power that they have to really touch the congregation with their message through.  I also wanted them to get some positive feedback and constructive criticism-from someone other than me- on what we could do to polish our music.  I decided to do "Mormon Idol" for our music time.  

This ended up being super easy to pull off.  As far as prep work, I just made a big sign with the "Mormon Idol" logo and then made 3 scoreboards for the judges.  For the scoreboards, I had intended to just do the "Mormon Idol" score sheet under 8x10" frames and then the judges could write directly onto the glass-erases quite easily and is sturdy.  Turns out I didn't have a single 8x10" frame in my house so I just put the scorecards in sheet protectors instead backed by a couple layers of card stock to firm them up.  They were easy enough to write on and erase.  

I had three adults (that I'd made arrangements with earlier) come in to be the judges. The judges all sat up front.  I introduced each of them to the kids and then explained that each judge had a different purpose.  

(1)The first judge was going to score them on how they sounded: volume, how well they could understand the words, etc.  

(2)The second judge scored them on how they looked-was everyone participating, were all eyes up front, did they look cheerful, did they watch me when they stood and were seated, etc.  

(3)The final judge based her score solely on how the music made her feel.  I thought this was important as we've been talking so much about having conviction in our music.  I wanted them to see that the message of the music, and the way that they present it, had am impact on others.   

I love it when we get some fresh faces in there because the kids really try to "wow" them and they did a fantastic job.  It was great to have the feedback from the judges and some suggestions on what we could do improve on any areas.  Overall, a great success!  I feel like we are FINALLY ready for our primary presentation. :)  I can't wait to put both Junior and Senior Primary together over the next two weeks and see how it goes.  Wish us luck!

 

Although my 12-year old son said that my logo looked nothing like the American Idol logo, you are welcome to use it.  It's the best I could do with the fonts I had available to me.   Just right click on the image and you can save it onto your computer.

"Tricky or Treat" music time

For our music time this Sunday I am doing a "Tricky or Treat" theme. :)  I was trying to come up with an fun idea to work on the problem spots in some of the songs we are doing for our program. 

I decided to make a bunch of little cards that say "Tricky" and some that say "Treat".  I will put all of these cards into a pumpkin basket, or witch hat or something like that.  I will have a reverent child come up and pull one of the cards out.  On the back of each "Tricky" card will be listed the song (or part of the song) that we are having a "tricky" time mastering.  We will review the part of that song.  The kids love to be able to participate up front so I think while we are singing, I will also have a child up by me holding up the little ghosts I made which say "A little bit Spooky" or "BOOtiful singing" depending on how we are doing (just for fun).

Once we've mastered the area, we will move on and another child will come up to pick a card. I think the kids will work hard at mastering the "Tricky" cards so that they can then have a chance to choose a "Treat" card.  For every "Treat" card that is drawn, I will give the kids a candycorn after primary.

NOTE: There are a lot more of the "Tricky" cards in the mix than the "treat" cards.  I do want the focus to be on fixing our little problem areas BUT I know that I will need to break up the monotony and I think this will do the trick-at this stage of the game, I am not above bribery to get these songs polished for the program. :)

(Here are the cards I made. If you'd like to copy them, just right click on the images below and you can save them to your computer).  Four cards will fit on an 8 1/2" x11" page.

 

some of our tricky spots...

" work on the 2nd ending of "If I listen with my heart"

"Practice watching the director to stand/sit"

 "work on wording on the 3rd verse of "Praise to the Man"

My Ghost Signs- I printed these out on cardstock and I plan on laminating them to make them extra durable.  You can save these to your computer as well by right clicking on them.  I sized these to be about 6" tall each.