I am planning to use this post to add some fun singing time ideas based on specific scripture stories. So stay tuned as I keep adding more!
Isaiah Singing Time
Since we teach Isaiah for three weeks in Come Follow Me, and we had our Primary Program last week, I thought it would be fun to take pieces of the lessons from the Primary Manual for Isaiah and turn them into a singing time. I took scriptures from all three weeks and put them on the back of pictures I found online. We will pick a picture, and then flip it ovver to reveal a scripture and a song to sing that goes along with it. One of the hymns "How Firm a Foundation" is almost word for word for a scripture in Isaiah, so I made a flip chart for just that verse of the song to use in singing time as well. I think the kids are going to enjoy singing and it will give us a chance to focus on the beauty of Isaiah at the same time. Below is the file for the singing time with the pictures and scriptures:
I am also adding the How Firm a Foundation flip chart. I decided to do just the third verse since it matches the scripture. You could even sing it a couple of times. Here it is in case you need it:
David & Goliath Singing Time
This week for singing time, I decided it would be fun to play a game to review the songs we will sing for our program. I went to Block Posters and uploaded this image from the church website. Then I printed it as large as I could for free. For me this was a 5x4 poster. Once they were all printed I taped them together in rows so I can easily set it up at church. I just put a little tape on the edges so I can fold them acordian style to fit in my binder. Then I added number targets to the finished poster. I just traced circles and gave them numbers and taped them on too. My plan is to have each class come up in a group. They will each get a sling (sticky hands) to throw at Goliath. The spot with the most hands closest to (or on) that number will be the song we sing. The first time we land on a number we will just do the first verse, and if we land on it again, we will do the next verse. It should be a fun singing time. I can't wait to see how the primary kiddos enjoy it :) I bought enough sticky hands that they could take theirs home, but even if you just had a few of them, it would work great too. Here is my poster file in case you need it:
Baby Moses Singing Time
This week we are learning the story of Moses. I thought it would be fun to talk about the faith his mother had and the story of him being placed in a basket to save his life and how his sister, Miriam, followed him down the river to see that he was safe. It is amazing to think that his mother was still able to nurse him amidst what must have seen like a very dark time.
To help the kids think about this story, we are going to "hide" baby Moses while we play the hot and cold singing time. If you haven't heard of it before, basically one child waits outside the room while another child hides a small object (in this case we are going to use my baby Moses in the Easter egg my hubby painted for me). Then once the object is hid, the child outside is invited back in. Then you sing the song louder as they are closer to the object and quieter as they are further away. This helps guide the child to the object. It is a super fun game and the kids all sing really well because they want to be chosen next. We will likely sing our main song but take time to review others if they seem to get bored of the one song. If you don't have an easter egg and small toy baby, you could just use a small baby, or even a picture of baby Moses. There are tons of pictures online.
We will maninly focus on singing Gethsemane. You can see my other fun ideas (like a flip chart, hand motions, and scarves) for that song here: https://virginiarichins.wixsite.com/richlysinging/post/gethsemane
I also plan to do a fun Apostle song for General Conference too. I think I will likely start with that song and then use the rest of the time for this game. You can see the fun Apostle Song ideas here: https://virginiarichins.wixsite.com/richlysinging/post/the-apostle-song
Joseph gets sold into Egypt
I had this super fun idea come to me today! I got thinking about how Joseph was sold by his brothers for 20 pieces of silver (the cost for a servant about his age...some say he was about 17) and how later Jesus Christ was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (about the cost for a servant his age). Anyway, as I was pondering, I thought about a fun way to make that part of the story stick, and this is what I came up with.
First, I will give them a little background of the story by sharing something like this: Joseph was born into the covenant family and had been given a coat of many colors that signified his place in the family and his role as a leader and keeper of covenants. His brothers got jealous of him and one day plotted to leave him in a pit or even kill him. They decided in the end to sell him for a mere 20 pieces of silver to be a slave in Egypt. At the time he would have likely been about 17 years old. Can you imagine how alone Joseph felt and how hard it might feel to stay on the covenant path? And yet, the scriptures say over and over “the Lord was with Joseph.” Let’s sing a song using silver to help us sing.
I will have everyone stand up and pick either heads or tails. If they pick heads they put their hands on their heads, if they pick tails, they will put their hands on their waist. We will sing through both verses of “The Covenant Song” and at the end of the song, we will flip the coin. If heads appear on the coin, all those touching their heads will sit down. They have now been “sold” to Egypt but will keep singing as the others stand and choose heads or tails again. Those sitting will keep singing with us to show they will still stay on the covenant path. We will alternate singing between the first and second verse each time flipping a coin until there is only one person left standing.
Of course, you could alter this game to whatever song you are working on. I may even add more details of Joseph's story in between each time we sing to add depth to the words of the song and the story.
