How Firm a Foundation

This week was an introduction to How Firm a Foundation. I've fretted about this song for a week or two because they are challenging words. So, here's what I settled on. Sort of a hodge-podge of ideas gathered through the week. It worked great with senior primary, but other than a few it was a failure in junior primary. Oh well, that's why they give us 4 weeks to teach it, right?!?

I started out with a jenga game, some cotton balls, and a box on a table. I called a child up and asked them to build a tower on the cotton balls. The little girl in junior primary that I called up is new to our ward (she affectionately goes by babe) and she was so cute!! She kept telling me that "the cotton balls are escaping me!!" It was adorable. Anyway, we sang the foolish man verse of "Wise Man and Foolish Man" while she gave it her best shot. Obviously she had difficulty and we talked about why that would be. The funny thing was that in Senior primary the girl I called up actually managed a little tower...so I had to be the mighty winds and knock it down! Then I had another child building on the sturdy box and sang the other verse to "Wise man". We talked about which foundation was firm. Then I read Helaman 5:12. We talked about what foundation we should build on and I went through the words of the song. I was careful to point out key phrases like "faith in His excellent word"

As I talked about this phrase I asked where we could find His excellent word. No one answered. So I had a child come up and I began to pile His word into the child's arms. Starting with the scriptures, then the ensign, then the friend, then the Hymnbook...etc. We talked about how this was a lot of words and then led into "What more can He say than to you He hath said".

This was as far as I got with Junior. With Senior I had them close their eyes and picture a mother duck with her ducklings. When they get started, the mother duck opens her wings and the babies all run under her wings for safety. "For refuge have fled". Then we sang the song and I was most impressed by how quickly Senior primary picked it up. Now to work on Junior...keep listening to those cds!!

Repeat Street

For Teaching "I Lived in Heaven" I adapted from an idea online called Repeat Street. Instead we were trying to get from home to church. I have a large die that I made that we rolled. The sections of the song were color coded on the map (i.e. if you were in the red section, you sang the first section of the song) If you landed on a Spin sign you spun the spinner and we sang in that silly way. It was very fun. The kids had a blast!! Here's a picture of my board.

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"