The night Christ was born is an incredible special story. So special, it's written in SCRIPTURE. He is special!!! So for this Singing Time, we wanted to do something a little more ...special :) Read a scripture that tells a part of the "Night in Bethlehem" when Jesus was born, then build a Nativity with a piece from that scripture. Keep the music going the whole time! Even in between songs and reading the scriptures, have the piano play softly. Tell the children that we are going to tell the special story of Jesus's birth through scriptures and songs. Read these scriptures in order before singing the corresponding song (before each reading, tell the children to listen closely): Read Luke 2:9-10. "What piece of the Nativity did it talk about?" Have the children raise their hand, call on that child to add that piece under the stable (ANGEL). - Sing, Once Within a Lowly Stable. Read Helaman 14:5. "What piece of the Nativity did it talk about?" Have the children raise their hand, call on that child to add that piece under the stable. (STAR) - Sing, There was Starlight on the Hillside. Read Luke 2:4-5. "What piece of the Nativity did it talk about?" Have the children raise their hand, call on that child to add that piece under the stable. (MARY AND JOSEPH) - Sing, When Joseph Went to Bethlehem. Read Luke 2:8. "What piece of the Nativity did it talk about?" Have the children raise their hand, call on that child to add that piece under the stable. (SHEPARDS or SHEEP) - Sing, a Shepherd's Carol. Read Luke 2:7. "What piece of the Nativity did it talk about?" Have the children raise their hand, call on that child to add that piece under the stable. (MANGER) - Sing, Away in a Manger. Read Luke 2:11-14. "What piece of the Nativity did it talk about?" Have the children raise their hand, call on that child to add that piece under the stable. (JESUS) - Sing, Sleep Little Jesus. For a Google Doc of this printable cards click HERE :) End by singing the song, He Sent His Son and bear your testimony of Christ as our Savior. We hope by the end, they can feel the specialness of the birth of Jesus Christ. There's nothing like music to pierce your heart and let the Spirit teach. For a paper print out of the Nativity from lds org, click HERE. Another great free printable HERE from Making Life Blissful. Or you could bring your own to assemble. I prefer to bring my own :) Merry Christmas!!! -iheartprimarymusic

More than 100 Christmas Singing Time ideas with ideas for any song and list of activities by song title! Resource for LDS Primary Music Leaders or teachers.

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.

