Mama Cakes

I have a cute idea I will be doing tomorrow to celebrate Mothers Day. This may be a bit more prep than others are looking for at this last minute but I have been so busy and my brain has been so overloaded that I was not able to think up an idea until this morning while I was lying in bed being lazy!! It seems that meditation and quiet brain time have become a special occasion these days! Its actually quite scary!! Perhaps we should all take time out and remember this sweet talk by Dieter Utchtdorf Here. I know I need to!!

So, as I lay and contemplated a theme for Mothers Day, my mind kept wanting to turn to FOOD, sugary, sweet, fattening yummy's. I guess you can't really call it food can you? Its basically food for me, but not everyone else:) Maybe if I had actually gotten my behind out of bed and eaten something, OOEY, GOOEY GOODNESS, wouldn't have been the only visions dancing in my head this morning!!! However, I was able to come up with a cute idea while visions of YUMMY's danced around up there!

I will be putting the idea on here and posting pics later today/tonight as I get everything put together. Hopefully we aren't looking at midnight before this is complete!

To begin: Draw a huge recipe card on a white poster board. You can purchase this for .33 at Wal Mart! The following will be written on the card

Recipe: Mama Cakes (things that make a MOM the best in the world)

For the ingrediants you will post a small pic/symbol by each word on the recipe card and these are the symbols that the children will look for to find the ingrediants hidden around the room.

Ingrediants:

1.) LOVE: You will have a child walk around and find the baggie that has the heart symbol. It will have some sugar in it and a strip of paper with the song and a quote: "No love is greater than mom's love."  Song: (Love one another Pg. 136)  You will have someone read the quote and then they sing the song. Once this is complete you will have the child dump the sugar in the bowl and move on to the next ingrediant.

2.) FLOWERS: "A Mother is like a flower, each one beautiful and unique." Song: (I Often go Walking Pg. 202 1st verse) Ingrediant: Flour

3.) Babies: Mama's love their babies!! "I'll Love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." Song: (I Am a child of God pg.2)  Ingrediant: Dash of salt

 4.) Bake Goodies: Mama's bake Yummy stuff. "Happiness is ...baking a cake." Song: (Popcorn Popping Pg. 242.)
Ingrediant: Brown Sugar

5.) Good Examples: "To the world you are a Mother, but to your family you are the World." Song: (Love is spoken here Pg. 190) Ingrediant: Baking Soda

6.) Eternal Queen: "There is no role in life more essential and more eternal than that of Motherhood." Song: (Families can be together Forever Pg. 188) Ingrediant: Egg

When you mix all of these characteristics together you get the end result!! AN AWESOME MOMMY? Mommy Cake, that is:)

I will then pull out a baking sheet filled with these cute little mini cupcakes for the kiddo's. They will each get one for doing so well  and take one to their MOMMIES!!! Happy Singing and HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

Easy, Peasy, Pumpkin Pie!!! (More easy Prep for those CRAZY weeks)

LOL! I love this pic! It's silly, but wouldn't it be nice if our kiddo's sang out like this! I think its every choristers dream to teach the kids to LOVE the music of the gospel and to SING with all of their hearts. I know I LOVE and look forward to the weeks where it feels like the kids are actually feeling the music and enjoying singing the songs.

I have been having the craziest past few weeks. The end of the school year is insane and it seems the teachers are in a HUGE hurry to get everything crammed in for the end of the year. To top it off my darling and only daughter turned 12 on May 2nd and being the social butterfly that she is, decided she wanted a party with 20 of her nearest and dearest friends. Why is it that raising boys seemed so much easier and not quite as SCARY?  I'm not sure I'm ready for this whole girl thing, UGH!!

