Something’s in the air… feels like a hint of autumn, excitement for hearing from our Apostles and PROPHET and of course… rain! It seems like it ALWAYS rains on General Conference weekend! It’s always wonderful to anticipate hearing from our Prophet and Apostles! To help the children get ready to watch General Conference and recognize faces of our leaders, here are a few ideas to implement into your Primary Singing Time J #1 – SUITED for Conference Call up a child who is being reverent to come help lead the next song. As they lead, let them wear a suit coat/shirt and tie and sing in the microphone! This idea is easy peasy - all you really need is a suit and and tie! aaand know how to tie the tie (don't look close at this picture, because I obviously don't know how!) You looked! gah! But seriously, what child doesn't LOVE using the microphone, right?? #2 – “PRIMARY” Tabernacle Choir Call 2-6 children to come to the front of the Primary room. Line them up, give them the sheet music in a folder and let them be examples of singing their best for the song! Girls on the left, boys on the right. Just like the Tabernacle Choir! This could be really neat if you could do Primary Singing time in the Chapel and use the ORGAN!!!!! #3- MATCH THE APOSTLE Play Memory Match with the Apostle’s pictures! When a match is found, read a short fact/info about that apostle and then sing a song! You may want to shorten the matching game by using only 6 Apostle’s pictures. Twelve might be too much matching to find! Fun fact free printable HERE and Apostle Pictures Printable HERE. #4- PRESIDENT NELSON PUZZLE Put together President Nelson’s life puzzle (puzzle from ayearofFHE HERE). Sing a song for each puzzle piece! #5- WATCH AND LISTEN to General Conference “Watch and Listen” idea from iheartprimarymusic HERE #6- Help PICK THE TIE for Conference Our Apostles need help picking a tie to wear for Conference!!!!! Put pictures of the 12 Apostles on the chalkboard. Display paper ties on table or on the chalkboard (to the side). Choose a child to come tac/tape a paper tie under their picture. Each tie represents a song to sing. You could either put a number representing a song or the actual song title on the back of the tie. It would also be fun to put a 'star' on the back of one of ties. If they pick the 'star' they get to sing their favorite song - or the whole Primary does 5 jumping jacks! Sing the song and read a fun fact about that Apostle. Free Apostle fun fact printable HERE, Tie printables HERE and HERE and pictures of Apostles HERE. #7- LATTER-DAY PROPHETS Learn/Sing the song Latter Day Prophets. The current version with Russell M. Nelson can be found at this website: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/2018/05/latter-day-prophets?lang=eng You can put up pictures of all the Latter Day prophets and point to them as you sing. The old pictures are always fun to see. Click HERE for Full Page Prophet Printables and HERE for half sheet size Prophet Printables. Yes, they have their names listed on the BOTTOM!!! (I get mixed up sometimes too!) Ideas for teaching this song can be found on our site listed HERE. #8- GENERAL CONFERENCE WORD SCRAMBLE Write down some words you typically hear during General Conference on separate pieces of paper – mixed up. For example, you’d typically hear the word PRAYER, so write RYAREP. Have the children guess what the real word is and sing a coordinating song. Some examples: PRAYER – song: A Child’s Prayer BOOK OF MORMON – Book of Mormon Stories FAITH – Faith TESTIMONY – The Wise Man and Foolish Man JESUS CHRIST – I Feel My Savior’s Love TEMPLES – I love to See the Temple BAPTISM – When I am Baptized And there’s soooo many more options for scrambled words! #9- 'I SPY' TEMPLE SQUARE Display pictures of things you’d see near Temple Square around the Primary Room. For example, the Temple, the Tabernacle, Conference Center, Moroni, flowers, Statue of Jesus (Christus), missionaries, etc. Each picture represents a song to sing. Choose a child to come pick one and then sing the song. It would be fun to tell the children to “put on their binoculars” (use fingers to shape two circles – like binoculars) and look for all the things you could see on Temple Square! #10- GENERAL CONFERENCE SONG HUNT Before Primary starts, hide song titles around the room in the specific spots located on Clue: Microphone, Chalkboard, Chair, etc. During Singing Time, call up a reverent child. Read Clue #1 (Clue printables included below). Let them look and find the song title (they can get help from the other Primary children if needed), once they found it, then sing that song. CLICK HERE for Clue Printables We hope these fun ideas can help inspire you for your singing time and help your Primary children get ready for General Conference!!! Enjoy your break from singing time for Conference! Leave us a comment if these helped you for Singing Time - we love to hear how yours went! and don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep updated on our new posts! -iheartprimarymusic

Use this simple but effective and fun tic tac toe game for primary music time or family home evening to keep your kids engaged and learning.