We need to sing a song over and over to memorize the words and think about the message. Here is a list of different ways to practice a song over and over that will make it fun and keep the kids' attention. 1. Alligator mouth to control the volume- when his mouth is open wide, you sing loud. When it's open a little bit, you sing quiet. 2. Eddie Spaghetti - Pull a piece of yarn up through the hole. Colors can mean different things, like boys/girls sing, or hum/sing. (2 things I've learned about this: first- make a two or three-foot loop of yarn and just use that to pull through instead of actually pulling through all that yarn in the bowl - it gets tangled. second- use a dark color and a light color because color blind boys can't see a difference in this red and green yarn.) The bowl is made from an overhead transparency taped onto the posterboard. 3. Speedometer- this one works best if the chorister controls the speed of the song; otherwise the kids will change it too frequently. I cut a half-circle out of a piece of cardboard and covered the whole thing with contact paper on the front and back to make the clear window. The needle is attached with a nut with a bolt on the other side so it moves easily. Kind of like using a brad but heavy-duty. 4. Thermometer- you can use this to have kids sit/stand, sing louder/softer, or it can measure how well they're singing. Make a ribbon loop using one red piece and one white piece. Cut a slit in the top of the poster and one in the bottom and thread the ribbon through, then glue the ends of the loop together and pull it up or down. 5. Happy/sad balls - kids sing happy or sad, depending on which ball you hold up. (I also cut the mouths open with a steak knife and sometimes I put papers inside and the kids can pull out a paper to see how/what we're going to sing.) 6. Conducting elephant - this one helps the kids learn to follow the conductor. Sometimes our stubborn elephant visitor will stop conducting in the middle of the song and the kids have to stop singing until he moves his trunk again. Or he will hold out a note really long and they have to keep singing it til he cuts them off. They think it is hilarious. 7. Bishop Bubblegum: Draw a picture of your bishop (or just draw a plain boy and call him something like "Billy Bubblegum"). Stand behind the poster and blow a pink balloon through the hole when they are singing well. Let air out if they aren't singing well. Their favorite part is at the end of the song when you let go of the balloon and the "gum" flies out of the Bishop's mouth and sails around the room! 8. Everyone conducts 9. No pianist/ No chorister 10. Whisper sing 11. Teachers only/Kids only 12. Girls/boys only 13. Stop sign- make an octagon on red paper and one on green. Glue them to a paint stick. When you hold up the green side, the kids sing. When you turn it around, the kids hum the words. The piano just keeps playing like normal the whole time. This helps them to keep thinking of the words because when you turn back to green, they have to start singing the words that the piano is playing. This one never gets old. 14. Flamingo Style (On one foot) 15. Sing as far as you can in one breath 16. Make a funny face while you sing 17. Opera style 18. Cowboy accent 19. Drill sergeant style (march and say the words grumpy) 20. One class sings while the other claps the rhythm, and the other hums 21. Everyone clap or step to the beat or rhythm 22. Popcorn style (staccato) this one is everybody's favorite! 23. Ice Cream style (Sit/stand on queue)- Hold an ice cream scoop in each hand. The kids are ice cream. Their chairs are the cones. You scoop them up [stand] and smash them down onto the cones [sit]. They love this! (And it's good practice for standing together for the Primary program.) 24. Get a microphone with a long cord and plug it into the wall. Then have kids sing parts of the song solo into it. 25. Have one kid go out in the hall while the other hides a small object. When the first kid comes back in, sing louder as they get closer to finding it and sing quieter as they get farther away. 26. People wearing this color sing (it can be fun to hold up a banana for yellow, etc.) 27. Eyes closed 28. Magic word- I pick one word and they do an action every time we sing it (stand; move down a chair, jump). They especially love when I put an extra chair at the end of each row and have them move down one each time we sing it (left the first time, right the next, etc.). 29. Super singer spray: fill a squirt bottle with a sweet drink that doesn't stain and shoot it into the mouths of the kids who are singing loud. Be sure the squirt bottle is set to stream and not mist, or it will go all over their faces. They will sing louder than you ever thought they could! 30. Blindfold a teacher and have them pin the [whatever] on the [whatever] (the kids sing loud/soft for how close the teacher is to pinning it). 31. Have each class sing one line of the song. The class who sings the best has its teacher come up and wear a crazy hat while we all sing the whole song together. I have a turkey hat and a green curly wig that I use for this. 32. Bring a roll of TP. Pick two teachers. Teacher A walks around teacher B wrapping her in TP while the kids sing. She runs around her faster if they are singing good; walks slow if they're singing bad. 33. Cut a brother’s tie: invite a member of the bishopric in or some other funny brother in the ward. Give him a thrift store tie to be wearing when he comes in. The kids sing their song and you cut off a big chunk of his tie if they sing well or a small chunk if they don't sing as well. Have him tell the kids, "No! don’t sing well!" 34. Musical chairs: walk (to beat/rhythm) while singing. When piano stops, sit in the nearest chair. 35. Record them singing it and play it back for them 36. Race the piano 37. Each class is assigned a secret word (I, and, etc.). That class has to do some silly action (quack, jump) each time we sing their word. We sing the whole song and then we all guess what each class had. We have to keep singing it until they have figured out what each class had (this works for Senior but not for Junior). After singing lots of different ways, have kids vote on their favorite way and which way fits the song best.

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)!

