The Axe

Well, it happened.  Just when I was noticing how many other bloggers that I get ideas from were all getting released, Iwas released too.  :(  I have a great new calling but I'm soooo sad to be leaving my Primary singers.  Luckily for me, I still get to use my singing in Nursery.  So, I'm hoping I can continue posting and catch up on last year eventually. :)

Out "playing"

I need to apologize that it's been so long since I posted.  Last August I commited to direct an operetta type musical at our local high school.  I have been eating, sleeping and breathing nothing but the play for over three months!  We finally opened last week and we'll close this weekend.  It has been a wonderful experience but I am also looking forward to life as normal as it gets.  I hope to start posting by the end of Nov.!  We've got to get ready for Christmas!!! :-)

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!

Beautiful Mother's Day Song

I realize it's a bit late for this year, but I just figured out how to upload documents onto a companion site for my blog, so here is a really beautiful Mother's Day song that we did this year.  My Heavenly Father Loves Me has been my favorite Primary song for years (there are a few new ones getting up there now too).  So when I found this idea on Sugardoodle, I loved it.  I changed a few words, because I felt it was easier to sing and added pictures for a flipchart.  It was perfect.  Several people commented what a beautiful song it was. 
 

Pioneer Children Were Quick To Obey

Our Primary children are singing this in Sacrament Meeting today.  I could only find one partial flipchart besides one that you have to pay to subscribe to the site.  So I made my own and here it is.
 

New!!! Flipcharts!!!

I finally figured out a way to include flipcharts that I make on my blog.  I had to create a seperate google page, but at least it will let me upload them.  I'm including the link here: https://sites.google.com/site/pansiesandpopcorn/flipcharts  As I have time, I will upload my flipcharts to this site.  If  you have any trouble accessing them, let me know.  :)

The Fourth Article of Faith

Like many of you, I chose this song for June because it goes so well.  I found a really great flipchart for this song and I can't find where I got it from!  I wasn't going to do one, because they know it pretty well.  But I notice that the Sr. Primary knew it a lot better than the Jr.  So, I printed one and it has really helped!  I let five kids come up and each hold a part of the song.  The first week I wanted to sing it several times through, so I had each group go tap a new person to come up and hold pages.  Since we're split, we got through everyone in only few rounds!  Here are some other nice charts you can use that are on Sugardoodle.  If I ever find mine again, I'll add it to the post. :)