2014 Primary music

This last week I did an intro video for the songs we will be doing 2014. I still have one more song to figure out for the month of May on the Prophet. I don't want to do one the kids have done before. I am thinking of "I heard the Prophet" by Janice Kapp Perry but am still looking around.  I served popcorn. candy and juice and showed this video my darling hubby put together for  me!! I love these because most of them have the words included. I will be making these for each of the children to take home this Sunday!! Enjoy!



                

Runaway Gingerbread Man

Where has the time gone? Oh my goodness, I can't believe Christmas has come and gone and we are already to the New Year!! I promised two weeks ago to have this posted and the time just got away from me. I'm not very good at this whole blog thing. I get so busy with life and don't get to my posts. I will try and be better. Of course, this would mean that I would have to be very organized and have my singing time planned out at least a week ahead. I find this to be a problem because my ideas come to me randomly while I am lying in bed, complete silence in the middle of the night, and usually only a couple days away from prep time. We will have to see how this works out! I have been checking out other blogs and see that some of these "superwoman choristers" have their singing times planned out for a month in advance. Wow, you are AWESOME!! There is no stinking way I can do that unless of course I copy your exact outline, and though this is something I would have dreamed of having when I was chorister years ago, I love to be creative and try and come up with some things on my own. I feel I have been blessed with a creative side and with life as crazy as it has been raising 5 children, I now only have 3 left at home and may once again be able to connect with this part of my life again. So, please bear with me on this journey and I will do my best to get these things out to you as they come!!

I love the sites and sounds of this season. Living in Arizona without snow, I like to keep my snowmen out from November - March, then it just gets so stinking warm that you can't pretend anymore and you have to pack them away for yet another season. I love Christmas, I love baking goodies and I love Gingerbread Men!!! So, this idea came to mind around 3 AM, while lying in bed for yet another sleepless night. I just decided that if I wasn't going to be able to sleep then I can use this quiet time to come up with ideas for singing time. May as well make good use of the silence! Oh, and by the way, counting sheep doesn't work! Once my mind starts going, its hard to get it to STOP!! So, I thought this one up and tried it with my kids a couple weeks ago!! I must say they LOVED it and it made for a great singing time activity!!

For this one, I just cut out my gingerbread man from the poster board. You have to be careful because you still want to use the outline of your man for the activity. I just told the kids that I made a gingerbread man to use for singing time and he has ran away. So, all you have hanging is your outline and it appears that your gingerbread man has jumped right off the board and ran away!!
I then made little gingerbread men cutouts and on the back of these were my clues. Now, let me tell you how hard it is to come up with clues that include primary songs. I was up until 1AM thinking up my clues and putting this all together. So, you will have your first clue right on the board next to your outline and you just play the part. Act surprised that he is gone and tell the kids it looks like he left a clue so that we can try and find him. I will include the clues that I put together, but you can come up with whatever works for your group. Keep in mind, the clues I used were hidden throughout the building, this may not work for everyone. I would just send a member of the presidency and one child to get the next clue while the rest of us sang the song on the back. Each clue leads to the next and so forth until you find the "runaway gingerbread man" and his hiding spot. I finished off with homemade gingerbread cookies for the kids to enjoy once we found the "runaway." This turned out to be lots of fun for both Jr. and Sr. primary. Give it a try and share your thoughts and please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for stopping by and Happy Singing!!

Clue #1 "Do as I'm Doing and run, run, as fast as you can, clue #2 you'll find in a pan (kitchen)
Clue #2 Christmas bells are ringing and so are my ears. If someone made a hoop here, you'd hear lots of cheers (gym)
Clue #3 I am like a star shining brightly, smiling for the whole world to see, clue #4 hiding in this tree (Christmas Tree by star)
Clue #4 I love to see the Temple shining oh so bright, You can find the next one hanging by a light (light switch)
Clue #5 The wise man built his house upon a rock and the gingerbread hid his clue upon a clock (clock)
Clue #6 I looked out the window and what did I see, popcorn wasn't popping but a clue was there for me (window)
Clue #7 If the Savior Stood beside me, would I say the things I say, you will find this last one, where you go to pay (tithing box)
Clue #8 You will never find me, singing Oh so bold, but its pretty dark in here and really, really cold (refrigerator)

Singing Snowball Fight

Happy Monday! I wanted to share a super FUN activity I did with the kiddo's on Sunday. I do both Jr. and Sr. primary combined and this is one that was enjoyed by all!! Living in the desert does have its advantages, like 73 degrees today:) got ta luv it, however, growing up in the mid west and moving from Utah 5 years ago, I do tend to miss the snow this time of year. It doesn't quite feel like Christmas when you can still walk around in your shorts and flip flops. So, again, while lying awake at 3:00 AM one morning a few weeks ago, I thought I would take advantage of some quiet thinking time and come up with a couple of cute singing time ideas to get us through the INSANELY crazy month of December. I am the room mom in my 10 year old daughters classroom this year and for her holiday party I will be bringing in the snow with a winter wonderland theme. I thought it would be fun if I could incorporate this same kind of theme into a singing time and bring the snow to the kids. What could be better than a good, old fashioned snowball fight!!!