Something’s in the air… feels like a hint of autumn, excitement for hearing from our Apostles and PROPHET and of course… rain! It seems like it ALWAYS rains on General Conference weekend! It’s always wonderful to anticipate hearing from our Prophet and Apostles! To help the children get ready to watch General Conference and recognize faces of our leaders, here are a few ideas to implement into your Primary Singing Time J #1 – SUITED for Conference Call up a child who is being reverent to come help lead the next song. As they lead, let them wear a suit coat/shirt and tie and sing in the microphone! This idea is easy peasy - all you really need is a suit and and tie! aaand know how to tie the tie (don't look close at this picture, because I obviously don't know how!) You looked! gah! But seriously, what child doesn't LOVE using the microphone, right?? #2 – “PRIMARY” Tabernacle Choir Call 2-6 children to come to the front of the Primary room. Line them up, give them the sheet music in a folder and let them be examples of singing their best for the song! Girls on the left, boys on the right. Just like the Tabernacle Choir! This could be really neat if you could do Primary Singing time in the Chapel and use the ORGAN!!!!! #3- MATCH THE APOSTLE Play Memory Match with the Apostle’s pictures! When a match is found, read a short fact/info about that apostle and then sing a song! You may want to shorten the matching game by using only 6 Apostle’s pictures. Twelve might be too much matching to find! Fun fact free printable HERE and Apostle Pictures Printable HERE. #4- PRESIDENT NELSON PUZZLE Put together President Nelson’s life puzzle (puzzle from ayearofFHE HERE). Sing a song for each puzzle piece! #5- WATCH AND LISTEN to General Conference “Watch and Listen” idea from iheartprimarymusic HERE #6- Help PICK THE TIE for Conference Our Apostles need help picking a tie to wear for Conference!!!!! Put pictures of the 12 Apostles on the chalkboard. Display paper ties on table or on the chalkboard (to the side). Choose a child to come tac/tape a paper tie under their picture. Each tie represents a song to sing. You could either put a number representing a song or the actual song title on the back of the tie. It would also be fun to put a 'star' on the back of one of ties. If they pick the 'star' they get to sing their favorite song - or the whole Primary does 5 jumping jacks! Sing the song and read a fun fact about that Apostle. Free Apostle fun fact printable HERE, Tie printables HERE and HERE and pictures of Apostles HERE. #7- LATTER-DAY PROPHETS Learn/Sing the song Latter Day Prophets. The current version with Russell M. Nelson can be found at this website: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/2018/05/latter-day-prophets?lang=eng You can put up pictures of all the Latter Day prophets and point to them as you sing. The old pictures are always fun to see. Click HERE for Full Page Prophet Printables and HERE for half sheet size Prophet Printables. Yes, they have their names listed on the BOTTOM!!! (I get mixed up sometimes too!) Ideas for teaching this song can be found on our site listed HERE. #8- GENERAL CONFERENCE WORD SCRAMBLE Write down some words you typically hear during General Conference on separate pieces of paper – mixed up. For example, you’d typically hear the word PRAYER, so write RYAREP. Have the children guess what the real word is and sing a coordinating song. Some examples: PRAYER – song: A Child’s Prayer BOOK OF MORMON – Book of Mormon Stories FAITH – Faith TESTIMONY – The Wise Man and Foolish Man JESUS CHRIST – I Feel My Savior’s Love TEMPLES – I love to See the Temple BAPTISM – When I am Baptized And there’s soooo many more options for scrambled words! #9- 'I SPY' TEMPLE SQUARE Display pictures of things you’d see near Temple Square around the Primary Room. For example, the Temple, the Tabernacle, Conference Center, Moroni, flowers, Statue of Jesus (Christus), missionaries, etc. Each picture represents a song to sing. Choose a child to come pick one and then sing the song. It would be fun to tell the children to “put on their binoculars” (use fingers to shape two circles – like binoculars) and look for all the things you could see on Temple Square! #10- GENERAL CONFERENCE SONG HUNT Before Primary starts, hide song titles around the room in the specific spots located on Clue: Microphone, Chalkboard, Chair, etc. During Singing Time, call up a reverent child. Read Clue #1 (Clue printables included below). Let them look and find the song title (they can get help from the other Primary children if needed), once they found it, then sing that song. CLICK HERE for Clue Printables We hope these fun ideas can help inspire you for your singing time and help your Primary children get ready for General Conference!!! Enjoy your break from singing time for Conference! Leave us a comment if these helped you for Singing Time - we love to hear how yours went! and don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep updated on our new posts! -iheartprimarymusic

For a one of a kind way to "get to know" the current day prophets and apostles, you'll love this We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet Watercolor singing time idea!

I LOVE theming singing time for April General Conference! I feel it not only pumps the kids up for General Conference, but for myself as well! What’s even better is I usually take my singing time lesson plans home and use them with my own kiddos! I found this awesome activity from The Friend May 2018 HERE and […]

Oh, how I love General Conference! To help your Primary children to be a little more excited for the upcoming session of General Conference, you can make the

I love to theme singing time around General Conference the week before spring General Conference (in the fall, we are too busy prepping for our program). General Conference singo is ALWAYS a hit! See details for using it HERE. It also is a great take-home for the kids before General Conference. The Living Prophets Song lesson […]

