Autumn and Gratitude

There are 24 songs listed under "Gratitude" in the Primary Songbook.  How many do you and your Primary children know?

Autumn Day p. 247

• 1st line: Use a fall picture
• 2nd line: As you sing this line look to your right then left.  Point to the children then yourself.
• 3rd line: Use real apples or pictures of a red and yellow apple
• 4th line: Picture of a tree full of apples or leaves
• 5th line: Picture of children with Jesus

Sing each line, then have the children sing it with you a few times. Continue through the rest of the song.  The children can help hold pictures.

It's Autumntime  p. 246

This is an easy song to teach and fun for this time of year.

• Sing the 1st verse.  
• Ask how many times they heard the phrase "it's autumntime."   (4 times)
• Have the children sing it with you.
• Sing the 2nd verse.
• Ask How many colors they heard and what were the colors.  (3 colors, yellow, red, and brown)
• Have the children sing it with you.
• Sing the whole song with the children
• Ask if anyone can tell what the rhyming sound is or the rhyming words.  ("ou" sound, down, town, brown, found)
•  How many times they sing the phrase "it's autumntime" in the entire song.   (8 times)

Use colored paper (yellow, red and brown) to help the children sing the colors in order.  You can use colored leaves in those colors, too.

Cut out several yellow, red and brown leaves and pass them to several children. Have them stand when they sing the color of their leaf.

Gratitude - "I Am Glad for Many Things"

November is all about Gratitude.  It is learned by example but when you add music, it only enhances the learning process.

I Am Glad for Many Things, p. 151, is a great song for all of us to have in our minds.  It is an easy song to teach.

• Sing the first verse.
• Invite the children to sing it with you.
• Sing the second verse
• Have the children sing it with you.

You sing "many things" 4 times in the first verse.  Ask 4 children to share something that they are thankful for : parents, friends, food, home, etc.  Use those in place of "many things" and sing the first verse.   Ask 4 children to share something that they are thankful for and sing it again.

You can do this several times and this song will be forever in their memory.  End with the second verse.

Candy Corn Singing Time

October Fun

Choose 10 favorite songs that the children love to sing.  Many of them will be from this year's program.  Be sure to add some "wiggle/action" songs.

Below are patterns for candy corn (popular this time of year).
Cut out 20 and color them like candy corn, print them on colored paper - orange, yellow and white or print the colored corn.

Laminate them if you want to use them again next year.

Tape or write the names of the songs on 10 of the candy corn.

The theme this month is "prayer."  Write or tape a question mark on the last 10 pieces of corn.  If they choose one of these candy corn, as them to tell how saying prayers has helped them or relate a scripture story about prayer - prayer in Gethsemane, Joseph Smith's first prayer, the Lord's prayer, etc.

Let a child choose a candy corn.  Sing the song or answer the question.

If you would like to draw a large bowl on the board and tape the corn on the board to fill the bowl.  Try to get all 20 pieces in the bowl.

I'm Glad to Pay a Tithing

There are two great songs in the Primary Songbook that teach about tithing.  We talk about tithing in primary but rarely sing about it.  The lesson and melody are simple yet both songs are great learning tools.

I'm Glad to Pay a Tithing, p. 150, talks about all the things God has given to us.

First verse: Pictures are easy - sun, rain and meadowlark (a bird).

• First line - sing it twice, then have the children sing it a few times.
• Second line - Use the pictures and sing it twice, then have the children sing it a few times.
• Sing the entire first verse

Second verse: Show a tithing envelope and receipt, draw 10 pennies or tape real ones to a poster and circle the tenth one.

• First line - Show the receipt and envelope and the poster of pennies.  Sing the first phrase twice. (The children will recognize the melody.) Have the children sing it a few times.
• Second line - Sing the last line then have the children sing it a few times.
• Sing the second verse
• Sing the whole song.  
• Review this song next week so the children remember it.

Finish singing time (if time remains) with a "movement" song such as Do as I'm Doing.  Conclude with singing the tithing song one more time.

 

Birthday Song

Many a still preparing for their Sacrament Meeting Program.  There are many review ideas in earlier posts that you can check out.

After you have spent weeks and months on preparing for this program, learning a fun song will be fun for everyone.  There are 6 birthday songs in the Primary Songbook.  Most primaries sing one, possibly 2, when a child has a birthday. Choose one you don't know.

Make a "paper" birthday cake:

• use a white piece of paper and round off the two top corners to look like a cake. (It doesn't matter whether the paper is portrait or landscape - tall cake or wide cake)
• color frosting on the top half to make it look like the frosting is dripping down the side of the cake - any color will do - chocolate is always a favorite
• cut out 8 candles from different colored paper - flame is optional 

Teaching the song:

• Sing one phrase at a time and have the children repeat it with you several times. 
• Add a candle to the cake.
• Sing the next phrase and repeat the process until the song is learned.
• To reinforce the learning, put the names of the months on pieces of paper.
• Ask a child to draw a paper and read the month.  
• All the children who have a birthday in that month can stand while you sing the new birthday song to them.  
• Continue, as time permits, to choose a month and then sing to the children who have a birthday in that month. 

Note:  I Like My Birthday, p.104, is a song for those turning 8.  It is a great song to sing to those on their eighth birthday.

Name that Tune

One of my favorite review activities is "Name that Tune."  Once the children know any song well, it's fun to see if they can guess what a song is by playing the first 3 notes on the piano.

• Ask for two volunteers
• Have them sit on a chair
• Play three notes
• The first one to stand up can guess.
• If they shout out the song title, they are disqualified (this helps with reverence)
• If they can't guess the song, play 4 notes, then 5 notes, etc. until one of them guesses it.
• Sing the song, then choose two more children and repeat the process with a different song.

Another variation is to clap the rhythm of the song - no music.  If you do this, list on the board the songs to choose from - this makes it a little easier.

General Conference Preparation

We teach the Sacrament Meeting program songs most of the year.  Do we ever review the songs from previous years?

Help the children prepare for General Conference by singing and/or reviewing songs that relate to Conference.

• Use a chart from the building library or one of you own of the current Church Presidency and the Twelve Apostles.  
• A chart of the Latter-Day Prophets
• Pictures of all the prophets in the song, Follow the Prophet 
• Picture of the Book of Mormon

Explain to the children that we have prophets ever since the Earth was organized. Show a few pictures from Follow the Prophet, p. 110.  Can they guess the song? Sing it. 

Ask the children if they can name 10 (or any number) prophets from the Book of Mormon. Sing Book of Mormon Stories, p.118.

When the church was restored, a prophet was once again called to lead Christ's people.  Who was that man?  (Joseph Smith)  How many prophets have we had since? (Help the children count them using the pictures.)  Sing Latter-Day Prophets, p. 134

You may choose to sing the songs twice - the first time will be a review.

If time permits, the following songs will help the children prepare for General Conference:

Keep the Commandments  p. 146

Seek the Lord Early  p. 108

Stand for the Right  p. 159