Needless to say, come Saturday night, I was totally worn out from partying with all these balls of energy and hadn't even begun to prep for singing time on Sunday. I quickly opened my blog and picked a fun and simple idea from my previous post. I then realized the next few weeks are going to be insanely busy and if its that way here then I'm sure there are others out there like myself who just can't find enough hours in the day and before you know it, Saturday night hits and its like,"Whoa, I forgot to do my prep for tomorrow!!!! What should I DO"?

I have a few more short and sweet singing time games and activities just for those exact UT-OH moments that we all have! They take minimal prep and can be put together last minute for those moments that we need them.

Crazy Hat Day

This first one is brought to us courtesy of the Crazy Chorister and can be found on her blog Here
For this one you can bring in multiple crazy hats. If a class sings extra well then the kids get to pick a crazy hat for their teacher to wear through out the rest of singing time. You will have the kids trying extra hard so that their teacher gets to wear a silly hat. Prep, putting some hats in a basket or bag to bring and picking what songs to work on. Simple!!!

Spin a song

For this next one all you need is a spinning chair from the Bishops office and some songs written out on white paper. I have seen this in multiple places so thank you to whoever came up with this short and sweet idea! You will place the songs in a circle and the chair will go in the middle. You can pick a teacher or child to sit in the chair. I would have the pianist play a song while you spin the person in the chair around. When the music stops, the song is picked by where ever the child or teachers foot is pointing. SWEET!!! This one could get a little crazy so you may have to remind the kiddo's that we can only do the fun stuff if they participate and keep it down!!!

Cup/Shell Game

This is the good old hide the ball under the shell/cup game. All you need for this one is 3 shells or cups and a ball or small object to hide. I found one version on this blog Here
To play: You will hide your object under a cup and mix it up. Pick a child to come and try and find the ball. If they get it right then they pick their favorite song to sing, if they are not right then you get to pick a program song to sing. Easy, Peasy!!!

Pictionary

This one may not work for Jr primary but would be so simple for Sr. All you need is chalk, eraser and some strips with song titles in a can. You could split the kids into two teams and they can compete to see who gets the most right. Once they guess what song the person is drawing then they sing it to get the point and play passes to the next team. If a team can't guess it then they other team can try and guess for the point. ETC.

The last one I have for today can be found Here

Hum It!

To play you will need a radio, phone, ipod something that you can play the music with headphones. You will have a child come to the front and put on the head phones. You will push play. The child will then hum the song they are listening to and the other children will listen and try to guess the song he/she is humming. When they get it right then they will sing it and then whoever guessed right is next to wear the headphones.


I hope these are helpful to those in need this week! Our callings should not be over whelming, but a blessing in our lives! Happy Singing Sunday and HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

Old Reliable! (Games for THOSE weeks)

Today I am going to bring to you some of those good "ole" go to games that we can always rely on when we have THOSE kind of weeks. Yep, look at the pic. We all have them and its totally okay! These games can be pulled out last minute at anytime. They are great to have on hand for subs or the presidency in case of an emergency. You know the ones. You wake up in the middle of the night Saturday and look and feel like this:

or GREAT for times like these:

Yay, vacation!! My favorite!!!

 Below is a list of games you can always rely on last minute. I have taken some from off of the internet and tried to compile them in one place for you. I hope this is helpful for anyone needing some last minute ideas. Thanks for taking a peek. Happy Singing to everyone!!!

Hide the Note

1.)The first one I have for you has been around for quite sometime. You all know the one, Hide the Note/Hot and Cold. To play you will print yourself out a copy of a music note. You can easily cut one out of black card stock or construction paper. Whatever is easiest and something you already have on hand. Once you have your note you are ready to play! Choose your song. This is a great one to use for repetition because the kiddo's will sing the same song over and over and have a good time while doing it!

 To start you choose a child to be your seeker. They will step out into the hallway while another child helper comes up front and hides the music note somewhere in the room. Once the note is hidden you will have the seeker step back into the room. The kiddo's will sing quietly until the seeker gets closer to where the note is hidden. They will sing louder the closer the seeker gets to the hidden note until it is found. They will then finish the verse and the seeker will then hide it from the next child that is chosen.

