A Child's Prayer

When I started teaching primary music many years ago, I was genuinely surprised at how much the children loved the song "A Child's Prayer." I had not learned it growing up (of course I grew up way before the Children's Songbook came out) and so was unfamiliar with it.

A few years later when I started to teach it as part of the program that year, I didn't really love the pictures the previous chorister had used, so I made up my own flipchart.  It was fairly easy to teach since most of the older kids already knew it, but I wanted the littles to be able to learn it and have helps to sing along.

I made the second part just one page with fewer pictures since that is the part we have the adults in the room sing.

You can find my flipchart here:  A Child's Prayer

Pioneer Day Singing Time

A couple of years in Primary I did a Pioneer Day of singing. There was a bit of prep before hand, but the results were fantastic.  

Days before I got a big box large enough for a sunbeam and drew wheels on it with marker - this would be our "wagon" (or you could just use a wagon if you have one, but the kids loved pushing a child around in the box).  I collected sticks to make a "campfire" with and brought a blue blanket to be a "river."  I also got some paper cups and some pieces of paper that we wadded up into balls for a pioneer game of toss and catch.  Then I made a few pioneer button spinners (you can find lots of examples online).  I also prepared some snacks, I chose dried apple slices and pretzel sticks.

Following is my plan with dialog and songs to sing.  I planned out which corner to do each section in and placed my objects around the room accordingly.  The kids know about half of the songs which helps them not feel too uncomfortable when we sing the songs they don't really know.  You can play the songs from the Church music app if that helps.

The kids had a lot of fun and remembered the activity for years!  It also helped them be interested in Pioneer stories of their own.  I told them to go home and ask their parents if they have any pioneer ancestors and to ask them to tell their stories.

You can find my Singing Plan here:  Pioneer Day Singing Time

Dearest Mother, I Love You

Here's a sweet little song for Mother's Day which is quick to teach and easy for the kids to learn: "Dearest Mother, I Love You" (page 206b of the Children's Songbook).  It also lends itself to very well to easy hand movements if you want to do that.  Practice for a couple of minutes each week for three weeks before Mother's Day and you are probably good to go.

It makes me sad that some leaders don't want to teach Mother's Day songs in case some child doesn't have a living mother, or their mother is not "kind and true" or for whatever other reason.  I feel that we should be teaching children what the ideal of motherhood is, so that if their situation isn't currently ideal, they have something to strive for in their own life.  They may also see and appreciate these qualities in some "mothering" person in their life whether it is an aunt, grandma, teacher or neighbor.

Please don't deprive mothers or other mothering person the wonderful opportunity of seeing their little precious one singing in church on Mother's Day.  If they don't ask you to have your Primary sing, please ask them.

You can find my flipchart here, complete with sample signs you can use:  Dearest Mother, I Love You

Gethsemane (by Melanie Hoffman)

I was asked by my Primary President to teach "Gethsemane" to the primary children this year.  And I was delighted to to find that the Church put this song out in the March 2018 Friend Magazine, so there was no worry about getting it approved or purchasing music. 

I love the sing-along video that the Church put up on their website (https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2018-03-0020-gethsemane?category=sing-along-videos&lang=eng) and I'm planning on showing it in primary to introduce the song.  There were a few flipcharts online that I was able to find, but all in portrait mode.  So, of course, I made my own version that is landscape mode so I can put it in my binder and hang it over my music stand.

You can find my flipchart here:  Gethsemane

I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus

One of my favorite Primary songs is "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus" and I loved teaching it to the children last year.  I used mostly pictures from the Children's Songbook to make my flipchart.  I tried to use very few words, mostly because the Juniors can't read much anyway and the Seniors mostly knew the song.  I tried to use pictures that helped them remember the words and what they mean.

You can find my flipchart here:  I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus

One of the songs for March 2019 from the new "Come, Follow Me" program is "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus," a song I have loved from my childhood.  The verse that refers to the story of Jesus calming the sea always caught my imagination - that the waves would obey Christ has always been a testament of his power and authority. 

I also remembered that the Tabernacle Choir sang a fourth verse (watch HERE) and loved the strength and power of the last line, "Jesus is King!"  I looked into that and found that it had been in the orange "Sing With Me" Primary songbook, but was removed when the Children's Songbook was released.  I decided to include this verse in my flipchart.  I don't know yet how many verses we will sing in the program, but I want to teach them all.

You can find my flipchart here: Tell Me the Stories of Jesus Flipchart

Baptism (song from the Children's Songbook)

For the first time in four years, I am teaching my Primary children the song "Baptism" from the Children's Songbook.  I gleaned many ideas for my flipchart from around the internet and Facebook and decided on my favorite pictures to help the children learn this song.

You can find my flipchart here:  Baptism Flipchart

I Will Be Valiant

A great song to go with the theme for September 2018 is "I Will Be Valiant."  It is a fun, upbeat song that the kids should know.  If you have time to slip in this song while practicing for your Primary Sacrament Meeting Program, this is a great choice.

You can find my flipchart here:  I Will Be Valiant Flipchart

Families Can Be Together Forever

The Primary song for July is "Families Can Be Together Forever" which may already be familiar to a lot of Primary children.  To aid in teaching the new younger children, I created a flipchart.  I plan to cut out the pictures and post them around the room, leaving a blank spot in the pages.  This way they can figure out which picture goes with which page/words.  It should be a fun review for those that know it and a good teaching opportunity to teach the words to those who don't.

You can find my flipchart here:  Families Can Be Together Forever

We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet

May (2018) is another "choose your own song" month for Primary music leaders.  Then in the Outline for Sharing Time they have Helps for the music leader (see May on page 11) and it shows wordstrips for "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet."

