Primary Music-Ten More Singing Time Ideas
These ideas are a compilation of several ideas I have collected over the years from several choristers. I hope that by sharing these with you, that you will be able to glean many ideas to help you in your Primary Music calling. Enjoy!
Sing & Spin: Borrow an office chair from the clerks office – the kind that you can spin around in. Place a child in the chair, place pieces of paper on the floor around the perimeter of the chair like the numbers on a clock. Spin the child when the child stops whichever paper the child’s toe is closest too is the song the kids will sing.
Shoot the hoops: This is a fun way to play name that tune. Draw three lines on the floor with chalk or put down three lines with tape. The closest line is worth one note, the second is worth 2 or 3 notes and the furthest away line is worth 3-5 notes. I usually let the kids have 2 or three chances. I place a bucket on a table against the wall or chalkboard. Add up the points and that’s how many notes the kids get to hear to guess the song. For a fun visual – I cut out orange circles and draw basketball lines on the circles. I don’t put the song titles on the balls I just put the number that way I tell the pianist what number to play and the kids can try to guess. This also makes it something I can use over and over again and change the songs.
Nutty singing: Carefully crack walnuts open – put a paper with a song title inside and glue the shell back together. The kids can crack the shell open and discover the song.
Puzzle: Another great last minute singing time – take a picture from a church magazine or picture kit, cut it into strips or puzzle pieces, place the pieces under the kids seats and then let the kids who have a piece take turns bring up their piece and put the puzzle together. The puzzle could also be a monthly theme or a song title that you print out on the computer with some cute graphics or maybe the finished puzzle will tell the kids where to look to find a reward – have fun with this the possibilities are endless.
Envelope: Take a key word from your monthly theme and use a big large brown envelope for each letter. Each envelope will have a song on the back and inside the envelope it will have a picture that fits with the song or other visuals. A child gets to pick an envelope and then help hold the visuals.
Testimony Tammy or Tim: This is a good singing time to do the week before a Fast Sunday or the day of a Fast Sunday. Take a graphic of a boy or girl and print it out so that the head is about the size of a piece of paper. You can use the whole body or it can be just from the shoulders up. Then print out sentences that would be appropriate for a testimony and print them in a speech bubble graphic. Then put the testimony bubbles around the head graphic. The kids can come up and pick a bubble – you can tell why that’s a part of a testimony and have a song that fits that sentence – for instance. I know Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ – The Sacred Grove, I know Thomas S. Monson is the prophet on the earth today – Latter-day Prophets or Follow the Prophet, I know Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer – Beautiful Savior or I’m Trying To Be Like Jesus…etc.
Scripture Chase Singing: Put the scriptures that are listed at the bottom of the songs on slips of paper – have the kids look up the scripture –the first one to find it reads it and then the kids try to figure out what song fits that scripture. This is a lot of fun – but obviously best with older kids.
Word for the Day: You tell the kids that anytime you sing a particular word today they should stand-up. For instance when it’s Valentine’s time the word could be love.
Rocket Songs: On black or dark blue posterboard glue circles of bright construction paper – so that they look like planets label the planets the songs you want to sing or the programs songs. Then take a rocket graphic and print those out and glue them to construction paper to help reinforce them. Then on the back of the rocket write a line from the song – the kids have to figure out what song the line comes from and then make the rocket land on the planet. This is also a good way to monitor your primary’s progress in learning the program songs – when they’ve mastered the song the rocket can land on the planet – when all the planets have been conquered then they’ve learned all the songs.
T.N.T.: President Benson gave a talk about prophets and he said that a living prophet has TNT – today’s news today. So this is a fun singing time after conference. Take an empty Pringles potato chip can and cover it with red paper and write TNT on it, then stick a piece of string through the lid so that it looks like a fuse. On slips of paper put things the prophet has asked us to do then pick a song that goes with that direction. While the kids sing the song have them pass the TNT when the song ends whoever is holding the TNT opens it up and picks the next quote and song.
Sing & Spin: Borrow an office chair from the clerks office – the kind that you can spin around in. Place a child in the chair, place pieces of paper on the floor around the perimeter of the chair like the numbers on a clock. Spin the child when the child stops whichever paper the child’s toe is closest too is the song the kids will sing.
Shoot the hoops: This is a fun way to play name that tune. Draw three lines on the floor with chalk or put down three lines with tape. The closest line is worth one note, the second is worth 2 or 3 notes and the furthest away line is worth 3-5 notes. I usually let the kids have 2 or three chances. I place a bucket on a table against the wall or chalkboard. Add up the points and that’s how many notes the kids get to hear to guess the song. For a fun visual – I cut out orange circles and draw basketball lines on the circles. I don’t put the song titles on the balls I just put the number that way I tell the pianist what number to play and the kids can try to guess. This also makes it something I can use over and over again and change the songs.
Nutty singing: Carefully crack walnuts open – put a paper with a song title inside and glue the shell back together. The kids can crack the shell open and discover the song.
Puzzle: Another great last minute singing time – take a picture from a church magazine or picture kit, cut it into strips or puzzle pieces, place the pieces under the kids seats and then let the kids who have a piece take turns bring up their piece and put the puzzle together. The puzzle could also be a monthly theme or a song title that you print out on the computer with some cute graphics or maybe the finished puzzle will tell the kids where to look to find a reward – have fun with this the possibilities are endless.
Envelope: Take a key word from your monthly theme and use a big large brown envelope for each letter. Each envelope will have a song on the back and inside the envelope it will have a picture that fits with the song or other visuals. A child gets to pick an envelope and then help hold the visuals.
Testimony Tammy or Tim: This is a good singing time to do the week before a Fast Sunday or the day of a Fast Sunday. Take a graphic of a boy or girl and print it out so that the head is about the size of a piece of paper. You can use the whole body or it can be just from the shoulders up. Then print out sentences that would be appropriate for a testimony and print them in a speech bubble graphic. Then put the testimony bubbles around the head graphic. The kids can come up and pick a bubble – you can tell why that’s a part of a testimony and have a song that fits that sentence – for instance. I know Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ – The Sacred Grove, I know Thomas S. Monson is the prophet on the earth today – Latter-day Prophets or Follow the Prophet, I know Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer – Beautiful Savior or I’m Trying To Be Like Jesus…etc.
Scripture Chase Singing: Put the scriptures that are listed at the bottom of the songs on slips of paper – have the kids look up the scripture –the first one to find it reads it and then the kids try to figure out what song fits that scripture. This is a lot of fun – but obviously best with older kids.
Word for the Day: You tell the kids that anytime you sing a particular word today they should stand-up. For instance when it’s Valentine’s time the word could be love.
Rocket Songs: On black or dark blue posterboard glue circles of bright construction paper – so that they look like planets label the planets the songs you want to sing or the programs songs. Then take a rocket graphic and print those out and glue them to construction paper to help reinforce them. Then on the back of the rocket write a line from the song – the kids have to figure out what song the line comes from and then make the rocket land on the planet. This is also a good way to monitor your primary’s progress in learning the program songs – when they’ve mastered the song the rocket can land on the planet – when all the planets have been conquered then they’ve learned all the songs.
T.N.T.: President Benson gave a talk about prophets and he said that a living prophet has TNT – today’s news today. So this is a fun singing time after conference. Take an empty Pringles potato chip can and cover it with red paper and write TNT on it, then stick a piece of string through the lid so that it looks like a fuse. On slips of paper put things the prophet has asked us to do then pick a song that goes with that direction. While the kids sing the song have them pass the TNT when the song ends whoever is holding the TNT opens it up and picks the next quote and song.
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