Name that Tune

2.) Number two is another oldie but goodie that has been around for years. It is Name that Tune.  This one is pretty simple to figure out. You will need some songs written out on some slips of paper and a dice so that it can be rolled to determine the amount of notes that the children get. You can break into teams or just play with the whole group. Whatever suits your primary the best.

 To play: A child will roll the dice to determine the amount of notes for the pianist to play. You could use two dice if you feel you need more than 6 notes for play. The Child will then pick a piece of paper out of a basket, or container and you will hand it to your pianist. She/he will play the amount of notes determined by the roll of the dice. The kids have to try and guess which song by the amount of notes that are played. Again, you can do teams or just play as a whole. If they get it right then give them a point, if not, then you get the point and they sing the song anyway:) Play then continues.. You can set an amount of points to try and reach before the end of singing time and give a small reward or not. Whatever you prefer....

Stump the Chorister

3.) Comes to us from this blog Here. It is called Stump the Chorister and it is a very cute idea. For this one you will have a bag or box full of dress up items. A chosen child will come to the front and pick a question about a song you have been working on. If they can answer the question then they get to pick an item out of your dress up bag/box for you to put on. If they can't answer the question then you get to pick an item and they have to put it on. There are different ways this could be played. I would only make them wear the item while we sing the song the question was regarding. If I have to wear the item then I would have to keep it on throughout singing time unless they don't all participate. Then I can remove the item after they sing the song. This would add in a little motivation as well.

Pop the Balloon

4.) Another simple one that the kiddo's love and can do over and over is POP the balloon. For this one you just put your songs to be practiced in some balloons and the kiddo's get to pop the balloon and sing the song inside. You can change this up however you would like. I saw an idea posted stating that you can call this POP QUIZ and just put a line from a specific song and see if they kids can figure out what song it is. Once they guess the song you sing it..

Skittles Challenge

5.) For this one you need a bag of skittles. Simple, Simple, Simple! To play you have a child come to the front. They pick a skittle with their eyes closed. They then eat the skittle and try and determine the color of the skittle they have eaten. If they guess right then they get to choose their favorite song, if they miss then we sing a program song.

Who's Missing

6.) This game is great for repetition. To start you will have your song picked out beforehand. You will then have a child step out into the hallway. While the seeker is in the hallway you will then pick another child to hide behind the piano. Once they are hidden the kiddo's will start singing the song. The seeker will come into the primary room and try and decide who is missing. They can not walk around and look. They have to stand at the front of the room while the song is being sung and try and determine from there. Once the song is over they can guess who is missing? If they are right then they can pick the next seeker, if the hider tricked them then they get to be the next seeker.

Somthing's Different, Sister ________

7.) This next one sounds really cute. I found it on this blog Here. It is called Something's Different, Sister ______! It is a great one for review of your program songs.
To play, you bring a few items to change your appearance but only slightly. Items could be; Earrings, lipstick, a hair clip, shoes, stickers, a jacket, etc. You would then tell the kiddo's to take a good look at you. Notice what your wearing, your hair, try to memorize everything about you. You would then step out into the hallway and change something about your appearance. Once you step back into the room the kiddo's will start singing the song for review while you stand in the front and direct. While singing they have to try and determine what is different about your appearance. At the end of the song they guess what is different. Play continues with the next song. You will always be the one to change our appearance. You wouldn't want another child putting in your earrings or wearing your lipstick:)

8.) These last two I have for you tonight are from previous posts on my site. They are called 4 corners and Swat Team. You can find them by clicking Here. I have a few others under the review games label that would be GREAT for last minute prep. They are listed as Silent Singer, Sparkle, Heads up 7 up, & Around the World. These are just a few. Please feel free to take a peek. There are quite a few there that would work GREAT for those CRAZY weeks that we all know..

