Inkablinka

My daughter is one of the new Sunbeams coming into Singing/Sharing time this year, and I am a little worried about how she will adapt to sitting during Primary – especially while I am up front. I found this idea on Sugardoodle:

I made some pom pom chicks and paper eggs to encourage the little ones to stay in their seats. We’ll see how it goes!

Next Sunday I will bring out one of my old family home evening lessons to use in singing time. (You can click on the photo above to see the wording on all the ornaments better. ) Being that it is the day after Christmas, I will begin by asking who is planning on taking their tree down soon, then I will explain that even though we are putting ornaments and Christmas decorations away, we can still give “gifts to Jesus” all year long, as we serve one another. (Mosiah 2:17)

I will then pick helpers to come up and match the 2 sides of an ornament together, read the “gifts” on each, and sing a corresponding song. Here are a few examples:

ball ornament: “When my sister is sick and needs to rest, I read her the stories she likes best.” sing: “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus”

candle: “I made a special thank you card to give to my father who works so hard.” sing: “Daddy’s Homecoming”

gingerbread boy: “My brother needs help with his paper route, so I hop on my bike and we get them out.” sing: “I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus”

gift: “I scrubbed and mopped the floor for the sweet widow living next door.” sing: “Fun to Do”

This activity came from the book, “Tons of Fun! Gospel Activities”, and as such, I’m not able to share a digital copy with anyone. It would be fairly simple, however, to use a miniature tree (or even a paper one) with hand-drawn ornaments of your own. Good luck, and hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

This Sunday we will be doing a sing-a-story of Christmas (scriptures and song order came from “A Children’s Songbook Companion”). I have my nativity poster ready to go, using just 5 figures, that will be placed inside numbered envelopes. On the back of each figure there is a scripture written to help tell the story of the birth of the Savior. A child will come up, get the appropriate envelope, we will read the scripture, place the figure on the board and sing the song.

1 – Star: Helaman 14:2 (sing “Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus”)
2 – Joseph: Luke 2:1, 4-5 (sing “When Joseph Went to Bethlehem”)
3 – Mary: Luke 2:7 (sing “Away in a Manger”)
4 – Shepherd: Luke 2:8, 9-10 (sing “Stars Were Gleaming”)
5 – Baby Jesus: Luke 2:11 (sing “The Nativity Song”)

This will probably take 2 weeks to sing all the way through – especially since we are playing pipe chimes with “Stars are Gleaming”, and the children will want to sing it 10 times, until everyone has had a chance to hold a chime!

I wanted to give the children a little reminder of the songs we are singing in Sacrament Meeting next Sunday, so made a paper chain to help them countdown the days, and practice at the same time. I am attaching 7 strips of paper to a note that reads:

Make a paper chain, alternating red and green strips. Every night, take off one chain and practice one of the songs we will sing in Sacrament Meeting next Sunday, Dec. 12th.
Red = Away in a Manger (CS 42)
Green = Mary’s Lullaby (CS 44)

I may do this again next year the week before the big Primary program, using a different color link for each song they will be singing!

This Sunday we will be learning “Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus” (CS 36). These are my visuals, and I plan to write out the chorus underneath them on the chalkboard. To introduce the song, I will bring a globe and point out the distances between America and Israel. We will tell the story of Samuel the Lamanite, and then how there was no satellite or cell phones to share information, how night was as day to show the Savior had been born. I will have the children beat the rhythm on their laps while I sing the first time through, then use discovery questions to learn the song.

We are starting Christmas music tomorrow! Our primary has been asked to sing in Sacrament Meeting December 12th, so we have 4 weeks to learn a couple Christmas songs. We will start with “Mary’s Lullaby” (CS 44) using the visuals pictured above. I’ll have the first verse scattered on the board, sing it through a couple times, then ask discovery questions while children come up one at a time to put the visuals in the proper order. We will do the same for the second verse next week.

The rest of our time we’ll choose songs from my “Give Thanks” poster that go along with this month’s theme. I plan to talk about how giving service is one way to show gratitude to our Heavenly Father.