SUCCESS!!!

YEAH!!! Program day finally came!  It seemed like forever in getting here with all the changes and extra church activities we have had in our ward, but now we are done and I couldn't be more proud of those kids.  They sure sang their little ol' hearts out for me and and, of course, their parents.  Even brought some tears to my eyes as I could feel their sweet spirit in their voices. I was a little nervous on whether it was going to turn out or not after our Saturday practice when things didn't seem to go right, but today was pretty darn perfect. The children's sweet spirit always seem to make the program special no matter what happens. The kids really pulled it out. I'm a toughie and don't use any visual aids or words for the program. Yep, I like them to learn the songs well and they did marvelous! I was unsure if our smaller Primary this year could get the volume to fill the chapel and overflow, but they did it. Yep, I'm as proud as a peacock right now for such wonderful kids. And I'm especially proud of the children I called and challenged to do solos and musical parts; all for the first time too! What a wonderful experience for them and treat for the congregation. It has just been amazing watching these children grow and learn and develop a love for music and these beautiful Primary songs over the few years I've been teaching them. Just thought I'd post a quick update on how our program went.

Oh, yes, can I just share a tidbit that just <<<hugged>>> my heart? I had so many children give me hugs before and after the program. It is moments like these that is just the cherry on top—it makes all the hard work, long hours and gray hairs worth it. Yep, I'm a proud mother hen.  

I had hoped to post some program helps in the previous months, but didn't have any time to do that. Sorry to those of you who emailed me and asked. There is always next year, so I'll try and post some later. 

Now folks, I guess it is time to plan for next year. I will try and post some planning forms and helps that I use to help me.

I would love to see your comments on how your program went. Also, please share anything special that just hugged your heart. You just gotta love those moments!

SINGING SUPERSTARS—PROGRAM REVIEW

OH MY GOODNESS!!! 

Where has this month gone?

The days have been spinning by awfully quickly.

WILL SOMEONE PLEASE SLOW THE WORLD DOWN

SO I CAN CATCH UP WITH LIFE?????

There have been several posts I've wanted to do this month, including what I was planning on doing for my program review this year
(which I'll have to post later or maybe next year),
<SIGH>

but as you can see, I haven't been able to squeeze out some extra time.

Here is the post I started at the first of the month but life happened

and I haven't been able to get back to it until now. 

With all those POPULAR singing reality-type shows out there these days like American Idol, The X Factor, The Voice, America's Got Talent, etc., you can't help but try and figure out a way to incorporate a similar theme into singing time. I personally haven't watched these but I do hear about them from friends, family and co-workers. Well, with that in mind, here is another way to use the Singing Superstars poster from my last post found here. Sorry again that I'm finally getting around to posting the other use for the poster I promised at the first of the month. Life keeps happening. What can I say?????

Anyway, this is pretty simple to do. I can't say I'm following a particular singing reality show's concept because I really don't know the exact specifics of each show since the bits and pieces of each are just mishmashed info in my little noggin'. This is just my take on the shows and I'm sure many others have done similar singing times like this. BUT, if I had to pick one show from the mishmash of info I know, I guess I would say it is probably closest to The X Factor since I use "X's"  (Ummm, hey there, I don't think they actually use "X's" in the show) and supposedly, the "X" refers to that something eXtra one has that makes them STAR quality. So, yeah, let's go with that.

PREP

• Singing Superstars poster with the songs listed on it & small stars—optional (a printable poster is in the previous post here):

• Basically, I just use the poster as a meter or score board so they have a visual reminder on how well they are doing as we work on each song. 
• Print, cut and post on your poster the three pictures that represent the categories that the children are to be judged on (or write the categories on the poster with a wet erase marker.) If I had known when I first made this poster that I would use it for something else, I wouldn't have laminated the first set of category headers onto the poster. I would have made it removable so I could switch out with other headers. This singing time only has three categories as compared to the four from the last post so you will only use three columns:
• Musicality (note): Sound, volume, clarity on the words, know the words, singing harmoniously together, everyone singing, etc.
• Physicality (reverent children): Eyes on me, standing or sitting reverently, stand up and sit down together, happy face, etc.
• Spirituality (Jesus): Are they singing with feeling and the spirit of the song so others can feel the message of the gospel the song has? I like this because I just don't want the children to sing the song like a robot— just spitting out the words. I want them to learn to pay more attention in what they are singing and experience not only the impact they can have on those that are listening to them, but also in how it can make them feel as well. This hopefully also helps them in understanding how important music is in sharing the gospel. This judge could even close his/her eyes while they sing so he/she can FEEL the music better.
• You may want to print out the above category info for a reference sheet for the judges.
• Ask three people to be your judges. These can be other members in your ward, the Primary Presidency or teachers. I don't like to use teachers for this one since I want them to help participate since they will be in the program with the children.
• Make sure you explain to your judges ahead of time what their responsibilities are in judging and mentoring the Primary.
• Print the three sets of the the stars and "Xs", cut them out, laminate (optional) and adhere to tongue depressor sticks. If you don't feel like cutting them out, just use as a full page. In the file there is also a blank set if you prefer to print out on colored card stock instead and another set without the pictures on them. You could even print sets of the blank ones then cover the shapes with glitter. Now that would give some bling! You could even print and cut out the pictures then adhere them on top of the glittered shapes. Just pick and print your style. 