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

how to teach the primary song The Nativity Song in singing time, The Nativity Song singing time lesson plan ideas using nativity images

Christmas Singing Time Idea for Children

This article is republished on my new PRIMARY blog -- PrimarySinging.com! Head over there to see loads of resources and printables for Primary music leaders! Today, it's all about the tips and tricks for singing

I mentioned in this post a wheel that I created for teaching singing in Primary. I thought it would be fun to make it a freebie you can dow...

You’ve taught them the new song for the month…. now you need to REPEAT aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand REPEAT it!!! Children (and adults) learn best with repetition so we thought we’d compile a list of ways to repeat a song without the children hearing, “One more time” and “Play it again” or “From the top”. The best kind of Singing Time when repeating and reviewing a new Primary Song is the one where the kids don’t realize they’re singing the same song over and over again! This is also great for them the repeat the words again and again, learn and melody, and feel/understand the message of the song. So you wanna know the ways to do this for your Primary? We came come up with this list as a resource for you to draw from!!! Alright, here is the list, “from the top” : 1-Play Hot Potato. Pass an object around the Primary room as they sing the song to review. The child that ends up with the object gets to say something they love about Primary. Hot Potato Option 2 – Have the Piano play and children sing and pass the “hot potato”. Arrange for the pianist to stop suddenly during the song at different times. The child who has the potato when the music stops says the next word or line to the song (they can get help from the Primary, if needed). 2-Voice Changer. Let the children pick a different voice to sing the song. For example, have them change their voice to sound like: -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) These voices can be chosen from paper strips on the chalkboard, punch out board, rolling a dice (each number represents a way to sing), spinner wheel, or any of our holiday/seasonal pick-and-choose activity. For our Ultimate list of Different Ways to Sing (over 50 ideas) CLICK HERE. 3-Singing Meters. Most kids love a challenge. They like to see how well they’re doing, so Singing Meters are perfect for that. Singing Meters can control their speed, volume, and overall how well they all are singing. A helium balloon as a meter or Eddie Spaghetti, Billy Bubblegum are great for this. Also our Racecar Singing Meter. 4-Stop/Go, ooooo ahhh, boys sing/girls sing Signs. Hold up a sign that tells the children who or how to sing. Switch them during the song so they have to pay attention. 5-Different Lead Sticks. Bring a variety of leading wands/sticks and display them on the table. Choose a child to pick one and lead the song. Tell the children you will be watching to see who is singing their best, and you will pick another child to pick a wand and lead. 6-Hot N Cold. Choose 2 children. One is the hider and the other is the seeker. Have the seeker go into the hall. Have the seeker hide a small object in the Primary room. Call the seeker back into the room and have the children start singing the song. The closer the seeker is to the object the LOUDER the children should sing. The farther away from the object, the QUIETER. If they find the object before the song is over, KEEP SINGING! My Primary children never get sick of this activity! 7-Silent Singer. One child goes out in the hall. Another child is chosen to be the “Silent Singer” meaning that child “lip sings” the song. Have the child in the hall come back in and all children sing – except for the silent singer who is lip singing. See if the child that was in the hall can guess who the “Silent Singer” is. Finish singing the song even if they guess before it’s over! 8-Rubberband Primary Band. Have some recycled instruments displayed on the table. Pick a child for each instrument. Sing that song as those children with their instrument keep the beat. At the end of the song, have them pass their instrument onto another child. Sing the song until each child has had a turn. Some examples of instruments are, oatmeal tube as a drum, egg carton and stick as a Guiro, 2 paper plates as cymbals, comb (scratch fingers across), spoons back to back (hit knee and hand), tap 2 wood spoon together on the stick part, large and wide rubber band around an open box or Tupperware bowl, etc. You could also use bells, shakers, etc. and to finish the song, have a special helper be the finishing cymbal and clap two chalkboard erasers together!!! 