Smiles

I saw a post by Gabby Gellenthin and her great idea to use this pillow case for the song "Smiles" aka "If You Chance to Meet a Frown...". I ordered one from Amazon and threw it on an old throw pillow and voila! The nursery kids adore it!!

Food Rhythms

Someone somewhere posted this great guide that uses food to teach rhythms, I don't know where it originated from, but I love it!

I was thinking that sometime this summer I will pull it out to have a "Rhythm Picnic". I think I will put down a checkered tablecloth and a small basket or make a basket poster that I can make a slit in and reach into. Something like this:

Inside the basket, whether real or paper, will be these fruits (cut apart from the chart) to draw out and practice their rhythm. I think the kids will enjoy doing something different.

Mr. Potato Head

For one Sunday, the lesson was "I Have Been Sent To Earth To Gain a Body and Be Tested". I decided to do the Mr. Potato Head idea that I've seen on here and sing songs about the body. There is a song on the back of each piece (or set like ears, arms etc.).

Eyes - "Two Little Eyes"

Ears - "I Have Two Ears"

Mouth - "If You Chance To Meet a Frown"

Nose - "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" (last word 😉)

Hands - "I Have Two Little Hands"

Feet - "Two Happy Feet" or "If You're Happy and You Know it"

Body - "Hinges" or "Do As I'm Doing".

I'm All Made of Hinges

I saw this idea on the FB page for Primary Choristers and LOVED it. The kids did too! I was able to use it for both Jr. and Sr. Primary and Nursery! Win-win-win! I told the children that we had a special guest that day, "Bro. Bones". I had him "dance" for them and then put him in a funny position that we all mimicked as we sang, then I changed it to another funny position and we'd sing again. It was really fun. The first picture is the one I saw on FB, the second is my adaption. Super easy to make with a stack of small ribbed paper plates, brads, glue and a marker. I just printed the words in sections, cut them and glued them on.

Campfire

I love this little campfire someone made for the kids for Pioneer Day!  They turned off the lights and sat around the campfire to sing.

The campfire was made out of flickering LED candles and tissue paper.

Another option is to purchase a campfire cut out. I like this option because it folds flat and doesn't take a lot of room in my bin.

Here's one that I found on Amazon:

Bean Bag Toss

Here is a picture of a game that she made, she made it out of PVC pipes.  She just had the kids toss a bean bag into the pipes and each pipe is numbered, so you can assign the numbers to songs or whatever.  The kids love it!

In the Leafy Tree Tops

She says: " I have some huge flowers I will have some kids hold for the second verse, so I wanted some birds for the first. I don’t think I want the kids all handling them, so I am thinking of making a nest for them or I think it would be really cool if I could figure out how to make a tree branch that I could hang them in and have a child hold the branch.  Maybe a branch from an artificial tree."

Nursery Singing Time Ideas

I ran across this blog this morning.  It has lots of different ideas for multiple subjects with children but I wanted to share her singing time page because it had a lot of cute ideas and everyone always likes more cute ideas right?

http://fortifythechildren.blogspot.com/2011/01/singing-time.html

If You're Happy And You Know It . . .

This singing aid is used for the song "If You're Happy" #266 in the Children's Songbook.

A child takes a turn chooses a colored strip and just like it suggests as options for this song, we insert the words into the song instead of "clap your hands" and we do an action with it. For example if they chose "toot your horn", we would sing:

If you're happy and you know it, toot your horn (toot, toot)
If you're happy and you know it, toot your horn (toot, toot)
If you're happy and you know it,
Then your face will surely show it.
If you're happy and you know it, toot your horn (toot, toot).

 

While I have often used this song and done substitutes before, the simplicity of this key ring for letting the children choose a substitute and the bright fun colors really appealed to me (and the children).  We have a small enough nursery that we let every single child pick one before we move on to the next song.  Bonus: for the children that can talk and are learning colors, it's a fun reinforcement of their color recognition.

Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam

The next one is one that she uses for the song "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam".  The Nursery kids absolutely love this one!  They just put the sun-on-a-stick up in the air on the word "sunbeam".  I like how she chose different faces for the suns instead of making them all the same because each of the children like a different one.  Children aren't all alike, why should the suns be. :)  We have one little boy that chooses one of the sun glasses ones every time. :)