I hope this is helpful to anyone having one of those days, weeks, months.... Happy Singing Everyone and Happy WEEKEND!!!

"Are you my Mother?"

Happy Tuesday! I have been trying to come up with a few cute ideas for singing time on Mothers Day. I have to say I haven't made it very far. Thank goodness there are lots of cute ideas out there already in case my brain just doesn't have the space to come up with anything new.  I'm not really sure what my problem is, it could be my ADD/OCD but I have a really hard time reusing the stuff I have already done. The kids have fun and I know they would LoVE for me to play some of these games more than once but something in my head refuses to just play the same games over again. The kids probably don't even know what we did  last year and there are new children in primary so they wouldn't know. What the heck! Does anyone have any guesses as to my diagnosis? Yah, me either....

Anyhow, I have come up with one cute idea that I think the kiddo's would like. It can be used as a review on all the songs up to this point or great for one song that could use some repetition.

To start out you will want to have some cards printed out with baby animals on them. I will use these pics and print them out on cardstock.

You can click, save and print these if you want to use the same ones that I am using. Once your cards are done you are ready to play!


TO PLAY: Pick a song to review or sing. You can either do one song the whole time so the kids can work on the words or do a choosing activity to determine your song.
 Next step will be to have a child come to the front and draw a baby animal card. They show the card to the kiddo's and the child then becomes that baby animal. They will step out into the hallway and you will pick another helper to be the Mommy animal. So, if a pig card was picked then the chosen child becomes the mommy pig. The mommy will remain in her seat. You will then start singing your song. Once the singing starts the baby animal will reenter the primary room and go stand in the front. While the kids are singing the Mommy animal will sing but at the same time she will make a noise of whatever animal it is that she is calling to. So, if its a pig she will sing but every once in awhile she will throw in an "oink" or grunt sound. She will do this throughout the remainder of the song.
When the song is finished the baby animal has to walk over to whoever they think was making the "oink" and ask ARE YOU MY MOTHER? If they are right then they get to pick the next person to be it, if they are not right then the child that tricked them gets to pick the next card and be the next baby animal.

" I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ" Race Review and Repeat!

Well, here we are again! Its  Friday and my wheels are spinning around and around. Sometimes it feels like I'm on some crazy ride and it never stops. My mind has no free time unless I am asleep. No wonder I LOVE bedtime:)
 I will be making my door board and starting "I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ" on Sunday. I have kept my eyes and ears open to how things went with other Choristers last week when they started teaching this to their kiddo's. What I am hearing is that it is fairly easy and that the kids are catching on pretty quickly. I have contemplated this and have come up with another game I will use to help reinforce the words once we have them down. I know 20 mins goes quickly but my presidency usually allows me to go over a bit so I usually need to prepare for a little more time.

I will be playing a race game. Its really simple and can be played a couple of different ways. For those who started this song last week, this game would make for a GREAT review and lots of repetition as well!

I will print and use the same pics that I use to teach the song. You will need 2 copies of each pic because you are making 2 sets of cards. If you want to use the same pics as I am using you can get them Here

Now that you have your cards, LET THE RACES BEGIN! I have come up with a few different games you could do with your cards for review.

1.) You could pick a child to be it. The child that is it hides their eyes while another child spreads the cards out on a table. On go, the kids start singing the song and the child that is it has to try and beat them by putting the cards in the right order before the end of the song. This way, you are getting your repetition in and the children are trying to remember and focus on the words so they can get them in the right order.

2.) You have two children come up to the front and race to see who can get the words in order the fastest. The children are singing the song as the two are racing against the music.

3.) You set a timer. The child has to get the cards in order before the timer runs out! If they beat the timer they get to pick the song we sing, if they don't beat the timer then we sing the song for review.

There are many games and ideas you could use these cards for. What other things can you think of?

 Thank you for stopping by today. I hope this is of some help to others who might be feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. Happy Friday and Happy Singing Everyone!!