HOW

1. Have the judges sit up front facing the Primary and give each a set of the star and "X" judging paddles.
2. Explain to the children what you are doing and what each judge will be judging them on.
• Each judge will judge in their category whether the children sang the song program perfect or near program perfect depending on your expectations. After singing, the judges will either raise a star or "X" for their category. 
• A star means that they are star quality in that category.
• An "X" means that they did not sing program perfect for the judge's category and have not achieved star quality yet.
3. Put a small star on the poster for each category they earned for that song to track their progress.
4. Each judge will also act as a mentor for their category.
• After the judging, have the judges mentor the children for their category by telling them what they did well in and what they need to do to improve.
5. Practice the song 2 or more times as needed if they did not get all three stars.
6. When they think they are ready to be judged again, sing the song again for the judges to see if they get all three stars.
7. Continue the process for each song you are wanting to work on.
8. This will take 2-3 weeks to get through all the songs depending on how much practice you need.
9. Have a Grand Prize treat or token for them when they have earned all their stars (optional).

This is pretty easy to do while also giving the children some feedback from others, besides you, on how well they are doing and what they can do to improve in their singing. And besides, children like and seem to do better when they know they are performing for an audience.

HAPPY PROGRAM PRACTICE!!!

Singing Superstars Viz—Nalani

YOU BE THE JUDGE!

This is the SR side of the poster from 2011

OH YES!  It is that time of year when we are all frantically taking the last opportunity to get the program songs PROGRAM PERFECT.  I made a "Singing Superstars" poster a few years back that I have used in a few different ways so far (love visuals that I can use in more than one way.) A singing meter of some sort is always nice to use to help gauge how well the children are doing on each song and children like to see their progress.  Here is one way I used this "Singing Superstars" poster.

YOU BE THE JUDGE!

ITEMS NEEDED

• Judging Poster & Stars or other meter visual you want to use
• Recording device (iPad with video recorder is great because they can also see how well they stand or sit while singing, but a tape recorder or a recording app for your phone or iPad will work fine.)

HOW (You can do this over 2 or more weeks)

1. Review the song once through to warm them up. Use any visuals if you think they need it to refresh in their minds.
2. Sing the song again without any visual helps and this time record the children singing the song as if they were in the program.
• Since I am five rows back in the congregation leading them during the program, they can't hear me sing, so I will only mouth the words just like I do in the program, besides, this really lets you know how well they know the song.
3. Play the song back for the children.
4. Let them judge on how well they did.
• Ask them what they did well on.
• Ask them what they can improve on.
• Here are some suggestions on what they can watch for in their judging.
• Did they know the words?
• Did they sing clearly?
• Was their volume good?
• Did they have good musicality?
• Where their eyes on me?
• How did they look when they sang? Reverent? Happy?
• Did they stand and sit on cue?
• Did they sing with the right feeling for the song?
• Could they feel the Spirit in their singing?
5. Ask them how many stars they think they earned on this song and place on your poster. You could use 1/2 stars too, e.g. 3 1/2 stars earned.
• Ho-Hum = 1 star
• Oki-doki = 2 stars
• Gooder = 3 stars
• Awesome = 4 stars
6. If they didn't earn 4 stars, practice the song two or more times as needed until you think they have it down. To keep the boredom of repetition down, you could use fun ways to repeat sing if you are trying to get the words down, but be careful of how you do this since the object of this is to really work with the kids in solidifying the song.
7. Once you think they are ready, repeat steps 2-5.
8. Repeat the full process with the next song on your list.
• Suggestion: List your songs to work on in an alternating fashion with one they know well so they have a quick success then for the next one sing one they don't know as well, then know, then don't know, then know, then don't know, etc. This will help keep things moving with some quicker successes in-between.
9. If you just want to use this to help gauge how they know each song instead of using it to practice and make improvements, just repeat steps 1-5 once through for each song. 