Something’s in the air… feels like a hint of autumn, excitement for hearing from our Apostles and PROPHET and of course… rain! It seems like it ALWAYS rains on General Conference weekend! It’s always wonderful to anticipate hearing from our Prophet and Apostles! To help the children get ready to watch General Conference and recognize faces of our leaders, here are a few ideas to implement into your Primary Singing Time J #1 – SUITED for Conference Call up a child who is being reverent to come help lead the next song. As they lead, let them wear a suit coat/shirt and tie and sing in the microphone! This idea is easy peasy - all you really need is a suit and and tie! aaand know how to tie the tie (don't look close at this picture, because I obviously don't know how!) You looked! gah! But seriously, what child doesn't LOVE using the microphone, right?? #2 – “PRIMARY” Tabernacle Choir Call 2-6 children to come to the front of the Primary room. Line them up, give them the sheet music in a folder and let them be examples of singing their best for the song! Girls on the left, boys on the right. Just like the Tabernacle Choir! This could be really neat if you could do Primary Singing time in the Chapel and use the ORGAN!!!!! #3- MATCH THE APOSTLE Play Memory Match with the Apostle’s pictures! When a match is found, read a short fact/info about that apostle and then sing a song! You may want to shorten the matching game by using only 6 Apostle’s pictures. Twelve might be too much matching to find! Fun fact free printable HERE and Apostle Pictures Printable HERE. #4- PRESIDENT NELSON PUZZLE Put together President Nelson’s life puzzle (puzzle from ayearofFHE HERE). Sing a song for each puzzle piece! #5- WATCH AND LISTEN to General Conference “Watch and Listen” idea from iheartprimarymusic HERE #6- Help PICK THE TIE for Conference Our Apostles need help picking a tie to wear for Conference!!!!! Put pictures of the 12 Apostles on the chalkboard. Display paper ties on table or on the chalkboard (to the side). Choose a child to come tac/tape a paper tie under their picture. Each tie represents a song to sing. You could either put a number representing a song or the actual song title on the back of the tie. It would also be fun to put a 'star' on the back of one of ties. If they pick the 'star' they get to sing their favorite song - or the whole Primary does 5 jumping jacks! Sing the song and read a fun fact about that Apostle. Free Apostle fun fact printable HERE, Tie printables HERE and HERE and pictures of Apostles HERE. #7- LATTER-DAY PROPHETS Learn/Sing the song Latter Day Prophets. The current version with Russell M. Nelson can be found at this website: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/2018/05/latter-day-prophets?lang=eng You can put up pictures of all the Latter Day prophets and point to them as you sing. The old pictures are always fun to see. Click HERE for Full Page Prophet Printables and HERE for half sheet size Prophet Printables. Yes, they have their names listed on the BOTTOM!!! (I get mixed up sometimes too!) Ideas for teaching this song can be found on our site listed HERE. #8- GENERAL CONFERENCE WORD SCRAMBLE Write down some words you typically hear during General Conference on separate pieces of paper – mixed up. For example, you’d typically hear the word PRAYER, so write RYAREP. Have the children guess what the real word is and sing a coordinating song. Some examples: PRAYER – song: A Child’s Prayer BOOK OF MORMON – Book of Mormon Stories FAITH – Faith TESTIMONY – The Wise Man and Foolish Man JESUS CHRIST – I Feel My Savior’s Love TEMPLES – I love to See the Temple BAPTISM – When I am Baptized And there’s soooo many more options for scrambled words! #9- 'I SPY' TEMPLE SQUARE Display pictures of things you’d see near Temple Square around the Primary Room. For example, the Temple, the Tabernacle, Conference Center, Moroni, flowers, Statue of Jesus (Christus), missionaries, etc. Each picture represents a song to sing. Choose a child to come pick one and then sing the song. It would be fun to tell the children to “put on their binoculars” (use fingers to shape two circles – like binoculars) and look for all the things you could see on Temple Square! #10- GENERAL CONFERENCE SONG HUNT Before Primary starts, hide song titles around the room in the specific spots located on Clue: Microphone, Chalkboard, Chair, etc. During Singing Time, call up a reverent child. Read Clue #1 (Clue printables included below). Let them look and find the song title (they can get help from the other Primary children if needed), once they found it, then sing that song. CLICK HERE for Clue Printables We hope these fun ideas can help inspire you for your singing time and help your Primary children get ready for General Conference!!! Enjoy your break from singing time for Conference! Leave us a comment if these helped you for Singing Time - we love to hear how yours went! and don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep updated on our new posts! -iheartprimarymusic

I Love to See the Temple Hidden picture singing time ideas and printable song helps for LDS Primary Music Leaders. Pixel art inspired coloring page for kids

I LOVE theming singing time for April General Conference! I feel it not only pumps the kids up for General Conference, but for myself as well! What’s even better is I usually take my singing time lesson plans home and use them with my own kiddos! I found this awesome activity from The Friend May 2018 HERE and […]

I had so much fun learning more about our current apostles while putting together this fun General Conference Apostle Trivia primary activity! Use this fun

I LOVE theming singing time for April General Conference! I feel it not only pumps the kids up for General Conference, but for myself as well! What’s even better is I usually take my singing time lesson plans home and use them with my own kiddos! I found this awesome activity from The Friend May 2018 HERE and […]

Susan Fitch clip art illustrations of the current apostles, Susan Fitch illustrations of the current prophet and apostles

I love to theme singing time around General Conference the week before spring General Conference (in the fall, we are too busy prepping for our program). General Conference singo is ALWAYS a hit! See details for using it HERE. It also is a great take-home for the kids before General Conference. The Living Prophets Song lesson […]

I found a fun idea on the LDS Choristers Facebook page and tweaked it a bit for this Sunday. I wish I knew who to thank for the original id...

