Stand for the Right

 I made this chart this morning.  Apparently I did it way too early and wasn't fully awake yet since I left the last line off...sheesh!  I figure for the last line "Stand for the Right", I will just have the kids stand up for the action.  That way it will seem like it wasn't an accident that the line is missing off the poster. :)

(I did the words as a word bubble coming from President Monson's mouth)

Our Prophet has some words for you,

And these are the words: "Be True".  "Be True".

At work, at play, In darkness or light

Be True, Be True, and Stand for the Right.

If anyone wants the clip art collage I did, just leave a comment and I will send them your way a.s.a.p.  (One of these days I will figure out how to add PDF files on here).

I love it when songs are short and sweet like this!  Everyone enjoy a much easier month of teaching the new song! :)

Meet "Max" conducting dog

When I was first called as Chorister I browsed the web for fun ideas for Singing time.  I came across a cute idea on Sugardoodle for a Conducting Elephant. I liked the idea a lot but I didn't really want to make an elephant so I kind of put the idea in the back of my mind.

Last week I was trying to come up with a fun way to make the monotony of learning a new song a little more enjoyable for the kids.  That's where Max came into play.  We have a dog named Max who LOVES music.  If I sit down to play the piano, he climbs right under the piano and lays on my feet-literally.  Music sends his tail wagging.  That gave me the idea of making a "Max" conducting dog.  He was pretty simple to make and made such a huge impact on the kids.  We probably sang Choose the Right 5 times today until we had it polished and the kids just kept singing their heart out because Max wagged his tail even harder when they sang their best.  I just had a different child come up and wag his tail each time we sang it. The kids were very cute!

I had debated even pulling Max out for the Sr. Primary because I thought they'd think he was silly.  I decided to give it a try anyway.  Many of the older kids know my dog Max so they thought it was awesome that he'd made his way to Primary to hear them sing. :)  

This is the best singing time I've had in a long time with the Sr. Primary, surprisingly enough. Max will definitely be paying a visit again!

Max was feeling a little shy with all of the kids so he turned around while they sang (this way the kids could see him wagging his tail).  It's kind of hard to tell from the pictures how Max works but the kids just stuck their hand through the hole and into the sock to wag the tail).  Clear as mud?  No?  Sorry.  Hard to explain.  If you have any questions, let me know.

 

Love Letters from Heaven

I probably should have done this post BEFORE now since it's more Valentine themed and Valentine's is TODAY.  I figure February is a month of Love though so this activity could work all month long.  Right? :)

Typically I use sticks (with the names of all the kiddos written on them) to choose my helpers for the day.  Unfortunately my sticks have been out of date since we had all of the new sunbeams come in, and many kids move up to Sr. primary at the first of the year.  

In the meantime I have just been calling on kids, trying to choose kids I hadn't picked before.  It's so hard to keep track of who I've called on and I could tell a few kids weren't super happy about that fact.  It was stressing me out. I finally tracked down a new roll this week and decided to do something fun for the month of February, instead of going back to the sticks.

I bought a big bag of Hershey's kisses and wrote each one of the kid's names on the bottom.  Tried it out this past Sunday and it worked like a charm.  I picked a kiss out each time I needed a helper.   After that child helped me, I gave them their "kiss".  Once their kiss is gone from the jar, they won't get called on again until every child has had their kiss pulled as well.  That way, everyone will get chosen to be my helper this month.  This will make my life so much easier. I threw a couple blank ones in there as well in case we have visitors.

here's a copy of the label I made (if anyone wants to use it).  I had a different one for Sr. but I cannot find it on my computer anywhere.

For our singing time, I'd seen a really cute letters from Heaven idea here .  While I didn't have a big mailbox to use for the activity, I did have a bunch of smaller mailboxes that our family uses to give each other "Love" notes during the month of February.  I put one letter in each mailbox.  I used my "Super Singers" jar to call the kiddos up to pick a letter.  There was a "love" related song in each of the mailboxes with exception to one.  In one of the notes from heaven, it said "sometimes Heavenly Father wants to bless us just because he loves us".  Instead of singing a song for that letter, I gave them each a little conversation candy heart.

label for the Letters from Heaven if anyone wants it.

"Choose the Right" Football Game

I am in a zombified state so I don't know if this whole idea will pan out like it's playing out in my head. Things always seem better in my head than they play out in reality. :)

Anyway, I'd found a cute idea on a blog that used Choose the Right symbols.

Using her idea of holding up the symbols, I made multiple symbols for the key words in the song "Choose the Right". I will pass out a symbol to each one of the kids (I was able to fit 12 symbols on each page).  Every time their word/phrase is said in the song, they will quickly stand and hold up their symbol.  If by chance that gets a little rowdy, I will just have them sit and hold up the symbol instead.  I am hoping this will break up the monotony as we learn the song but also to help them focus on the words that are being learned.