HOW TO MAKE THE POSTER

From scratch

• I made my poster using a florescent poster board and cutting the title banner with my Cricut Expression using the Hannah Montana font on 12" x 24" black card stock.
• I also used my Cricut to cut out the stars on holographic paper and cut out a larger shadow in black to go behind the holographic star.
• I made a junior version on one side and a senior version on the other side of the poster.
• I then laminated the poster.
• Optional: you could add four categories above where you would put the stars like I did for the "Ho-hum, Oki-doki" etc. or some other categories or leave it blank. If you laminate the poster before you add the categories, that will allow you to change categories depending on what you want to do.
• I printed and cut out my song titles and taped to the poster.
• I used square pieces of clear Velcro, but you could use tape to mount the stars as they earn them.
• With the poster being laminated, you could use a wet erase marker (will stay on until you wipe off with damp paper towel) to write the songs on instead of printing them out as well as you could draw on the stars.

From the pdf file attached

• I've attached six different posters: three with the songs listed for JR, SR or  both, in case you have a combined Primary, and three without the songs listed.  You can print the one you want out in poster format.  See the "How to Helps" on the pages bar above to see "Printing in Poster Format."
• Print as small or big as you want. 
• Cut out some stars or buy some star stickers or draw in the stars with a wet erase marker.

Another way you can use this poster is to bring it out at the end of every month starting at the first of the year to test them on the month's song they have been learning and/or at the end of each month you can test them on the songs learned so far adding or removing stars depending on how well they are doing. I will post another idea for this poster hopefully by tonight.

Singing Superstar Poster

BACK-TO-SCHOOL REVIEW IDEA

Ahhhhhhhhh!

It's that time of year when children's excitement explode with anticipation of school and in wonderment of who will be their teacher, what classes they will have, which friends will be in their classes and of course, the joy of getting new school clothes and school supplies. I don't know why this is, but I just love school supplies. Yep, there is nothing like having a fresh box of 

crayons

with all their little pointy ends just waiting to touch a fresh piece of paper to see what will be created.

Here is an easy "Back-to-School" idea I did a couple of years ago to help review some of the program songs that needed some work or maybe you just have a song or two you need to work on over-and-over again. This can work for that too; just take turns repeat singing the song you want to work on doing the singing activity according to the school item chosen each turn then moving on to another song after you feel they have sung that song enough times and are ready to move on. If you choose to do all the program songs instead of a select few, this activity will probably last you a couple of weeks. You probably have several, if not all, of these school items around the house.

HOW

1. Grab a backpack or a school box that you will fill with some school supplies for the children to pick from.
1. If your backpack has several pockets, put an item in each pocket for the children to select from.
2. Select a school supply for each song you plan to sing or have time to review if you are doing repeat singing on a song. See list below.
3. Assign a song to each school item you've chosen unless you plan on just singing one or two songs for repeat singing. 
4. Take turns having a child pick a school item from the backpack or box.
5. Sing the song according to that item's activity. 

SCHOOL SUPPLIES AND ACTIVITIES (key sheet downloadable below)

Book: A mini Children's Songbook would be great to use for this. Have a few bookmarks placed in the songbook under some selected songs (or written on the bookmark if you are not using the songbook) and have the child pick one of the bookmarks. Then sing that song. Instead of bookmarks, you could have the child pick their favorite song to sing. Another option is to have the children "read" the song by saying the words instead of singing.

Calculator: Choose a word in a song that is used several times and have the children count how many times that word is sung in the song. Have the JR hold their hand(s) up while they sing and count on their fingers. For SR, at the end of the song, have them hold up the number on their fingers when you ring the bell to see how many are right.

Crayons or Markers (set of 8-10 colors): Hold half the colors in one hand and the other half in the other hand. When one hand with the crayons/markers is held up, the children wearing those colors sing while the other children hum, la-la or oooooo and vice-versa with the other handful of colors. Take turns switching between colors. You could just select a few colors for each hand if you prefer.

Eraser(s): "Erase" one or two words from the song by not singing them. Preselect the word(s) in the song you want to omit from singing. If there are 2-3 words to select from, then you could write each of the words on a different eraser and have the child pick one to determine which word to omit. This is a good one for a sign language song; although they would omit singing the word, they would continue doing the sign language.