For those of you not familiar with Conference Squares ... the church makes them for families to print out to use during General Conference....

Tons of Primary Chorister ideas for teaching music to children in Primary. Singing time for junior and senior primary and even nursery. For teaching in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I don’t know what it is, but every once in a while, the Primary kids get a little ….WILD! All the possible reasons run through my head, “Is it a full moon? Is it the last week of school? A holiday coming up??? Murphy’s Law???!??!?” No matter the reason (or no reason at all!), it can be intimidating to stand in front of ALLLLLL the children and gain order!!!! So we thought it would be helpful to share some of the secrets we use to help get the sweet kiddos to calm down, focus, and bring the energy down to a level that can invite the Spirit. If the Spirit is felt, the love of Jesus Christ can be felt through the Primary Song words, and their faith can increase. And that, my friends, is a win! HERE THEY ARE!!!!! (shhhhh) 1 - Go up the microphone and start WHISSSSPERING. The microphone is my best friend when I need to regain order. But whispering into it, makes it hard for the children to hear – so they quiet down to be able to listen. That’s what we want people! 2 - Just going up to the microphone and folding your arms, and say “SHHHHHHH”, “SHHHHHHHHH” (pointer finger to mouth), and then walking around the room by the noisy side of children and flapping your folded arms (hinting for them to fold their arms) and “eyeing” to individual children (in a kindly stern way). Always give them a thumbs up, wink or nod and thank the Primary Children for being reverent. 3 - Start naming/pointing out the children who are being reverent. “Oh! I see ______ is being reverent, and _______ is sitting nicely in their sit, and yep, ___________ is listening etc. Walk around the room with your arms folded and dramatically “squint look” (SEE who's being reverent). 4 - If the children need a good focus back to me as the chorister, I go up to the microphone and say, “If you can hear me, touch your nose. If you can hear me, touch your head. If you can hear me, pull your ears. If you can hear me, fold your arms.” I start with “touch your nose” in a loud (er) voice and end with, “fold your arms” in a quieter voice (like a whisper). I like to switch it up and say, "If you can hear me, show me your: Book of Mormon hands (put hands together like a book) Prayer hands (put hands palm to palm) Steeple hands (touch tips of fingers together to make a steeple) Lamanite hands (like BOM Stories put feathers on back of head with one hand in front of you) Reverence arms (fold arms) You can make up as many as you'd like. The children not paying attention will wonder why others are doing these actions and will follow. 5 - Use Repeating Clapping Patterns. Tell them to repeat your clapping patterns. Mix different amounts of time you clap, rhythms and timing and then have them repeat. You could end with, “Now, get your listening ears on and please fold your arms”. 6 - “I want to you pretend like you’re going to blow a REEEEEALLY big balloon with me. So you’re going to need a big breath. (Breath in deep together – fill your lungs all the way and blow out), do it again. And one more time to make the balloon HUUUUUGE! Good, now fold your arms. Zip your lips." 7 - Keep the piano playing the WHOLE Singing Time! (so there's no time for chatting in between songs). Introduce the next song to sing and softly explain the words/meaning (show song visual on poster or flip chart or even just displaying a picture of Christ). In between singing songs, have the pianist play some music softly. Ask the children what they learn from each song after it is sung. 8 - Hold up a Reverence O Meter. It’s like a Singing Meter – but measures their volume the opposite way! The quieter, the better! 9 - This one I personally don’t use but I saw another chorister use and thought it was cute: “Everyone make a bubble in your mouth (hold breath and puff cheeks out) and don’t pop it until the start of our next song”. As song starts, use pointer finger to “pop” balloon so they can sing. This prevents chatting in between songs. 10 - Play Simon says or Sister/Brother __________ (your last name) says. I like to play the sky says when they are really wiggly or at the beginning of singing time: The sky says: Twirl like a tornado Clap like Thunder Fingers fall like rain Float up on toes like a cloud Sway like the wind 11 - Have a Rainstorm! Turn off lights. Rub palms together Snap fingers Pat legs Tap toes Stomp feet and pat legs and then do this in reverse order. 12 - When I pick a choosing stick (popsicle sticks with each having a Primary kids names on it) I say, "Let me see if this person is being reverent..." And I look all around the room and wait until everyone is quiet. If the child is not being reverent I go stand right in front of them and shuffle the sticks in the choosing-stick-can loudly. 13 - Start singing an Action/Wiggle Song where they mimic your actions. For example, Do as I’m Doing, Book of Mormon Stories, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, If You’re Happy and You’re Know it, etc. At the end of the song, fold your arms so they mimic you and start speaking softly to give directions. 14 - In the microphone, start counting down slowly, “5…4…3…2...1 aaand reverence”. Fold your arms to show the example. 15 - Bring some hand bells, a rain stick, fun leading wand (tap it on the music stand), anything that makes a noise or grabs their attention. Not too big of a noise, but noise. I once said, “I have a challenge for you. Let’s see if we can hear this push pin drop on the floor. Shhhhhhhh. Listen for it. Are you ready???? Here is goes!” It was probably to most quiet they've EVER been! 16 - Before our closing song, I usually end with something like this, “Now everyone stand UP! Jump three times, turn around in a circle. Now reach way up high and take a deep deep breath in. Bring your arms down as you breathe out. And do it one more time.” Do the actions with the kids. Then fold your arms so they are ready for the closing prayer. 17 – Recite a quick reverence poem. Here is an example: (author unknown) I wiggle my fingers. I wiggle my nose. I wiggle my shoulders. I wiggle my nose. No more wiggles are left in me. So I will be still, as still as can be. Or the Butterfly poem CLICK HERE. You can recite this poem in the microphone before the closing prayer, at the very beginning of Singing Time or at any time you’d like them to settle down. 18 – Show a picture of Christ. Say, “Stand up if you know who this is. Clap twice because He is the Christ. Jump three times because He is your Brother. Sit down, He is your Redeemer. Take a deep breath for He is The Life. Fold your arms in reverence, He is your Savior and the way back to our Father in Heaven”. "Now, let's sing a song from our hearts for Heavenly Father and Jesus so they can feel our love for Them". Now, trust me, I’ve had some train wreck Sunday’s. Some Sunday’s just don’t come together for some reason or another. But hopefully you can feel prepared and armed (ha!) and not feel helpless when you can feel the energy in the room going crazy and out the roof! Hopefully one or two of these ideas can help you with restoring and keeping REVERENCE during your Primary Singing Time. Have confidence in yourself! If YOU have confidence in YOU, the children will have confidence in YOU. You can do this!!!!! (*Last side note: If you feel your children are extra irreverent every week, speak with your Primary President and make sure to enlist the Presidency’s help, the teachers, the Bishopric, or even the Stake Primary’s. Make sure ALL are on board with the reverence expectancies and that they model and are examples themselves. Communication is key so that you don’t feel alone. All leaders and teachers in the Primary room should be your advocate for respect and reverence!) -iheartprimarymusic

