Singing Time Olympics

Really simple to prepare, but fun and interactive for the kids.  I have a bunch of Olympic sports picked out, and I randomly assign songs to review or just fun songs to a sport.  We make our way through the Sports & songs until we run out of time.  Here are the sports & actions that go along with them.

Kayaking - drop off the "Ka" and you're left with yaking.  We talk through the song with the music.  Surprisingly entertaining.

Basketball - have a small rubbish bin and a handful of paper scrunched up to be the balls.  The person stand behind a line, and has to get a certain amount in the basket by the time everyone has finished singing the song.

Volleyball - everyone stands up in a circle and has to "set" the volleyball around the circle while singing. 

Weightlifting - person out the front has to put their arms out straight, and you put a hymn book or two in their hands.  They must keep their arms up and straight for the whole song.

Archery - have a target up on the blackboard with words from the chosen song written all over it.  Blind fold the person and spin them around, and they have to put their finger on the board.  Which ever word they select, you have to leave that word out while you sing the song.

Sprinting - they have to run on the spot while they sing the song.

Pole Vault - they have to sing the song according to the actions/height of the pole vaulter using volume.  So you start singing really quiet (pole vaulter running along ground), then as you approach middle of the song you get louder and louder and louder (pole vaulter flying through air) then you need to get quiet again before the end of the song (pole vaulter coming down).  It's a good activity because it helps them learn volume control.

Swimming - teach them the appropriate place to breathe in a song, and then sing through the song and see how they go.



You could easily add more sports if you wanted, just need to use a little imagination!

The Lyrics Challenge!

Last week I did a huge lyrics challenge game for the Seniors.  As they entered the room, I split them into 3 teams.  Each team nominated a Team Captain who was in charge of running to and from the front.  I had a large table out the front where I sat.  Each team had a teacher helper.  There were 8 challenges.  Each challenge was related to one of the Primary Presentation songs that we have learnt.  The Team Captain had to come out the front to collect each Challenge which was in a bag.  I gave each of the teacher helpers a cheat sheet with answers etc. to help their team along if they were struggling (which really came in handy!).  I had 3 different types of challenges.

- Jumbled words: I printed out the lyrics to the songs (all verses and chorus) and then cut them up.  They had to put the words in order (teachers had the song on their sheet to check it off) and once completed they were given a "COMPLETED" token by their teacher to bring out the front to me to then give them their next challenge.
- Fill in the blanks: I typed up the lyrics and took out the key words and they had to write in the blanks, and then bring out the sheet of paper to me out the front and I marked off the words.  If they were all right I gave them their next challenge.
- Q & A: I had several questions about the songs on a sheet of paper.  I didn't have spiritual type questions, they were factual questions.. for example: How many times is ______ word in this song?  That way they had to literally go through the words out loud as a group and count the "key" word.  Once they had answered the questions they brought the sheet of paper out to me in the front to be marked and if all correct got their next challenge.

This was a great activity.  The kids were BUZZING with excitement and competitiveness.  It also really showed me which songs we need to keep working on!  They were more familiar with some of the songs than others.  Next week we will be revising revising revising!!!!!!

Jenga

Jenga is a great game to help revise songs.  I didn't use my whole Jenga set, just 42 tiles - which makes the stack about 3/4 as high as it would normally be.  I used a pencil and numbered the Jenga tiles, 1 to 21 - two times over.  So there were two tiles of each number.  I asked the children to one by one pick a Jenga tile, they had to pull it out without toppling over the tower.  They read out the number under the tile they selected, and we sung the song that I had alloted to that number.  This worked really well with both the Seniors & the Juniors.

Here are the songs/numbers I used.

1.  Nephi’s Courage Verse 1 (#120)

2.  Nephi’s Courage Verse 2 (#120)

3.  I Love to see the Temple (#95)

4.  Popcorn Popping (#242)

5.  Heads Shoulders Knees & Toes (#275)

6.  The Wise & Foolish Man (#281)

7.  The Chapel Doors (#156)

8.  The Holy Ghost (#105)

9.  Book of Mormon Stories (#118)

10. I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus (#78)

11. Stand for the Right (#159)

12.  When I Am Baptised (#103)

13.  As a Child of God Verse 1

14.  As a Child of God Verse 2

15.  As a Child of God Verse 3

16.  Choose the Right Verse 1 (HB#239)

17.  Choose the Right Verse 2 (HB#239)

18.  Jesus Once Was A Little Child (#55)

19.  Choose the Right Way (#160)

20.  I Am Like A Star (#163)

21.  Families Can Be Together Forever (#188)

Rockstar Awards

Each week I hang on the board out front, my incentive - the Rockstar Awards.  Growing up, I had a fantastic Singing Time Leader (oh boy do I wish I could live up to how amazing she was.... Sister Van Egdom, you are my hero!).  Every week she gave out a singing award at the end of singing time.  Naturally when I was called, before I even started working out my first singing time plan, I made my singing time awards.  I chose Rockstar, because I have a rubber stand that says it!  I explained to them that Rockstar (in Primary), doesn't mean singing the loudest or silliest.  What it meant was who sung the best, put in the most effort, followed instructions, etc etc.  Every couple of weeks I sit down and come up with a few designs, and then make 4-5 of each design.  That way they last me a couple of months. 