"Choose the Right"

 

"Light"

 

"Heart"

"Wisdom"

Once we've gotten the words down on the song pretty well, I will pull out the football field poster I made (because hey, it's the Super Bowl, and the boys will get a kick out of it).  :) 
I got the football field idea here.

I have a ref shirt that I will have one of the teachers put on.  Each time we sing the song, the ref will move the football up the field, depending on how well the kids sing it.  We will keep singing it until we get a touchdown.  I did two footballs just in case I decide to break the kids into two teams-the "Army of Helaman Harmonics" and "Moroni's Musettes". :)

Choose the Right Match Game

(Click image to enlarge)

 What you need:
-a foam core/poster board- I used foam core board for durability as I plan to use this again.
-4 strips of plastic vinyl
  for pockets
-gospel related clip art
  with numbers on back
-hot glue gun

In a nutshell:
Cut clipart out.  I did 4" squares. Number clipart on the back.  Cut 3" strips of clear vinyl the width of the posterboard (I got this at Walmart in the fabric dept-super cheap.  Hot glue the bottom and sides of vinyl to the poster.  Place the clipart in the vinyl pockets with the numbers face up.

Play this just like the memory game but with each match they find, sing the song that coordinates to that picture.   You could use any clip art out there. I just happened to have these from an F.H.E kit I did ages ago so I made these work.  Here's what I am doing.

 Nephi- Nephi’s Courage (120-121)

Liahona- Follow the Prophet (110-111)

Daniel-  Faith (96)

Earth- I lived in Heaven (4)

Commandments-  Keep the Commandments (146)

Noah- Do as I’m doing (276)

Tree of Life-  Families can be together forever (188)

Joseph- I am a Child of God (2)

We always seem to have a few more minutes in Sr. Primary.  If that's the case, I will have them also tell how that picture represents "Choosing the Right".

Worked like a charm

What a difference a week, and a little static noise, can make. :)  Like I'd posted previously, two weeks ago we had such a difficult time with reverence during our music time.  I knew that it needed to be addressed the next week.

When I got up to start music time the next week, I played a 20 second clip of static noise quite loud (like the static on the tv) and while doing so I recited the words to the new song we were learning, "As a Child of God".  Definitely got the kid's attention.  The kids just stared at me not knowing what was going on.  After the 20 seconds, I explained to them that we'd learned a beautiful new song the previous week with such a powerful message and yet we missed the message and spirit of the song because of our lack of reverence.

I explained that we live in a world where there's so much noise and so many distractions.  It can be difficult to feel the spirit with all the busyness and noise around us.  What a blessing it is that we can come to church each Sunday and feel the spirit through singing the music.  I know for me personally, it is through music that I can be touched by the spirit the most.  That's probably why I love this calling so much.  I have such a strong testimony of the power of music for good.  I want the kids to understand that. We don't just sing these songs to pass time.  We are learning and growing in the gospel as we sing.  The spirit can bear witness of the truthfulness of the message in the songs.

I think the kids got the point. They were fantastic this last week.  It was such a nice change from the previous week and I slept much better that night because of it. :) 

Birthday Organizer

This post is not music time related (I'll get to that tomorrow) but it is related to my mission to be a better person so I thought I'd share it with you all as well.  

With a busy family life, it seems like there are things that slip my mind every now and again (family member's birthdays).   I made this a little while back but I thought I would share it as it's made my life so much easier...and made me a much better sister, aunt, and daughter because I don't forget the birthdays now.  

I have a large family so it's overwhelming to try and keep track of everyone's special dates and to get the cards in the mail BEFORE the birthdays.  Don't have to keep it all in my brain anymore (because that wasn't working).  Now all I need is my birthday organizer to keep me on track.  I bought an 8x8" album and added a section for each of the months.

In the front cover, there's a pouch to keep stamps and envelopes on hand at all times. In the past, far too many cards have become "belated" birthday cards because I just couldn't ever get to the post office for postage--belated no more! :)

I also listed all of the holidays for the year for quick reference.


My game plan to keep me on top of birthdays...Two Sundays a month I sit down and write my cards for the birthday's that month and then I can tuck them into the sleeve on the right until it's time to stick them in the mail.  I put the birthday in the top right corner where the stamp goes so that I know when I need to get them in the mail to have them delivered on time.  Once I'm ready to send them, I put the stamp on top of the date and send it on its way.




So for anyone who seems to miss birthdays like I did, or for those who can't sleep at night and are looking for something worthwhile to fill those late night hours, this may be the perfect project for you as well. :)