Use this simple but effective and fun tic tac toe game for primary music time or family home evening to keep your kids engaged and learning.

Free LDS General Conference Printable with updated 2018 Apostles and Prophet and info on the back

April is unique, as there's only 2 songs to pick from. You'll see that a few times this year, but this is the first year to not include 3 songs each month.

Get this free printable and editable Year Overview Singing Time Planner PDF worksheet! It will help you plan 52 weeks teaching music at a glance with holidays!

Try this fun We'll Bring the World His Truth cup stacking singing time idea to give a meaningful representation of the song lyrics for LDS Primary music leaders

General Conference Singing Time Sales, purchase needed items for your Primary during General Conference sales, singing time supplies

Let me set the scene. It’s late Saturday night. You’ve had a busy and packed day full of soccer games, bridal showers, whiney kids, family get-to-gether, making dinner, put (forced) kids to bed. Then you think, “Oh man! I have to plan my singing time lesson for tomorrow!!!” What can I do that really quick and easy???? We’ve all been there. We get it. So, here you go: Pick one. We got your back J (((***KEEP IN MIND, THESE ALSO WORK FOR REVIEWING YOUR PROGRAM SONGS!!!!!))) 1- Target Practice Write the number 1-9 on the chalkboard (or however many songs you’d like to review) like this: 123 456 789 Draw a circle around each number. Like a Target. Now you’re ready! All you need is something for the kids to throw/hit/shoot at the board. The number they hit, is the corresponding song to sing! Ideas to throw/hit/shoot with: Nerf gun, ball, crumbled up piece of paper, bean bag, etc. Whatever you have on hand! This is a Saturday late night idea people!!! 2 – Who’s Missing? All you need for this one is a blanket or sheet! Put the blanket or sheet over a classroom table or over the chalkboard. Ask for a “hider” and a “guesser”. The “guesser” goes out into the hall. The “hider” hides under the classroom table or behind the chalkboard. The “guesser” comes back in the room, music plays, children sing song. The “guesser” tries to figure out Who’s Missing before the end of the song. If they guess before the end of the song, keep singing until the end!!!! 3 – Hot and Cold It’s not a new idea, but we’re talking easy Saturday night ideas here. Hide an object, like a paper note (I use a figurine of Captain Moroni). But this object could be aaaanything. Have a pen? Perfect. A CTR ring borrowed from a child? That works too J Have one child go out of the room, hide the object, have the child come back in as the children sing start singing. Have the children sing loud when the seeker is close to the object. Have them sing quieter as the seeker is farther away. This is a classic and NEVER gets old! 4 – Secret Word Pick a couple words out of the song(s) you’d like to review. Write them on a note card size paper. Send one child out of the room (guesser), show everyone the word from the song. Tell them to NOT sing this word as they sing. Have the guesser come back in and put the word piece of paper on their forehead. Children sing song, skipping that secret word. At the end of the song, have guesser guess the Secret Word. 5 – Voice Changer Have a song you need to sing over and over to practice? Write these different ways to sing on the chalkboard. Choose a child being reverent and let them choose. Change singing voice to that style for the song. -Computer Robot (staccato) -Baby Voice (sweet and lispy) -Underwater (plug nose, or move pointer finger up and down in lips) -Grandma Voice (pinch a small piece of your neck and move away and then back toward your neck really fast) -Opera (self explanatory - use hand actions too! -Feather Voice (whisper) -Bee Voice (Hum) -Chipmunk Voice (sing high, tighten neck and show teeth) -Ninja Movie Voice (move mouth in between words and pauses) -Giant Voice (sing deep and low) -Cowboy Voice (like a country singer) For our ULTIMATE LIST of DIFFERENT WAYS to sing, Click HERE . (There's over 50 ways listed!!!) 6 – Name that Tune All you need for this one is a pair of dice! Nice! (hey, that rhymed!) Let your pianist know what songs you’d like to practice ahead of time. During singing time, let a child come to the front of the Primary room and roll the dice. Whatever number they land on is how many notes the pianist plays. Let them guess the song. Make sure to tell them to raise their hand when they recognize it. Otherwise, you’ll hear them out shouting it out! Then sing the song. Another fun classic that is always a winner singing time! 7 – Teacher Dress Up Items needed: Crazy, fun dress up items (yes, go look in your husband and kids closets, and the Halloween bin!) Think scarves, hats, glasses, gloves, apron Tell the kids you’re going to have a singing competition between classes. Whichever class sings the best for each song, their teacher has to come pick up a dress up item. If there is a tie between classes, have each teacher come up. Sometimes it’s hard to choose, so I have judgement help from the Primary Presidency. 8 – Visual Pick Bring the visuals/poster boards of the songs you’d like to sing. Display the around the room, or in front on the table/podium. Choose a reverent child to come pick which song they’d like to sing. Sing that song. 9 – Memory Match All you need is paper, pen, and tape (or sticky tack) Make a scratch list of the songs you’d like to review. Write each Song title on 2 pieces of paper. Put those on the chalkboard. Let children try to match a match (one pick at a time). When they get a match, sing that song! Let the match finder help lead the song! 10 – Ready, Set, ACTION Write these different ways to ACT on the board (or popsicle sticks, paper, etc ) as you sing the review songs. -Stand on One foot -Close one Eye -Close both eyes (no peeking!) -Face Backwards -Pat Head, Rub Belly -March -Stand on Chair -Ears Forward (bend ears forward with hands, as to hear yourself better) -Clap Or add your own idea! We still have more ideas, is that ok????? Good. Here's some more!!! :) 11 - Silent Singer. Ask one child to go into the hall. Next, choose a child from the Primary that wants to be the "Silent Singer". Have the child in the hall come back in as the children sing a song. The child who is the "Silent Singer" lip sings and the child that was in the hall tries to guess which child is the "Silnet Singer" before the song is over! 12- Switch Seats - Call one child to come up to the front of the Primary room and have them turn around. Point at 2 hildren sitting down to switch seats. Start singing a song and have the child in front turn around and try to guess who switched seats by the end of the song! It's harder than you think! Do you have any other great EASY SATURDAY NIGHT APPROVED Singing time ideas? We’d love to hear! -iheartprimarymusic

