On a Golden Springtime, verse 1

I found this gem by Laurie McBride for the first verse of "On a Golden Springtime". It is a terrific idea for Junior Primary and she reported that even the 11 year old boys exclaimed "cool" by the time she was done!

You will need the following materials to make the puppet:

• 2 pieces brown felt, cut out together in the shape of a seed
• 1 black marker
• 1 plastic sunflower (or any flower you've got on hand)
• 1 Green thread, or strip of felt
• Hot Glue

1. Sew the brown felt pieces together with the flower sewn in at the top. Leave the bottom open for your hand to get in.
2. Hot glue the Green thread/felt from the flower down to the opening of the puppet, like a stem. You may also want to glue the flower as well, to bolster the seam.
3. Fold inside out and draw a "sleeping" face on one side and an "awake" face on the other

On a golden springtime...... just hold up the asleep side of the seed with your right hand

Underneath the ground..... move the seed below my left arm- which I held parallel to the floor as to represent the ground.

A tiny seedling lay asleep until the sun shone down... I turned my hand 90 degrees so that now the seed was sideways and looked like it was sleeping.

Awake, awake oh little seed, push upward to the light.... the seed slowly goes upright again and moves upward towards the parallel arm.

The day is bright with all your might push upward to the light..... Have the happy face side of the mitten exposed now and have it "grow" up from under the "ground" and once completely above the parallel arm/ground I used both hands to start turning the "mitten" inside-out and therefore expose the sunflower which has been hidden up until this point. This gives the "illusion" that a flower is growing from the seed and it looks like it is on a mound of dirt when the mitten is inside-out.

April 2010 Plan

April gets cut a bit with Conference, so I'm hitting "On a Golden Springtime" this upcoming week. I'll let you know my plans soon!

April 2010

Little Seeds Lie Fast Asleep

Last minute idea for Spring! I don't know how your Sunbeams are, but mine are getting a little rambunctious these days. So......

I am wearing an apron with gardening gloves and hat tomorrow. Then I'll ask all my Sunbeams to come up front "in a row". I'll talk about seeds and how it's planting season, so I need them to be the best little seeds they can! Have them huddle down like baby seeds in the ground and sing the song while spraying them with a water sprayer. They will love a little mist!

Just a fun wiggle song to learn about Springtime!

Singing Time Spinner

"Follow the Prophet" is going really well. I have been visiting each class for (literally) 2 minutes each to go over their verse with them. The teachers are so funny when I come in and ask if I may take a couple minutes....they are more than happy to have someone "mix it up" a little for a break. I did combine the Sunbeams and 4 year olds for the 1st verse, and the 11 years I comined with the 10's. I did this because we will only have one 11 year old left by the time the Program runs around. This way each of the verses sound stronger.

That being said, I am planning a review game again this week. They had a great time last week and with so many songs up in the air right now (New Reverence, Jan & Feb Program, Article of Faith and Mother's Day) I am taking advantage of some "fun" time.

This Spin Game can be done a couple of ways. You can make a huge poster-sized spinner, Game Show style. So fun for the kids to all see and watch the spinner. I am choosing to use a game spinner (from Chutes & Ladders, but any game spinner would work) and paste the results on the board. This way I can keep bringing the game back with different fun ideas to do while singing. It keeps it a little more customizable for future use.

A child will spin and the correlating number on the board gives an action / game to do while we sing the song of their choice. If you are focusing in on certain songs, you can have them pick a song title out of a bag. Or you can also number the songs to go with a second spin.

I have included my numbered actions:
One - Sing While You TP your teacher (have the teacher stand up front while child "decorates" them)
Two- Sing Opera Style (sounds horrible, and drives me crazy....but the kids LOVE it & I get a lot of participation out of this one)
Three-Class Dance Off (have the entire class stand up front and showcase their moves)
Four- Follow the Leader (just like the song!)
Five-At the Dentist (open mouths BIG, just like when they go to the dentist. The Hygienist in me just came out:)
Six-While Standing Backwards (it's a tiny thing, but facing the back of the room is an "experiment" in sound for the children)

I hope it goes without saying to be watchful and sensitive to which songs you sing which way....use discretion to keep the Spirit in the room. That's the entire goal: keep kids enjoying Singing Time so they have more attention to feel the Spirit.

Grab Bag Review

My kids are exhausted from working so hard these last few weeks, so I thought I'd throw in a game. I am putting all of these items in a "Grab Bag". The best singers get to pick an object out of the bag and guess which song goes with it. Then we sing it!

Mirror - "I Know My Savior Loves Me"
Shoes - "Follow the Prophet"
Easter Egg - "Did Jesus Really Live Again?"
Sword - "Army of Helaman"
Globe - "He Sent His Son"
Lipgloss w/Heart Stickers - "Love Is Spoken Here"

Follow the Prophet: Verse 9

I am taking a hat with BYU/Utah on it for a child to wear "Now we're in a world where people are confused". (My husband reminded me to clarify that choosing one school over the other isn't necessarily "Following the Prophet". Oi vey.)

A second child will hold the Sunday newspaper for "if you don't believe me, go and watch the news".

The third child will hold the compass for "we can get direction all along our way"

The fourth child will hold a picture of Pres. Monson. on the last line "if we heed the Prophets, follow what they say".

Follow the Prophet: Chorus Actions

I am excited to try these actions out on Sunday. They are very fitting to the tone of the song. Perhaps I will march to the verse and then do these actions with the chorus, it might be overwhelming to do both at the same time.

Hit Right Leg on "Fol-"

Hit Left Leg on "-low"

Clap Hands on "The"

Snap Right Hand on "Pro-"

Snap Left Hand on "-phet"

Use your index finger to motion NO to the beat during "Don't Go Astray"

Follow the Prophet: Joseph Smith Verse

Joseph Smith the Prophet, Was the chosen one.

In the Sacred Grove, he saw God and His Son.

Joseph was so faithful, true in every way,

He restored the Gospel in the Latter-Days.

written by Mindy Smith

Follow the Prophet, Idea 2

Stacey, over at Beehive Messages had a great idea for helping to learn Follow the Prophet. Since it is March, to begin MARCHING behind the Prophet. What a great way to help the children understand a disciplined action to discipline their own life after the Prophet's teachings!

We will be marching to the Chorus as well as the last verse (9). I think the last verse we'll have a big picture of Pres. Monson to help us understand we are singing about our world today. I would march behind Pres. Monson any day!

Follow the Prophet

I know when to call my limits, and a 9 verse song is definitely PAST my limit! So, for this song I have decided to assign the verses out to each class. I combined the Sunbeam and CTR 4 to sing the 1st verse, CTR 5=2nd, CTR 6=3rd, CTR 7=4th, CTR 8=5th, Valiant 9=6th, Valiant 10=7th, and Valiant 11=8th.

I printed off the words here, and gave them to each class teacher to work on for 3 minutes each class time through March. During Sharing Time, I will make my rounds to hopefully work with and help each class for these 3 minutes.

We will all be singing the last verse together.

As far as performing for the Program, we will sing the 1st verse and chorus, then the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th verses (without chorus) and finish with the Chorus. I am also making poster size pictures of their prophet for each class to hold when they are singing thier verse. I will post them when they are completed!

March 2010 Plan

March 2010 Plan