 This is a team activity so you will break your group up into 2 teams. As you can see from the pics, I did a blue team and a red team. You will then make some snowballs out of poster board. On the back of your snowballs you will write the song to be sung and page number for your pianist. You want to be creative here and mix it up a bit. I did some fill in the blank, name that tune, and then you will have a few "wild" cards that are a free throw, or a remove 2 balls or 1 ball. This just mixes it up a bit and makes it more fun! If the team performs well or is able to do what is on the snowball they get to tape it on the opposing teams character.  For a free throw card I hid a few plain snowballs around the room. If someone drew a free throw ball they could search and find one of the hidden balls and they could put the free throw ball and the hidden ball both on the other teams character.

I dressed the part and wore my gloves and scarf for singing time. The kids loved it!!
Did I mention that I love. Love. LOVE, to incorporate a fun snack into my singing time activities? Following our "snowball fight" and all the hard work, I gave each of the kids a vanilla cake pop bon, bon resembling a snowball. I got the recipe off of one of my favorite sites out there, Jamiecooksitup.com. Check it out for fabulous recipe ideas.
Please check in for next weeks activity. I will be doing "Runaway Gingerbread Boy" Thank you for stopping by and Happy Singing!!

Starburst

Ok, I'm a little slow at this whole blog thing. With Christmas right around the corner and life just going on as quickly as it can, I just can't seem to find the time to sit and get this going. However, I do have a couple of ideas to share and I finally had some time this evening to sit and get this figured out.
The first idea I would like to share works great as a motivator on those days when you have to repeatedly go over and over the same song. When you look into the eyes of those sweet little ones and they are looking at you like they have no clue what the words are even when you are on the same verse for the 50th repeat that day.
I thought this one up in bed one night after having a day like the one I described above, when the poor kids were looking back at me in complete desperation, begging me with their eyes, not to repeat the same song for the 10th time that day. I call it STARBURST, and yes, you will find that a lot of my ideas come with a treat and I will call it what it is, pure and simple, BRIBERY!!! It works and the kids most always sing their little hearts out if they know their is a surprise at the end!!
This is a simple thing you can do and it helps keep the kids focused even when singing the same song, over and over. They don't even realize they are repeating because they are so focused on the shooting star and getting it to the destination with a sweet reward in site!!


Its really very simple: To start out you just make a star out of poster board. You will make two slits on the star and weave a long piece of ribbon,(9-10ft depending on how high the ceiling is in the primary room) You will then cover the star and slits with foil. On the tip of the star you will scotch tape a needle so that it is sharp.( No worries, this is a rising star and little ones will not be touching it so the sharp point works out fine on this one.)  I used sticky back Scotch hooks and attached it to the ceiling to pulley the string through in our primary room. As the children sing the star will rise little bits at a time, depending on how well they do. As you place your hook on the ceiling, you will also place a balloon. As the star rises and gets closer and closer to popping the balloon the kids get so excited and will sing their little hearts out! You will let them know there is a surprise waiting for them if they can sing so well that they make the star rise and the balloon burst from their super star singing! Please see pics below and comment if you have any questions. It is getting late and I'm not sure any of this will make any sense. Please check back tomorrow for details on the "Singing Snowball Fight" I did this one today and it was a huge hit! Happy Singing!!

Starburst Surprise

Simple

Soon to come

Ok, I just wanted to share a quick review of some ideas I am putting together. It is great when the ideas come to mind but quite a different story when actually trying to put them together on paper, posterboard, cardboard or whatever is needed for the activity. Listed below are ideas I am currently working on for the next couple of weeks. Please stay posted to see pics in the next couple of days:

1.) Star Burst: This is a cute activity to use to motivate the kids to sing when learning the words to a new song. More info and pics to come

2.) Singing Snowball Fight: More info and pics to come

3.) Runaway Gingerbread Boy: More info and pics to come

So excited about my new calling!!

Yay, I have been called as our ward primary Chorister!! It has been 23 years since I have done this job in the church and I have to say it is one of my very favorite! Things sure have changed after all these years. (Oh my gosh, I feel so old saying that.) I will keep this blog as a reference to ideas and to hopefully connect with others and all of their "awesome" talents in teaching children's music! When asked if I would accept the call to serve as our ward primary chorister I recalled how much I had enjoyed the calling years ago. I then realized how old I am when I failed to think of some of the creative, fun things I had done in the years past. I went onto Pinterest and I can not believe all the ideas on there. There was like one web page to help me when I served (primary page) and that was it. I will use this blog to share ideas and to hopefully connect with others who serve in this AWESOMELY fun calling.
Why the Barefoot Chorister? They say when speaking to a child get down at their level. When I do the music I take off my shoes so the kids feel me getting down to their level and they know we are going to have a good time. I'm not sure about you but it's hard to hop around in "Stelletos" when singing Do as I'm Doing or try reaching your toes during Head, Shoulders, when you add on that extra 5 inches. I love teaching and am so excited for this new adventure! I will try and keep up with the times. Please bear with me as I give this whole blog thing a try! Happy Singing!!