Every month, there are 3 suggested songs to teach the Primary children. Discuss with your Primary President, and other chorister(s), which songs you’d like to focus on for each month. I try to pick one that THEY KNOW pretty well and one that they DON’T KNOW from the suggested songs. Teaching 3 new songs from scratch a month would be a lot for them to learn! So for the 3rd song, I will either sing it during a pick-and-choose Sunday, or as one of the opening songs that month. On the first Sunday of the month, I introduce the NEW SONG (the suggested song that they are unfamiliar with). To make Primary Singing Time interesting and fun and also bring the Spirit, I like to introduce the songs in different ways. I think introducing a song can be the most daunting of Sunday’s! I LOVE repeating songs, doing pick-and-choose activities, and incorporating holiday’s (if you follow our Instagram, it’s packed with those ideas!) But introducing a NEW song seems… I don’t know… boring? I don’t want to lose focus with their short attention spans by just telling them the words and then singing it over and over. So we’ve compiled some ideas as a resource on how to first introduce and help the children learn a BRAND NEW song. One they’ve NEVER heard before. ***With any and every new song, make sure you have the right attitude and prayer in your heart about the message the song will bring. Be enthusiastic, saying something like, “Today we are going to be learning a wonderful song”. You can also explain the words, message and story it conveys. Alright, you’ve waited long enough! Here are the ideas!!!!!! 1-Flipchart or Posters. I pretty much ALWAYS use a poster or flipchart for every song. I feel most children are visual learners and this helps Junior and Senior learn the words through pictures and words. Poster (my preference) Flipchart: (this flipchart is from Finch Family games found HERE) 2-Compound Learning. First, have them LISTEN to the song. This can be played on the piano, your phone through the Sacred Music app, CD, cassette, or Youtube video, etc. Second, let them HUM along to the melody. Third, have them SWAY their bodies (or sway scarves/wands) and hum to the music. Fourth, after showing and explaining the poster board/flipchart, SING the words to them (holding up the Poster or Flipchart). Fifth, have THEM SING along. Sixth, have them use shakers, paper plate drum, or clap/snap the rhythm as they sing along. 3-I sing, You Sing. After explaining the meaning of the song and showing the visual, play the music to the song all the way through. Sing the first line of the song with the piano, have the children repeat. Sing the second line of the song, have them repeat. Put the first and second line together and sing together. Continue on for the whole song. Make sure that before Primary you let your pianist know what you’re planning to do. You could also start with learning the chorus of the song. 4-Guess the Visual. Have the flipchart papers up on the board – all scrambled up and out of their correct order. Sing the first line of the song and have them guess which flipchart paper matches the first line. Continue this for each line of the song and put the flipchart in order. For Senior Primary, you could have word strips of each line of the song (out of order). Sing the first line and have them pick our which word strip is the correct one and have the children put the strips in order as you continue singing the rest of the song. For Senior Primary, you could have word strips of each line of the song (out of order). Sing the first line and have them pick our which word strip is the correct one and have the children put the strips in order as you continue singing the rest of the song. 5-Vanishing Flipchart Papers. For this one, call up as many children as papers you have in the flipchart. Each child holding one paper. Sing the song with children, one flipchart paper at a time. After the whole song has been sung, take away 1 paper and have that child stay standing. Sing the song and point to child as they sing that missing flipchart paper. Continue taking away papers and having them sing the song again until they’re all gone! Keep them up to the challenge using reverse psychology saying things like “Oh no! Can we do it now? (Yes!) Ok, here we go!” or “I don’t know, do you think you can remember this one????” 6-Bubblegum Blobs. For this idea, you’ll need a flipchart or poster hung up on the chalkboard. Sing the song with children (with idea number 2 or 3 on our list above). Tell the children you stepped on some sticky bubble gum on your way to church and thought the gum could help with singing time. Use one pink “gum blob” (pink paper or poster board cut into blob shape) to cover up a part of the song at a time. Sing after each blob is added. 