Flash Cards (Directional Singing Bird Cards): Put several of the Directional Singing Bird Cards in a stack and as you flash the cards over, the children sing according to the flash card. You may want to manually sort them in the stack to help control the order for how they sing.

Glue: Have them "glue" themselves in some pose that they have to hold through the song or for a more reverent song, have them glue their hands together or arms in a folded position.

Magnetic Letters: Have a child pick a letter from the little bag or box you have the magnetic letters in and while singing, they must omit singing each word that begins with the letter that was picked. In preparation for this one, look ahead at the song you have chosen for this activity and select several magnetic letters to put in your container that have several words using those letters in the song. This would mainly be for SR's since this would be a little difficult for the JRs.

Notebook of Paper: Pass out a piece of paper to each child from the notebook and have the children snap the paper to certain words, for example for the song "Choose the Right" you could have them snap the paper whenever they sing the words "choose the right", or they could play their piece of paper by holding it in one hand and hitting it with the fingers from the other hand to the beat of the song while they sing.

Notepad and Pen or Chalk or Small Dry Erase Board and Marker: Give the notepad and pen, piece of chalk or dry erase board and marker to a child. While singing, randomly stop the song and the child must write what the next word is on the notepad, chalkboard or dry erase board. Pick up singing where you left off and repeat stopping another time or two during the song. Have the child write down each word after each stop and check it after you finish the song or you could have a different child come up each time.

Pencils: Have a pencil for each child to pitch lead or conduct with as you sing. You could let the children keep the pencils afterwards.

Pencil Sharpener: Sharpen the words in the song by enunciating each word as you sing while slightly exaggerating the mouth.

Ruler: Who rules? Boys or Girls? Have a boy and a girl come up front. When you point to the girl with the ruler, the girls sing. When you point to the boy, of course, the boys sing. The girl and boy who represent the teams must of course also be singing to help represent their group. Another option is to have the girls and the boys each take turns singing the song separately to see who "rules". Or another option is that you could measure the volume by moving the ruler up and down: raising the ruler to increase the volume (crescendo), lowering the ruler to reduce the volume (decrescendo) or moving it to mid point for normal volume.

Scissors: Have everyone stand still while singing and as they sing you walk around "cutting out" the non-singers and wigglers by tapping them on the shoulder or head to sit down, but they need to keep singing. For SR I like to make it more challenging and to help prevent the goof-offy kids from wiggling on purpose so they can sit down by telling them that any that get "cut out" get the privilege to come up front and be a mini choir and re-sing the song.

Toy: Jump Rope, Ball or Other Small Toy = Recess Time: You will need a bell for this. When the bell rings, the children take a "recess" from singing the words and then when it rings again, they pick up singing the song where the music is. (The music continues playing when they are on "recess", so they have to keep singing it in their heads so they know which word they are on when they start singing again when "recess" is over and the bell rings.)

Remember, if you have the children control these school items for the singing activities instead of you controlling them, give them the rule of 6, 5 or 3 (for short songs). They can't switch more than that number of times in the song and they have to count to at least that number before they can switch again. For JR I don't have to use this rule, but I always do with my SR kids because there are some of them that just think it is so funny to keep switching back-and-forth quickly as many times as possible. (Well, okay, it is funny, but a bit difficult to sing.) I gotta keep ahead of those smartie-pants. 

OTHER IDEAS TO ADD A LITTLE MORE "SCHOOLING" EXCITEMENT IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT

• You can also give them a grade on the song for how well they sang it while doing the activity. Write the song and grade up on the chalkboard to make it more school-like.
• You could ham it up a bit by putting your hair in a bun or clip and sticking a couple of pencils in the bun. You could also put on reading glasses to give you more of a "teacher" look. I also like to throw on one of those eyeglass necklace chains that go on glasses so I don't have to wear the reading glasses the whole time since I don't wear glasses and I would get dizzy if I had to keep looking through the reading glasses; I just like to have the glasses hanging from my neck.
• If you have one of those desk bells, you could ring it before picking the next child to pick from the backpack. You could even tell them that when they hear the bell, they need to sit at attention with their arms folded so you can pick the next child. Just a little extra added bonus to help maintain reverence.
• You could even keep in theme with this month's song by having each child that comes up to pick share something they have done or can do to be like Jesus before they pick from the backpack.
• Have a basket of apples and hand out an apple to each teacher at the end of singing time.
• You could also add the "Spec—tacular Singing Sunglasses" idea to this by having another child guess the omitted word in SR Primary or the loudly sung word in JR Primary. You could even remove the dark lenses on a pair so they look more "wordy—nerdy".
• To help choose the helpers, you could tape numbered cut outs of apples under the chairs and have the children look under their chairs. Those children that get an apple under their chair are your helpers starting with #1. Or, if you have metal chairs, you could put some of those magnetic alphabet letters under the chairs and you would call you helpers up as needed starting with the letter "A". Only use one letter of each in the alphabet though.
• I like to set up my little table I use in Primary (that usually holds all my singing time paraphernalia) like a desk with my bell, finger pointer stick, basket of apples, pencil cup filled with the pencils I will use for pitch leading/conducting, stapler and the backpack.