They work a TREAT for motivating the kids to show good behaviour.  The senior boys like to take on the challenge to impress me... they have even started sitting in the front row.. astonishing I know.  I am very careful who I give the award out to each week (1 senior & 1 junior each week).  I have a list of all the kids, and I write down the date they receive the award.  Once everyone has received the award once, then I start the list again to make it fair on all.  It would be impossible to pre-choose my Rockstar before church each week, so I have a sticky note with a couple of names of those who could potentially receive the award and watch those 4-5 kids on that particular Sunday and pick from one of those to give the award to. 

Here's a few I've made (I really need to photograph these more)....

I also made some robot ones but forgot to take photos of them.  I kept the template I used to make them so will make them up again.  All the kids LOVE the guitar ones, I do them in all sorts of colours.  The girls got upset that the guitar was always boys colours, so they asked if I could make a pink guitar.  How could I not! Even the boys choose the pink guitar to be funny some weeks and wear it proudly.  They're easy and quick to make so it's worth the time for the result I get out of them.

Good luck..

Christy.

Marble Chance

This is the kids favourite game - the seniors especially love it.  All I did was take an egg carton, and made a cover for it (see pictures), and put the name game on top.  Inside each cup I put a number.. 1 to 12.  I put in a Marble, and pick someone to shake it.  Whichever number it lands on, is the style/way we sing!  This is great for reviewing lots of songs, and it is also good for singing a newly learnt song over and over again - whatever suits your needs.  And to mix it up and make it fun, sometimes I put in two marbles.  Here is what my numbers represent:

1.   Staccato

2.   Whisper

3.   Boys Sing

4.   Opera

5.   Closed Mouth

6.   Monster

7.   Standing Up

8.   Cowboy

9.   Open Mouth

10. Eyes Closed

11. Girls Sing

12. Flamingo

Some of the favourites to get are: girls & boys singing (naturally), cowboy, opera and staccato.  Not so favourites are monster (surprisingly) whisper & standing up.  I will probably change them around soon!

Good luck out there...

Christy

Object Pick

Really easy simple review activity.  Gather a bunch of random objects from around your home.  Print off the names of songs you need to review and stick them to the bottom of the objects.  Choose someone to come out and pick their favourite object, and sing that song until they sing it perfectly.  This is great for when it gets to Saturday night and you still have no idea what you are going to do the next day!! Thankfully I've only had to resort to it once... so far.

Definition Competition

Since we now know all of our Primary Presentation songs for this year, we are having a little more fun just reviewing and going over the finer details of timing and other dynamics in our songs.  So I am forever in need of fun activities and games to play to review.  This game was great for both the seniors & the juniors.  I was able to leave the seniors to figure it out, and they even got some wrong!  With the juniors I explained each word just a little bit more.  I split the room in half and one side was girls and the other side boys - they love this.  I get the most participation when it's boys vs. girls.  Basically I put up a word which is picked from one of the songs we need to review.  And then under the word, is the real definition, and then a made up definition.  They need to pick which definition is correct.  If they guess it right, they get a point.  I also said they could have a bonus point if they could guess which song the word was from (which is pretty tricky!).  We sing the song afterwards regardless if they get it right or wrong.  Here's the songs/words/definitions I used. 


TEMPTED (I'm Trying to be Like Jesus #78)
1. To attract, or appeal strongly (right)
2. Great physical power (wrong)

PEACE (As a Child of God - theme song)
1. To procolaim publicly (wrong)
2. A state of mutual harmony (right)

TRUE (Stand for the Right #159)
1. Genuine & authentic (right)
2. A false statement with intent to deceive (wrong)

PONDER (When I am Baptised #103)
1. To consider deeply (right)
2. To meel movedm or feel tenderness (wrong)

SHINING (I am like a Star #163)
1. To cast a shadow (wrong)
2. Radiant, gleaming, resplendent (right)

HOPE (I Hope they Call me on a Mission #169)
1. To be uncertain (wrong)
2. A feeling that events will turn out for the best (right)

VELVET (My Heavenly Father Loves Me #228)
1. Soft textured fabric (right)
2. A feeling of happiness and joy (wrong)

SYMBOL (Our Primary Colours #258)
1. An object representing something (right)
2. To go from one place to another (wrong)

HAPPY (Feliz Cumpleanos #282)
1. Delighted, pleased, glad (right)
2. Affected by grief (wrong)

SACRED (I Love to see the Temple #95)
1. Dedicated to a religious purpose (right)
2. The emotion of great delight (wrong)


They really loved this game.  I gave the boys the word velvet and all the girls were absolutely dying with laughter cause they all know what it was, and the boys got it wrong!! This game could be suited for any songs you want to review.