Pioneer Songs

Today we had a really fun day singing Pioneer songs.  I put the names of the songs on the back of Pioneer cutouts from the churches old figure sets, any Pioneer figures would do, I used the family members (dad, mom, older boy, older girl, young boy, young girl), a covered wagon (The Oxcart) and a scenic one (Westward, Ho!).  I told the children that I had brought some Pioneers with me that wanted to hear some songs about them.  For each song, I called a volunteer to come up and pick one, if it was a person, I pretended like the person "whispered" to me what song they wanted to hear and then we sang it. 

To help keep the songs fun we added some fun ways to sing them.

Little Pioneer Children - Jr. Primary - I had them gather berries, gather "chips", hear, see etc.,
Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked -  It's a given on this one, we "walked and walked and walked" through the rows of chairs.
Update: I have since copied this idea that someone made and I have a child hold each part of the song.

The Handcart - Jr. Primary - I had them stand and push or pull whenever they heard the words.
The Oxcart - We sang really slow and had the teachers do a fun idea I read on The Ordinary Adventures of a Primary Chorister, they were oxen and mooed while we sang, it was so funny!  The kids loved it.  It actually sounded pretty cool!
To Be A Pioneer -  It's such a fun song to split and sing against each other.  It's our favorite!
Westward, Ho! - I made two signs that say "Westward, Ho" on them.  I split the singers into two groups and have two volunteers hold the signs up when it's their groups turn.  It helps the song move along.

(We sang Pioneer Children Were Quick To Obey in Sacrament Meeting, so I didn't use it in Singing Time - See flipchart.  I haven't learned Covered Wagons yet, maybe next year.)

Update: Last year I tried something that I will be repeating this year. I wore a blouse, long skirt and a pioneer bonnet. We sat in a circle around a fake fire to do our singing. (see post on Campfire) The kids really enjoyed it!