7-Fill in the Blank. Write the words to the song on the chalkboard leaving out a word on each line. So intentionally NOT write some of the words to the song but draw a blank _______ so it can be added in. Sing the first line of the song. Have the children listen and see what the blank word is and fill it in. Continue on for each line of the song. This is a great one to get the children really listening! 8-Disappearing Words (eraser pass). Write the words to the song on the chalkboard. Have the children listen to the song as you point to the words. Next, sing the song with the piano. After, have the Primary sing along. Sing it one more time all together and tell the children to try to remember the words because they are going to start to disappear! As they sing the song, have them pass around the eraser. Whoever ends up with it at the end of the song, gets to erase 2-3 words!!! Sing again and pass the eraser! 9-Use Hand-Actions (or sign language). Sing the first line of the song. Ask the children to think of a hand action to be used for the meaning of the words. Sing the second line and again, ask them to think of a hand-action that would represent the words. Continue on for the whole song and combine all the hand-actions. This is another great idea for getting them to really listen to the words! (You could also sing the whole song together and only do sign language for KEY words). 10- Find It’s Home. Have the words to the song on the board - cut into separate word-strips and in the correct song order. Call up a child and give them a picture that matches up to one of the wordstrips. Have them match that picture to the word strip as you sing each line of the song. Have children sing along as they learn. 11-Picture to Lyric Match. (This one is the harder version of #10 "Find It's Home") Have pictures and song lyrics for each line of the song on the board (like a flipchart, but cut the words out separate from the picture so they’re not together). Sing the first line of the song and have the children try to match the picture to the words. Sing the song over and over until they’re all put in the correct place! 12-Listening Detective. Start by explaining we have a new song case. Listen up detectives!!! We need to find out: Who is it about? What do we learn? How many times does it read “He” or “Love”, etc.? You may want to read the scripture reference at the bottom of the song in the Songbook. 13-Visual Object Lesson. Show a quick visual lesson on what the song is about. Just a quick object lesson before you have them listen to the melody. In the Primary Music Instructions it say’s: For example, the song “Faith” (Children’s Songbook, 96–97) mentions a little seed. You could show the children a seed and talk about how we show faith when we plant a seed; this could lead to a discussion about ways we show faith in Jesus Christ, as described in the song. I also did this for “How Firm a Foundation” years ago. This helps them understand the meaning behind the song. Remember, it’s not just about learning the song and words, but learning and feeling the Spirit. AND now 2 last small tips: 14- Have the Pianist play the song as the interlude so that the children can hear the melody and be familiar with the tune. 15- Find the song in A Children’s Songbook Companion and read what’s suggested! This is a great resource for teaching the songs in the Primary Children’s Songbook. I refer to this book often. Find one HERE. It's seriously been a lifesaver on some Sunday's when I need an idea on how to introduce a specific song! and it also includes visuals on some songs! **Remember! This is the children's FIRST time hearing and learning this song! So don’t feel like a failure if they don’t pick it up right away! As you repeat and repeat this song, they will catch on! Also, remember the purpose is to help draw in the Spirit and let them feel the words and the meaning of the song. Good luck with your introducing your new song! Pray and listen the Spirit as you prepare! You can do this! -iheartprimarymusic