I chose to teach that song for May, but I have so many junior primary kids that don't read, I wanted to use pictures instead.  So I started gathering pictures - but what kind of picture do you get for "we thank thee?"  After thinking about it for a while, I chose a combination of words and pictures.  I realized that it's the same words for each line (almost) - "we thank thee," and that the kids can learn to recognize that repeating phrase even though they don't read.  Anyway, here is what I came up with, I hope it can help someone else too.  Just cut each page into four, or don't, it's up to you.

You can find my "word/picture" cards here:  We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet

You can also find my shortened version (2 page horizontal flip chart) here:  We Thank Thee (flip)

An Angel Came to Joseph Smith

April is "choose your own song" month for Primary.  I chose "An Angel Came to Joseph Smith."  I taught the children some rhythm clapping since this song switches from 3/4 to 2/4 twice in each verse.  Once we got the rhythm down, the song came pretty quickly.  I also had them sing "The Golden Plates" which goes right along with this song and helps the children really understand that the golden plates are the Book of Mormon (see my handout for The Golden Plates).

You can find my flipchart here:  An Angel Came to Joseph Smith

My Mother Dear

A sweet little song for Mother's Day - "My Mother Dear" is pretty quick for primary children to learn.  Be sure to teach them that in this song "bright" means smart (not bright like the sun), mothers have to know and do a lot to raise their children.

This flipchart has pictures for the little ones and words for readers and teachers and any children who come the day of performance who haven't been to church to learn it.  I first used just the pictures (printed bigger and separately) placed around the room and had the kids find the pictures while listening to the song and figure out the order of the pictures. You may be able to sing through it a few times while they work this out.  Then I use the chart to practice once or twice a week until we sing it in Sacrament Meeting on Mother's Day.

You can find my flipchart here (although no flipping is required):  My Mother Dear

If the Savior Stood Beside Me (Sign Language Chart)

After watching this video explanation of how to sign "If the Savior Stood Beside Me," I made myself a chart of very simple signs to teach the primary children as they learn this song.  Mostly the chart is to help me remember.  It took quite a bit of time and some photoshopping (can I use that as a verb now?), so I thought I would share it for those without the time or software to create your own. This certainly is not the only way to sign it, but I chose the easiest signs with what I could find on the internet.

You can find my chart for all 3 verses here:  If the Savior Stood Beside Me (Signs)

He Came For Us (Easter)

I found a sweet song from The Friend (April 2011) that I decided to teach my primary children to sing in Sacrament Meeting the week before Easter since Easter falls on Conference weekend this year.  The sheet music can be found here.

You can find my flipchart here:  He Came For Us

Because God Loves Me

A perfect song to teach the primary children to go along with this year's theme of "I Am a Child of God" is the song, "Because God Loves Me."  It's only two short verses and goes perfectly with this month's theme of the Creation.  I usually do my flipcharts landscape, but this one fit much better in portrait.  I had fun teaching the first verse one week, then asking the kids if it sounded like we were through.  They had to listen again then I received a resounding "no." But then I told them they had to wait to hear the rest of the song next time.  Awesome cliffhanger of sorts.

You can find my flipchart here:  Because God Loves Me

The Golden Plates

This week is also a good time to sing "The Golden Plates."  I haven't had a chance to teach this to my primary yet, and was surprised that they didn't already know it.  I put together a little coloring book to use in teaching this song.

You can find the coloring book here:  The Golden Plates

 

(To create the coloring book, print the page and fold the page in half lengthwise, then fold in half and half again to form the book.  This diagram shows as if looking down on the lengthwise fold.  Unfold and cut where the dashed line would be - the middle two pages. Then hold the ends and press them toward the center popping the middle two pages out.  Fold the middle two pages flat, then fold the book as shown.)

On a Golden Springtime

The last week of this year, sharing time is about Joseph Smith and the first vision.  The song "On a Golden Springtime" is perfect for this lesson, as well as for Easter.

You can find my flipchart here:  On a Golden Springtime

I Want to Be a Missionary Now

I have found that most primary children are familiar with the song "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission."  But not many have learned "I Want to Be a Missionary Now" which is a great song! It teaches children they can start being missionaries right now while they are young.

You can find my flipchart here:  I Want to Be a Missionary Now

Have a Very Merry Christmas

Another fun Christmas song I taught the primary children last year from the Children's Songbook is "Have a Very Merry Christmas."  It's upbeat and easy to learn.  It was the song the kids sang at our Ward Christmas Party.  I gave several of the children props or pictures to hold up during the song. 

You can find my flipchart here:  Have a Very Merry Christmas

Could I Hold the Baby

A couple of years ago I heard about the sweet Christmas song, "Could I Hold the Baby" by Rachel M Goates and totally fell in love with it!  It is listed as submitted music for children on lds.org.  It was my first Christmas as Primary Chorister and it felt late in the year for me.  I previously had been the Ward Music Director and was used to preparing for Christmas in August!  But here it was almost November, so I was frantically looking for a flipchart and ideas on how to teach this song.  None of the flipcharts I found were quite to my taste, but as I looked for pictures to go with the words, I found exactly what my heart was looking for in the pictures of the Children's Songbook.  I found digital versions of those pictures on lds.org as well and the whole thing just fell into place.

My first version was without words (I prefer to teach without words especially for the little ones who can't read anyway), but I realized that I needed the words on the pictures for those kids who just come to church at Christmas time, visitors, and also for future use as it would be months before we would use it again.

The flipchart can be found here:  Could I Hold the Baby (with words)