Fun with the Phone

An idea from Sugardoodle.net!

Today we did a singing time on prayer. I talked to the children about the importance of prayer and how Heavenly Father listens and answers prayers. My friend and former primary music leader, Danielle, was standing outside with a cell phone, poised and ready. We sang "A Child's prayer". Toward the end of the song my phone began to ring (Danielle of course). I acted all embarrassed and answered it. The kids were schocked and entranced! She asked for someone and the looked on their faces was priceless. They couldn't believe that the phone could be for them.

She started by asking the first person if we could sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" I said yes and we sang.

Then she asked another person if we could sing "Row, Row your boat". I said that we probably shouldn't because it's not appropriate for primary. So we sang "Love one another".

Then she asked another person if we could sing the closing song. I said that we weren't ready for that yet, so let's sing "Book of Mormon Stories"

Then she asked the last peron if we could sing their favorite song. Whatever they choose.

After that, I explained that our little exercise was a little like prayer. Sometimes we pray and like the first time, the answer is yes. Sometimes like the second call, the answer is no. Sometimes, like the third call, we have to be patient and wait for the answer. And sometimes, like the last call, the Lord would just like us to work at it ourselves and figure out the answer.

It was great. The kids were great!! They really paid attention and the spirit was very strong!

Primary Program!

Our primary children did BEAUTIFULLY for the primary program today! The spirit was so strong. I hope that they all realize how much their strong spirits lift our lives. It was wonderful. Noelle, our 1st counselor (I think) wrote a fabulous program and it really brought the spirit in! Just had to give a shout out.

Primary Hospital

I continued the primary hospital today...taking out the very confusing part of last week I had the "patients" or songs taped to the wall in the back and the "Ambulance driver" would drive over to the wall and pick up the patient and bring him in. Then the lead nurse would help me lead the song while I, the doctor, would assess the patient.

The twist today was that I brought medicine with me...that was magic, but would only work if they were singing. It was just sugar-free apple juice in a spray bottle, but it worked like a charm. They did wonderful!!!

We only had one song go to the ER in junior primary and one go to the day clinic. All got sent home in Senior. It was so fun.

Primary Hospital

So, today I did the Primary Hospital activity. I had one child be a patient, another be a lead nurse (to assist me in leading the song), one to be the EMT (to drive the patient in) and one to be a triage nurse (to decide whether to send the patient home, or what)

They sang the song that the patient was and then we decided according to 5 characteristics what to do with the patient. I was the doctor and I had a chart for each song. We decided what the symptoms were (too quiet, didn't know words, not clear enough, etc.) Then assigned it. If it was good, we went through the discharge checklist which had volume, melody, words, spirit, watching. If it just needed a little help, it went to the day clinic for a checkup. If it really needed some work, it went to the emergency room for a lot of help. Next week I plan on finishing the assessment and starting the healing process. It worked pretty well. I think the kids were just barely getting into it by the time I was finished with singing time, so hopefully next week will go a little better.

Investigator Singing Time

This week I helped the children see that when asked a question about the gospel they can think of a primary song and they can find the answer. Or in other words, the primary songs contain true gospel principles. I found this idea on the primary music leader yahoo group. Here's how it went for me:

I had a list of questions ready for a recent convert who pretended to be investigating the church (I think a side benefit was that he got to experience primary and it helped strengthen his testimony).

What is your relationship to God? (I had to explain what that meant.)
*Sing "I am a Child of God"

Where did we live before earth?
*Sing "I Lived in Heaven"

Why are the Scriptures so important? (We talked about reading stories about Jesus and that the scripture build you faith and give you power)
*Sing "Scripture Power"

How does the church say we should act?
*Sing "If the Savior Stood Beside Me"

(After singing I emphasized key phrases like "thinking of His Commandment, Follow His Example, speak more reverently...)

What are temples for?
*Sing "I Love to See the Temple"

Why should we listen to the prophet?
*Sing "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet"

We didn't get to ask all the questions in either Junior or Senior, but it was fine. After we got finished we talked about being good missionaries and sang "Called to Serve"

Called to Serve

To practice Called to Serve this week, I used an idea from a fellow primary music leader...

I had mission calls for the primary. It was a piece of paper with an "I am a Child of God" seal on it that said "We've been called to: Idaho" or whatever area I chose. We'd find that location on the map and then use something about that area to sing the song. Here's what that was:

For India: We talked about how some people ride Elephants and they take big side to side steps. So we rocked side to side as we sang.

For China (and Korea): We talked about how they use chopsticks to eat and I gave them all a set of chopsticks to bang together as we sang.

For Washington DC: We talked about how the President lives there and I had flags for the kids to wave while we sang.

For Idaho: I had a hot potato to pass around as we sang. The struggle with this was that the kids would forget to sing. I did have to reinforce not throwing.

For Australia: I asked what animals lived in Australia and we jumped like kangaroos while we sang.

I'm sure you could think of other ideas, but this was great because it varied it enough that they didn't mind singing the song over and over and by the end they were singing all of the words correctly!! At the end I challenged them to sing louder than me, (I can sing fairly loud) and they did great!

I Love to See the Temple, or any temple theme.

I had a dryer box in my garage (although you could probably go to a store and get one) and I made a temple with it. I only used two sides because if turned diagonal that's all you see. This is how I made it: To start I cut down one corner so I could work on the inside of the box so you couldn't see writing through the paper and so it could be closed and hidden. On the front I taped the flap stiff and cut three "spires" (triangles) into it. On the front I taped 9 pieces of 1/2 sheet construction paper. On the side I taped 12 pieces of 1/4 sheet construction paper. Then I brushed glue all around the colored paper and glued on white easel paper (or you could used butcher paper). I then used a craft knife to cut windows over the craft paper so they could be opened. I finished off by attaching a printout of angel moroni. It was great! and it only took about an hour to do. Then in Junior primary (after 2-3 action songs) we talked about temples and about the way we feel when we are close to or inside the temple. I then asked the teachers to help me walk the kids out one door of the primary room and come back in another. I told the kids that when we walked back in that we were going to pretend we came into the temple. I lowered my voice and told them that when they came in I would use my temple voice because it is so important to keep reverent in the temple, so they would need to stay quiet so they can hear me. When they went out, I brought out my temple and set up. The spirit was very strong when they came in and then we learned ILTSTT. As they sang (beautifully I might add), the spirit continued and I had many opportunities to point out the way the spirit feels. Best of all, the kids were reverent the ENTIRE TIME!! At the end in the 9 front windows I had cards with numbers on them that corresponded to songs to sing. Only reverent songs because we were in the temple!In Senior I had the temple out from the start to learn the second verse to ILTSTT. Then played a game with the 12 side windows. Each had a card with aphrase in it. Like "in my early years" for Families Can Be Together Forever. If they could guess on first try they got 2 points. If they couldn't the opposing team got a shot. If they couldn't then my fantastic pianist would play 4-5 notes. Then if they guessed it, it was only 1 point. It was fun. Sometimes it is not so successful, so when you're inspired and it works it feels great!!!