When Joseph Went to Bethlehem

This is a great active song as well as telling the Christmas story.  Tell the children that we are going to act out this song as we sing.  They will need to stand.

• First verse - place tools on a shelf, shut the door, sweep the door step, tap the donkey, put the bread and cheese in a handkerchief, bring the corners together and hold it
• Second verse - bow your head in a shy manner, "chilly hours" wrap your arms around yourself as if you were cold, smooth the baby's blanket, hold the baby.
• Third verse - reach up and dim the light, hold the baby very close.  

The whole primary can act this out or you can choose one class or a few children to do the actions.  Have one side do one verse and the other side the second verse and everyone the third verse.  If you don't know this song you can sing a phrase or two while you act it out with the children several times.  It is also fun to have the pianist play it while the children act out the words without singing or simply humming.

Thanksgiving Turkey

Thanksgiving or giving thanks is a great concept to teach children.  I love to give the children many opportunities to express their thankfulness -- they come up with treasured ideas.  I made a simple turkey and 10 feathers (more or less).  Tape the turkey on a board.  Let the children either put the feathers on the turkey or take them off.  There are several things that you can put on the feathers:

1. titles of "thankful" songs
2. titles of favorite songs
3. phrases of a song that you are working on

Ask the children to tell one or two things that they are thankful for, then let them choose a feather.  Sing the song or phrase on the feather.

How to make a simple turkey:

Make one large circle for the turkey body.  Cut another small circle for the head.  You can put a waddle, eyes, mouth and feet if you would like.  Cut several feathers out.  I made the feathers out of several different colors.  It should look like this:

The Pumpkin Patch

Halloween is not a holiday that we celebrate in church but when it falls on a Sunday, many of us look for ways to incorporate it. Here is a tasteful idea and easy.

The Pumpkin Patch
Cut out several pumpkins, different shapes and sizes. On the back write the name of songs for the children to choose and sing. OR, write words or phrases of a song that they are learning on the backs of several pumpkins and have them either guess the song or sing the phrase.

If I Listen with My Heart -- Pre-reader help

As I have been teaching "If I Listen With My Heart," I've used a word chart. The problem with this is that it's great for readers but you loose the non-readers. To help with this potential problem, I cut out 12 hearts about as big as my hand, in two different colors (it really doesn't matter the colors, just make sure you use just two colors). I wrote "listen" one color and "heart" on the other color. I then taped a tongue depressor (or Popsicle stick) on the back. Just before we started singing the song, I gave a heart to 12 "non-readers" And told them to listen for the word on their heart and hold it up high when they heard it. The older children were glad to help. What a difference it made for busy 3, 4 and 5 year-olds! It was a great way to keep everyone focused! If some children didn't get a turn, those the had a heart gave their heart to someone who hadn't had a turn the next time we sang the song or the next verse.

If I Listen with My Heart

If I Listen with My Heart
I began with the second verse because it was so applicable around General Conference. I started by asking the children who assigned (or told) the speakers at General Conference what topic/subject to speak on. There were several answers, but they were all surprised that the Lord told them what to speak about. Speakers fasted and prayed to know God's will. It was now up to us to prepare ourselves to hear not only with our ears but with our hearts to know what Heavenly Father wants us to hear.

Sing the first phrase and clap the rhythm as you sing. Ask the children if they could hear a pattern in the rhythm. (fast fast slow slow slow slow, fast fast slow slow slow, fast fast slow slow slow, fast fast s-l-o-w) Sing it again and have them clap with you. Then have them sing it with you. (I like to have them sing it 3 times.) To vary the repetition here are some different ways to sing:

• soft
• loud
• face east
• face west, etc.
• stand up
• face your neighbor
• close your eyes

Sing the second phrase and ask if the music is the same or different from the first phrase. (The rhythm is the same, the music is the same except for the last 3 notes.) Have the children sing this phrase 3 times so they are familiar with the words. Then sing both phrases 3 times. Vary as follows:

• boys only
• girls only
• boys sing 1st phrase, girls sing 2nd phrase then switch
• teachers sing one phrase, children sing other phrase
• one side of the room sings one phrase, other side of the room sings other phrase
• you sing one, they sing one

Sing the last phrase and see if they can hear the rhythm repetition. Help them by clapping. Have them sing it 3 times with variation. Now sing the last phrase. Tell them that they sing this line at the end of each verse. When you teach the 3rd verse, tell them that you hold out each note/word as you sing the last phrase to emphasis the importance of the message.

I teach one verse a week so I have time to sing a few familiar songs during sharing time. Children love to sing something that they know well.

More Ideas for Teaching Songs

The outline for the 2011 Sacrament Program has many helps and suggestions. Page 26 and 27 of the outline give several suggestions and ideas for teaching the songs for the program.

The week after our Sacrament Program, I like to teach the children the “new” song for the next year's program. It gives us a jump start for next year but it is also refreshing to learn something new. If your primary is like ours, you have just spent several weeks drilling and rehearsing for the program so a new song is a welcome change.

When teaching a new song, have the accompanist play the new song several times as prelude music. This will help create familiarity for everyone.

Teach the new song to a few children ahead of time and have them sing it in primary to introduce it. Having a few teacher sing it as an introduction is also a great “attention getter.”

Humming and clapping are great ways to learn melody and rhythm.

I determine which song will be the most difficult in the new program. I choose to teach the sign language for this song along with the words. This keeps the children focused and helps them learn the words easier and better. The song is usually the hymn. The sign language is on the Church web site. Click for hymns. Click for Primary Songs.

Sing a little louder!

Have you ever tried to get the children to sing louder -- and they just yell or scream? I've had the same results. However, I came up with a wonderful way to get the results I want. I made a a grandma and grandpa -- I colored their hair gray to ensure that they would look elderly. I put them on a stick so I could hold them easily. I explained to the children that sometimes as we get older we don't hear as well. I asked if any of them had grandparents or great-grandparents that couldn't hear them very well. Several raised their hands. I asked them what helped their grandparents hear them better. One little boy said, "I just talk a little louder." That was the perfect answer! I added, "You didn't yell or scream at them?" The little boy smiled and said, "I wouldn't do that, I love my grandpa." Again, another perfect answer. So if we have grandparents in the audience/congregation, we might want to sing a little louder so they can hear us. I explained to the children that when I hold up the grandma or grandpa, or both of them, we all need to sing a little louder so Grandma and Grandpa can hear us.

As we rehearsed for our primary program, this technique worked beautifully. There was no yelling or screaming. They all just sang louder. You are welcome to use the following pictures.