The Handcart Song

This year we are singing for Sacrament Meeting (again) for Pioneer Day.  I chose To Be a Pioneer and The Handcart Song.  Since I broke my right arm I've really been making use of this PVC stand I have and taping all my visual aids to it.  I also taught the Oxcart song and the kids liked singing and marching slowly around the room pretending to be oxen.  It got them out of their seats doing something different.
This Sunday we are combining sharing and singing time to do a big pioneer activity outside.

Father's Day Singing Time

In years past I have always cut the ties of Dad's who come in to the room (having given them old ties to wear). This year I walked around the building taking pictures of Dad's hands and writing down their favorite primary song.  It's really easy and you can show the pictures on a laptop or tablet, or print them out.  The idea is to have the kids guess who's hands they are, and see if they can recognize their own Dad's hands. I also took pictures of the Bishop and his counselors.

Please see my other Father's Day posts!
 http://primarysingingtimewithmatilda.blogspot.com/2009/05/fathers-day-song.html
and
http://primarysingingtimewithmatilda.blogspot.com/2009/06/its-fathers-day-its-fathers-day.html

Books in the Book of Mormon

This week, I taught the Books in the Book of Mormon Song.  I made up cards, one for each book (except for Jarom and Omni - totally off the subject I knew a Jarom, if you know one it's probably the same one).  The big flaw about the cards was that the song moves too fast to be flipping cards after each "book".  The kids picked it up super fast and they really loved singing it, but by the time they really got the song I was tossing the cards on the floor just to keep up with the kids.  Whew.  My recommendation is, if you make up cards for the song, put more than one book on each page.

If I Listen With My Heart Sign Language

I have a really good friend in the ward who uses ASL at home and professionally.  She very kindly came over and went through the song with me.  She wrote down all the signs for me and then I turned on the music, aimed the camera at myself and did this.  It's the most awful video I have made (and I look pretty terrible too).  We've had someone sick in the house for the last few weeks, eventually I'll replace this with something not so hard on the eyes.  I'm not singing here, my throat was way too sore on the day I did this.  We only did the first verse, as I am going to use a soloist for the 2nd and 3rd verses.  The last two signs I repeated a few times, I hadn't gotten the timing right and I was practicing them.  You only have to do each sign once.

The signs in order go like this:

If I had been a little child when Jesus lived on earth
earth - Jesus - lived - if - I - became - child
I Would have liked to walk with Him and listen to His words
what do - walk with him - Jesus - gospel - me - listen
But as I search the scriptures I can hear His words of peace
scriptures - learn - Jesus - peace - I - understand
If I listen with my heart I hear the Savior's voice.
Pay attention - feel - spirit - inspiration

Review Day for If I Listen With My Heart

I have been teaching "If I Listen With My Heart" with sign language.  I'm not doing it as detailed as last year, but it's still a lot of work for the kids.  There are some new teachers and kids in the primary and so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to use one of my favorite activities - snipping ties off of unsuspecting men in the ward.  I asked the missionaries a few days prior if they would please wear ties I provided and then use them in the activity.  I get old ties, or pick them up at the thrift store.  (These came from D.I., my favorite place).  I pulled them out of my bag and my husband asked where I had gotten these awful ties.  The uglier the better.
The missionaries put the ties on and graciously joined us about halfway through singing time.  I let them decide how well the kids sang the song, and then cut their companions tie.  They each cut about halfway and then we sang again.  One of the little boys sang so well I let him cut a missionaries tie.  He was so proud that he had out sung the older boys.  It was a lot of fun, and a great way to review the song by singing over and over.

At the end I had the missionaries pick a song to sing and we sang with them.  I had the missionaries conduct too.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

We sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes a lot.  An awful lot.  We sing it fast and slow.  Loud and soft. We sing it backwards (toes, knees, shoulders, head).  We sing it in Spanish and German.  We sing it opera style, and like pirates.
Then two weeks ago I had a new request - could we sing it like Bach.  I went to my Dad and asked if he could write me an arrangement for the song like Bach would have written.  He scowled a little bit and said he would have to think about it.  Two days later he said he had written an arrangement like Mozart would have written.
He brought me to the piano and I sat down to play.  It's a little like a tongue twister, but not too bad.  Once I got the hang of it I was so excited to give it to my pianist.
This Sunday for our activity song we can sing HSKT in a whole new way!
I did ask for permission to publish this - and so here it is!  If you have Finale I can email the music file, or just print this out. Yes, I am a proud daughter!

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Arranged by Lynn R. Carson

Not just a small primary, a tiny one.

While visiting my brother's ward this week, I was asked to substitute in singing time.  No problem, thought I, a piece of cake.  I knew the primary was small and because it's cold here and the kids all wanted snow to go sledding I decided to do the snowball activity.  I got white paper and some pens and I was ready to go.  I walked into the primary room and stopped short.  I had to take a picture because I really didn't believe.  There were a total of 12 chairs set up.  I was told this was a really optimistic number and that we probably wouldn't have more than 2 or 3.  As it turned out they had 3 children, plus my 3 for a total of 6. 
There is a real challenge in preparing for a primary that is large, and I have even worked in a small primary (10-15 kids) but this was really small.  Knowing that every week each child would have multiple "turns" presents itself a new challenge, making it fun every week, knowing that the anticipation of whether or not the child will get chosen is gone.  I had each child fill out two papers and make two snowballs, but it still wasn't enough songs.  We had extra time so I taught Stand for the Right to them.  It's a quick song and it was fun to do.
It's a lesson learned for me, I need to prepare some ideas for really small primaries, I have a feeling this isn't the only time I'll be substituting in their primary.