9-Hat Review. Display different hats on the table. Sing the song and whichever class sung the best gets to pick a hat from the table and have their teacher wear it! You could also have different categories such as: The class who is sitting up the straightest and folding arms. The class that is smiling the most. The class that is the loudest. The class that is singing the most enthusiastically. Which class know the song the best without the visual? The class that is overall the best in all categories. 10-Missing Mystery. Send a child in the hall. Pick another child to be the “missing mystery” – meaning they hide behind the chalkboard (or piano) for the song. Call the child back out from the hall and have the children start sing the song. See if the child from the hall can guess who’s missing before the song’s end. If they guess who it is, too soon, keep singing until the end of the song! 11-Headbands. Choose some words that are sung in the song and write them on an index card size paper. Call up a child who is up for a challenge. Put a headband (like a basketball sweatband) around their forehead. Clip the index card with the written word to the band. The child should not be able to see the word. Have the Primary children start singing the song. When the word on the card is to be sung, have them skip over it (don’t sing that word). Have the child with the headband try to guess what word is on their forehead. If they don’t guess it the first time, sing the song again and this time have the children sing that word LOUD and obvious, make sure they sing all the way to the end of the song. 12-Musical Measles. All you need for this one is some small round dot stickers. Be careful the measles are contagious! Original post HERE. 13-Guess the Leader. Have one of the members of the Primary Presidency go out in the hall with a child (or by themselves, depending on the child). Choose another child from the Primary to be the “leader”. The “leader’s” job is the have the other Primary children follow their actions during the song. Have the child in the hall come back in and all start singing. The leader starts doing different actions such as clapping, rolling arms, pat head – all the children follow. Have the child who was in the hall try to guess who the “leader” is before the end of the song. 14-Class action. Each class is assigned a secret word (such as the, am, I, etc.) from the song. As a class, they decide on an action to do or sound to make when this secret word is sung in the song. Examples of actions are, jump up off their chair, clap, dab, meow like a cat, etc. Sing the song until all secret words are figured out for each class. Option 2 – Pick some different words that get repeated a few times in the song such as “I or to”. Tell the children NOT to sing that word but to replace it with an action or sound (examples are above). You can replace a different word every time, or have them build on each other each time to make it a fun challenge! 15-Mindful Singing. First, start by having the kids rub their temples on the head to get their “minds ready.” Next, have the children sing the song - to refresh their minds. Then, have the pianist play the song and tell the children to sing the song in their head (mind). Have the pianist stop suddenly and see if the children can say what the next word or line of the song. Have them raise their hand if they think they know it. Sing the song out loud again all together, then play mindful singing. Make sure to give your pianist a heads up on this singing activity before it starts! 16- Heads or Thumbs. Before you sing the song to review, have the children stand up and either put their hands on their head or give a thumbs up – whichever one they want to choose. Sing the song, after the song is sung, flip a coin. If the coin lands on heads, those with their thumbs up, sit down. If the coin lands on Tails, those touching their head, sit down. Start over with those still standing. ALL children sing. Flip the coin at the end of the song. Repeat and sing until there is one child standing! 17-Switching Seats. Have one child go out in the hall. Have another 2 children from the Primary switch seats. Have the child in the hall come back, primary start singing the song, and before the songs end, see if the child that was in the hall can guess who switched seats! Well, now there you go!!!! You have 17 ways to REPEAT a song in a fun way! We hope this helps you feel empowered to help the Primary children review any song. Keep in mind that not every one of these work for every song. Some songs are longer than others and may not work, or some songs are to be sung more reverent than others. Thanks for visiting our site and be sure to check out our other pick and choose review ideas and following our Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook pages!!! -iheartprimarymusic