Mothers Day Singing Ideas

Good Morning! Well, actually, its noon and that is still morning in my book but I guess Good Afternoon is more like it.  My mind has been spinning in so many different directions.

This pic pretty much says it all!!

I don't know about all of you but the end of the school year is InSAnE and so overwhelming. I am having the hardest time getting my mind to zero in on any one thing at the moment. I get so overwhelmed when I am seeing Fathers Day singing ideas out there! WHHHAATT? Click
 How can you be to June already? I have every activity under the sun going on right now and so silly me, I am still living in April. I am so ahead of myself even starting to think about Mothers Day prep! As a matter of fact, I have finally decided what we are singing and that is about it! I thought for today I will just post some of the cute ideas I have found on the internet so that you can go check those out. I won't be getting mine on here for another week or so. I have to get through some of the brain clutter before I can begin to even think about what to do...

Below you will find some of the ideas that I have found to LOVE and honor our Mothers this Mothers Day!

Mothers Day Matching

1.) This is a very cute idea you use with photos of some of the Mothers and their kiddo's. It is way cute. Check it out Here

Queen for a Day

2.) This next one can be found on the same blog. It is way cute. Check it out Here


I did a few fun activities last year that were a hit as well. You can click Here to take a quick peek of those. The dress up activity was so much fun. You have to have a willing participant for this one. My husband was Wonderful and the kids had so much fun dressing him up!

3.) Here is another one that is short and sweet. I think you could Dr it up a bit and use something like this:

If the kiddo's do a good job singing then they get to throw a bean bag through a heart and tell something they LOVE about their mommy! I don't know if you would need to use the points but you certainly could come up with something to use the point system.

4.) Camille always has cute ideas as well! I LOVE the crying mother idea. Check it out along with some others Here

Mothers Day Mystery Items

5.) Anything with the word Mystery in it sounds EXCITING to me and the children as well. This is a simple but cute idea I found on this site Here

Guess that MOM

This last one I have for you today can be found on the OCD Chorister site. Guess that Dad/Mom. This sounds like a lot of fun and can be used to review the songs the kids have learned up to this point. Check it out Here


I will be spinning my wheels and trying to come up with a few more ideas this week. These are AWESOME ideas that are out there already. I hope this is helpful to anyone out there that might be feeling overwhelmed! Sometimes we just have to slow down and realize we are all different and we all have our own life circumstances. This is not a race and its OK to slow down and work at our own pace!! Thanks for taking a peek. Have an AWESOME rest of your day!

Mothers Day!

Whew, you are all so fast and way ahead of me. I am still in the process of starting this months song and everywhere I look Mother's Day ideas are starting to pop up... I'm not sure I can keep up!!! I have finally organized the songs we will be singing in Sacrament meeting on Mothers Day and we will start prepping for those on the 26th and 3rd. I have chosen to do a version of Dearest Mother, I love you, that I found Here. 

She has added a simple violin or flute part to the song and I like the extra addition so I will be having a child from primary play the flute while we sing.
We will then be finishing off with Army of Helaman 1st verse and the special Mothers Day verse (thank you Rachel Boyle.) You can find this on my blog Here.  I have then asked the youth to be involved. I don't know about all of you but I LOVE to make people cry. Tears spell success in this calling!  The youth will be gathered in the back of the chapel and will be joining in on the chorus so that it rings throughout the whole chapel. I get goosebumps just thinking about it and can't wait to hear it!! I found this idea from a dear sister on facebook, thank you for sharing!

Hoping for this and not....

This

Hehehehe!!! Hopefully we can bring some happy tears to some Happy mamas!

 I have been searching and will be sharing some other cute singing time ideas for Mothers Day in the next couple of days! There are tons of cute ideas out there. I will also be posting a few ideas of my own. I just have to have some more time to get my thoughts together. Thanks to those for stopping by and taking a peek! Happy Singing!