I love Nephi's example of following the commandments of the Lord, even when he didn't know how to accomplish the task at hand. We see that example several times from Nephi including going to get

Probably my most favorite category of activities by learning styles, I love bringing in instruments and making the music come to life! Today, I'll be sharing

What gets kids attention and motivates like C O O K I E S?!?!?!?!? Make a poster with 8 ingredients (or however many songs you’d like to review). Each ingredient represents a song to sing. After they sing it (their best!), then a child can come put the ingredient into the bowl. Sniff, sniff. Can you smell them??? At the end of Singing Time, pass out cookies as a handout! Yum! -iheartprimarymusic

Great LDS game to play for your next Family Home Evening

Our church hosts a General Conference twice a year, where you can hear inspiring messages giving hope, direction and strength. ...

Download these free printable LDS word searches including latter day prophets, Book of Mormon books and Articles of Faith. Perfect for General Conference!

LDS.org Primary 2, Lesson 17: The Priesthood Helps Me I thought it could be fun to learn about the different responsibilities of each office of the Priesthood. Here's a fun printable chart to help the kids visualize and all are color coded for easy matching. Have all of these laid out on the floor or the table. Using the pictures from the lesson discuss where and when each of the pictures can be done and which Priesthood can perform each. *On your printer settings make sure that you uncheck the"fit to page" if you keep it check-marked it prints a lot smaller than you need it. I've printed and laminated it for durability it is THE perfect size for kids to move around and learn. We're adding this one to our FHE pile! DOWNLOAD CHART HERE SIZED TO FIT ON STANDARD CHALKBOARD **PRINT ON LEGAL SIZE PAPER- 8.5X14 References: Melchizedek Priesthood The Stake Patriarch Patriarchs and Patriarchal Blessings The Twelve and the Seventy PT 1 Duties of the Elder and High Priest Sealing

Sharing ideas for other primary music choristers for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

Free LDS General Conference Printable with updated 2018 Apostles and Prophet and info on the back

5 Ways to Introduce a New Song. Organized Chaos. Engaging and effective ways to introduce new songs to elementary students.

I was recently called as the Primary Chorister and was asked to take the first 5-10 minutes while kids are filtering in to sing wiggle songs. To make singing time as fun as possible for these kiddos, I came up with a set of fun word strips to mix up the words for my Junior primary's favorite song - I Wiggle (CS#271)!

Ultimate List of Different Ways to Sing for REPEATING a Song!!! The children won’t get bored with all the possible ways to sing any reviewing song! These are also a great way to practice for the Primary Program. You can plug these in with any pick-and-choose singing activity, on a spinner board, write them on a slip of paper and put them in a box, or just write them on the board and let them pick! Trust us, you’ll want to Pin this for later!!!! So without further ado: Nose Plugged Lights Off Eyes Closed One eye closed Plug ears Ears forward (cup hands behind ears) Clap the beat Pat head and rub belly On Knees Acapella Bowing Head Fold Arms Prayer Hands Whisper Turn and sing to a friend Wearing a certain color (those wearing black, green, blue, etc.) Boys Only Girls Only No teachers March in place Pat beat on knees Spin in Circles (short songs only so they don’t get too dizzy!) Child lead the music with you Stand up on a selected word Stand on one foot Face backwards Sway Slow Fast Like the Tabernacle Choir (hold hands in front like holding sheet music, stand up straight) Under water (put pointer finger between lips and move up and down) Bee (hum) Whistle Click tongue Happy Sad Robot Cowboy (like a country singer) Opera Pat Head and Rub Belly Big/long breaths English Accent Stick Tongue out Hold Tongue Yodel Grandma (pinch small amount of skin on neck and pull back and forth) Grandma/grandpa (missing teeth) Mallow Mouth (puffy cheeks) Baby (sweet and lispy) Ventriloquist (don’t move lips) Speaker Phone (cup hands over mouth in a tube shape) Chipmunk (curl upper lip in toward gums) Princess (stand up straight, cup hands together) Ninja Movie (move mouth in between words and pauses) Giant (sing deep and low) Robot (sing staccato with bent elbows) Glue stick-pretend to glue a part of your body and stick it. ex: glue hand to head or your elbows together! Emoji Faces - print out emoji faces, attach them to popsicle sticks, and have children sing while you switch around the emoji's. Have them mimic the face as they sing. What was that? 58 IDEAS??? Have another idea??? Let's add it to the list! from @marym_rogers from Instagram (thank you!): Be a Hula Dancer Plan an Air Guitar And one last thing, some of these actions are more appropriate for certain Primary songs than others. Use your best respect/reverence judgement for certain songs being sung :) -iheartprimarymusic

Ryan Jensen, managing editor of the New Era compiled this PDF. These kinds of details really help my kids relate with the Apostles and Prophets. Thanks Ryan and New Era team!

Find them HERE at Sunbeam Singing. image source

Digital Download for Did You Hear? General Conference Activity Includes: - PDF file with four cards to a page (color and b&w) All digital purchases