Play Christmas singo in singing time, sing Christmas Primary songs with this Christmas bingo activity and discuss Christmas symbols

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.

Fun Printable We'll Bring the World His Truth Fill in the Blank singing time ideas for LDS Primary music leaders with song helps for teaching with movement

I hate to bring up Christmas with Halloween just barely over but being a chorister you have to constantly be thinking ahead. I've received permission from the Bishop to teach and sing a beautiful song by Rachel M. Goates called "Could I Hold the Baby". We will be singing it on Christmas Day in Sacrament meeting. It is on LDS.org if you search 'Could I Hold the Baby'. You can download the sheet music. There is also an excellent YouTube video, one with words or without. I also have made a flip chart for it. I know some people don't use or like flip chart but I do. I've had several teachers thank me for using them and if it encourages someone to sing with me I'm all over it. Of course I don't use them all the time, just when we are learning a new song or singing one we haven't sung in a long time. I find the kids learn the words much fast than adults. Click HERE to download the flip chart. I'm excited to start this Sunday. I am teaching the first verse and chorus to my JR. I'll start with the chorus. First, we are going to talk about questions and what we would ask Mary. Then I'll sing the chorus or show the video or have them listen to the recording. Then talk about the questions in the song. Same process with SR. For the second verse I am dividing it and I'll have my oldest class of girls sing one part and my oldest class of boys sing the other. I have some really great singers in both. Then everyone will join in on the chorus. Happy Singing!!!

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

how to teach the Primary song Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus in singing time using bugles, Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus singing time idea

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...

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.

Fun teaching idea We'll Bring the World His Truth Cup Pattern singing time activity with printable song helps to teach the music for LDS Primary music leaders

The kids get to add chocolate chips (black circle stickers) when they sing one of the program songs well. I let the teachers decide. The kids have a fun time seeing how many chocolate chips in that cookie. They even get a little disappointed when I don't have enough program songs for that week so they can earn more chocolate chips. When the program was over I brought Chips Ahoy cookies for them.

I love the ideas for teaching "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" that were posted on Sugardoodle , so I made my own flipchart with squares I can cut out and put back to back with the question marks for teaching as described, but can also be used just as a flipchart for performing. I like to include pictures for the little ones who can't read. You will need to print some of the pages two or three times as needed for the verses. I found most of the pictures as free downloads from Susan Fitch Designs and modified a couple of them to fit the song. Thanks to these people sharing, I too wanted to share. You can find my flipchart here: If the Savior Stood Beside Me

LDS Mormon Primary music visual aids and lesson plans

Jack has eaten too much candy this Halloween season! Now he has tooth aches all over! Help Jack's teeth "Fall Away" and sing a song so he can feel better! This idea was inspired by 2 Thessalonians 2. "An Apostasy, or FALLING AWAY from truth, was prophesied to precede the Second Coming". (Jack was made from cardboard, paint, and a little love from my boys :). Teeth are hot glued on the back). For Singing Time, have a song on the back of each of Jack's teeth. Call up a reverent child to PULL one of his teeth. Sing that song. If you're working on a certain song, you could have ways to sing that song on the back. For example, sing nose plugged, stand up, face backwards, eyes closed, etc. Or you could have 4 songs you're working on, put 2 teeth per song. That way you sing the songs twice. You could also put questions on some of the teeth such as "What is your favorite thing about Primary?" or "How can we make sure not to FALL AWAY from the Gospel?" There are lots of options when doing a 'Pick and Choose' singing time :) At the end of Primary, bear your testimony of keeping your testimony STRONG so you don't FALL AWAY from Christ's Church. Also remind them to not eat too much candy and brush their teeth! Let us know if you use this idea! We'd love to hear how it went! -iheartprimarymusic

I'm planning this activity early in the year with my Senior Primary, as a fun Singing Bee game / quiz to see just how well the Senior Primary knows and

I found this idea on a FB primary chorister page. They are FULL of good ideas over there! So the idea existed but no how-to. I found mainly ...