At the end, I will continue the story by saying: Even though Joseph had many difficult trials (like being a slave, or imprisoned for something he didn’t do), he remained faithful and “the Lord was with him” (Genesis 39:3). Jesus Christ would later be betrayed for a mere thirty pieces of silver (the rate of a slave his age). Because of Jesus Christ’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, He understands perfectly what we go through and can help us in any trial we face. I picture Christ offering comfort to Joseph in all his hard times and then later feeling all the pain and sorrow Joseph felt in the Garden of Gethsemane. Just as he felt Joseph’s pain and brought him comfort in hard times, He feels all that you will ever go through.
The we will sing “Gethsemane” and pay attention to the things he felt as he prayed. We will sing while using scarves. I have another post in this blog about how to sing this song with scarves.
Joseph and His Brothers
I got an idea for doing a song story from Sharla Dance's page here: http://teachingprimarymusic.com/help-me-dear-father-ideas-to-teach-the-song/?fbclid=IwAR3FIb62k0ZziBlQeoQnfwDSXDRV2mFIgIYgYi5WBrHRute_BgNJfftYNYA
I then copied the images of the story from the Old Testament Stories and glued what I would say and sing on the back. There was a typo on script 2 with the song, but I have since adjusted it.
I have typed this out to give to my pianist:
I will do a bit of speaking and singing. Please play along with the “sing” parts.
Joseph had 10 older brothers. They were jealous of him. They didn’t like the dreams Joseph had about being a ruler over them. They treated him badly. Sing “Help me dear Father to freely forgive”
One day Joseph’s brothers decided to get rid of him. They sold him as a slave. Slave traders took Joseph away from his home and sold him as a slave. Sing “All may seem unkind to me"
Joseph tried to keep the commandments. Even if it meant running from sin. Sometimes following God wasn’t easy, but he kept following Him anyway. And when things got hard, he prayed. Sing “Help me each day, Father I pray”
Joseph continued to be inspired with dreams. He also learned how to interpret others' dreams. He helped interpret the Pharaoh's dream and protected Egypt from a famine by storing food for the people during a time of plenty. Sing “Help me live nearer, nearer to thee.”
Joseph’s brothers came to plead for food, and he gave them some. Joseph recognized them, but they did not recognize him. He wondered if they had changed. Sing “Help me dear Father, to truly repent.”
Eventually his brothers ran out of food again, and returned with Benjamin, their brother. When they went to leave, Joseph made it look like Benjamin had stolen a cup because he wanted to see if his brothers had changed. Judah begged to be punished instead of Benjamin. Sing “Making things right and changing my ways.”
Joseph could see his brothers had changed and was happy to see them protect their brother, Benjamin.
Joseph then showed himself to them and they recognized him. Sing: “Help me each day, Father, I pray.”
Joseph forgave his brothers for selling him to be a slave. He said it was God’s way of helping their family survive the famine. Sing: “Help me live nearer, nearer to thee.”
At the end, we will sing through the whole song one more time, and then we may do it with rhythm sticks (You can see my rhythm sticks idea on my "Help Me Dear Father" post).
Here is the file I made that has images and the script to go along with it here. As a tip, if you are viewing this from your phone, click the three dots in the upper left hand corner and select "print layout" for easier viewing:
Rebekah and Abraham's Servant
I am so excited for singing time today. I had an idea come to me last second and my kiddos and husband made it happen. Even my neighbors donated milk jugs last second (yesterday). I got thinking about Rebekah and how hard she worked watering all those camels. It turns out she would have needed somewhere between 20-50 gallons of water per camel to water them “until they have done drinking.”
We are going to sing “He Sent His Son” while we do a water relay to the camel. I have 20 jugs to represent the least amount needed to water one animal. We will split into two teams and have a child bring the jug from the back of the room to the center by the camel. Then tag the next kid to bring theirs. If 10 kids make it through the relay before the end of the song, they will tag a seated kid in the next class to grab one from the front to bring it to the back. The team with the most jugs at the end of the song wins. I will be silly and put up Luisa’s photo (from Encanto) first and say I was looking for a photo of Rebekah and think I found one and give them a chance to say it isn’t her. Then we will talk about the story. Before we start we will highlight how the song says Heavenly Father sent Jesus “to walk with men on earth” so no running is allowed and the kids will need to keep singing as a way to cheer their team on so they know when we are close to the end of the song.
After that fun we will talk about Jacob and Esau and making good choices like Noah did (Build an Ark) and sing Build an Ark with rhythm sticks.
The kids ended up LOVING this idea. And when they got excited, we reminded them that they had to cheer their team members on by singing. The winning team ended up singing extra loud once they won while the other team finished. It was so much fun! You can see some of my notes in the above images so you see how I am did it.
Jacob's Ladder
I loved everyone’s ideas about Jacob’s ladder. So I had my hubby help me build one out of pool noodles. We use thick ones for the sides, then he made holes in the sides to insert the little ones and secured them with hot glue. He wanted it to be sturdy so we could repurpose it for summer fun. You could also cut it up later to turn into musical instruments. I am loving how it turned out and excited to share it with the kids tomorrow.
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