After introducing Mother, I Love You with a mother match, we'll be reinforcing the flow and keywords in this song with a fun movement words activity! This

It's SUMMER! If you need a fun summer primary idea for singing time, this one is fun, and easy! Dressing up is Dan's fave, and the kids always love to see what he comes up

We thought it would be useful to combine a list of ideas for a Christmas Singing Time. So we have them all in one place for ya! Merry Christmas ;) 1-Primary Picture Puzzle. Each piece of the puzzle represents a song to sing. Click HERE for the original post. 2-Spin a Dreidel. Each side of the dreidel represents a song to sing. For our original post, including a link to a dreidel template, click HERE. 3-Present Pass. Bring 6 small, wrapped presents to Primary with a song title in them. (Six is how many songs max I usually sing on a Sunday.) Also bring 6 per singing times. So if you have a Junior and Senior Singing Time, bring 12 presents. Start by singing a song and have the children pass the present around the room as they sing. At the end of the song, whichever child has the present gets to open it and reveal the next Christmas song to sing! Repeat with each song and present. Original post HERE. 4-Candy Cane Lead. Let the children lead the closing song with a Candy Cane! Teach them the "time" of that song and all lead together! 5-Christmas Bells. Call up 3-5 children and let them shake some bells to the beat of the song! These shakers were made with pipe cleaners and bells! Perfect for the song Christmas Bells. 6-Silent Night. This Christmas Primary Singing Time Idea is played like "Silent Singer". One child goes out in the hall. Another child is chosen to be the “Silent Singer” - meaning that child “lip sings” the song. Have the child in the hall come back in and all children sing – except for the silent singer who is lip singing. See if the child that was in the hall can guess who the “Silent Singer” is. Finish singing the Christmas Song even if they guess before it’s over! This is a great activity if you need to practice Christmas songs for Sacrament meeting! Find the original post on our site HERE. 7-Christmas Handouts. Sometimes it's nice to give the children a handout to take home. They can work on this with their family for CFM-FHE or by themselves. For links to some handouts, CLICK HERE. 8-Symbols of Christmas Memory Match. Call up a child to turn over 2 squares at a time and see if they can get a match. If no match, call up another child and let them pick 2, and so on. Sing a Christmas song when a match is found and read the meaning behind the symbol and why we use them during Christmas time. For a link to these printables and their meaning, CLICK HERE to our original post. 9-The Sounds of Winter. This Primary Singing Time activity is a fun one to guess some familiar Winter/Christmas sounds! Choose one child (who is up for a challenge!) to come to the front of the room, have them turn and face the rest of the Primary. Then, without that child seeing the sound object, make the noise, then have them guess what it is. Then sing a song! For a list of possible winter objects/sounds CLICK HERE. 10-Four Corners Christmas. In the 4 corners of the Primary room, put a picture of Jesus, the 3 Wise Men, Manger, and Mary. Put only 1 picture in each corner. Choose 4 children to stand at each corner. The music leader randomly selects one of the 4 images from a bowl. The child in that corner gets to choose the next Christmas song to sing (and then sits down and another child takes their place). The children love to wait and see if their corner is selected!!! ...or not; and see how long they can stay in the game!!! Original Post HERE. 11-Musical Night in Bethlehem. Read a scripture that tells a part of the "Night in Bethlehem" when Jesus was born, then build a Nativity with a piece from that scripture. Keep the music going the whole time! Even in between songs and reading the scriptures, have the piano play softly. CLICK HERE for more instructions and a free printable!!! We hope one if these ideas can help inspire you this month for your Singing Time!!! -iheartprimarymusic

Here's a fun and super easy way to teach When Joseph Went to Bethlehem song! I've picked out a variety of different When Joseph Went to Bethlehem Simple

LDS Mormon Primary music visual aids and lesson plans

Gah! I got the musical MEASLES!!!!!! This one is SOOOO fun, keeps the kids’ attention and keeps them singing well! Win, win, win. Tell the kids that singing can be contagious (songs can spread joy, peace, and feel the Spirit) just like the Measles!!!! Pass out red stickers to all teachers. Pick a song to sing. After the song, each teacher pick 2 kids from their class to get a stickers. Aaand the stickers get stuck on YOU (or the Pianist!) It’s so fun to see how many stickers “measles” you end up with at the end! Have fun with this one, but make sure to tell them, they only get a sticker if they’re singing their best!

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