Well, I hope that gives you some fun Back-to-School reviewing ideas.

8/25/12 9:00 pm
I've updated the key sheet to include one I forgot and I added another. 

Back to School Singing Key Sheet Nalani

PRIMARY SINGING OLYMPICS: SUMMER GAMES

Of course with the Olympics starting this week, you can't help but think about doing a Primary Singing Olympics. A couple of years ago I had worked on a winter Olympic version, but I think I got sick and had to scratch it . . . so I'm excited for another chance. I have seen a variety of ideas over the years for doing an Olympic Singing Time and have borrowed from the many great ideas out there as well as I have added many of my own twists and turns to it as I am most often inclined to do. This is pretty simple to do and I think it will be a fun way to review the program songs. With it being the 5th Sunday of the month, I do have the whole Singing and Sharing Time, but this can be adapted for a regular Singing Time or you could even take a couple of weeks to do it.


You can't have a Primary Singing Olympics without a torch, so I plan to start off bringing my torch out with a quick blurb about the Olympics and how hard these athletes work for years to come and perform at the Olympics and then tie it in with how hard we have been working on the songs in preparation for the Sacrament Meeting Program. 


Of course, we have to have the all important 
Torch Relay, so I will have the lights turned off while my torch is lit while we sing the song (I will also have a battery powered lantern for an extra light source since our Primary Room is quite dark with the lights out—and don't forget a light for your pianist) and as we sing the song standing up, the children will respectfully and reverently pass the light to each other down the rows. The last child will bring the torch back up to me and then I can set it on the table in its base.

Ignore the garland in the picture. I decided not
to add it to the torch but do if you want some sparks.

Red and yellow cellophane wrapped and pleated
around the head of the flashlight. 

The torch was pretty easy to make with found objects around the house. This is how I made mine with what I had. Revise with what you have.

1. Unroll about 14" of the yellow cellophane roll and cut off.
2. Tape about a 1" piece of double-sided tape to the base of the head of a flashlight and adhere one end of the cellophane to the tape on the flashlight. Then make a pleat and tape it down.
3. Continue taping the cellophane down on the flashlight head and pleating as you go around the flashlight. This will help to puff out the flame a little so your flame doesn't look like a column of fire.
4. Make some small snips in the top to give it some small flames. You should be able to still unscrew the top of the flashlight from the handle in case you need to put new batteries in.
5. Unroll and cut off about a 12" strip of red cellophane and cut out some triangle-shaped flames along the cut edge. Be careful because these can tear off easily. Had to fix a couple that tore on me.
6. Tape and pleat the red cellophane around the flashlight head like you did the yellow cellophane. You could use tissue paper if you don't have any cellophane, but cellophane will let the light show more, but then again, you don't even need to use a flashlight. You could just use a paper towel tube.
7. Leave the flashlight handle as is or wrap gold paper or foil around the handle to give it a more torch-like look and you are done OR
8. Instead of wrapping it in gold paper, put the flashlight in a gold, tall, plastic drink cup. I stopped in the $ Store several days ago when I was running an errand in the same strip mall and I happened upon a tall cone-shaped drink cup there that would be perfect for the torch. I was sooooooo trying to figure out something that would hold the torch upright on the table and this had a base at the bottom that would do it perfectly and I can pull the base off if I want to when I am holding it like a torch. I was so excited by the cheap find. I just spray painted it with some leftover gold paint I had on hand—less than 5 minutes. TIP: put it on a stick while you paint so you don't get paint on your hands.
9. With the cellophane flames on the flashlight, just turn it on and drop it into the torch cup and voilà!  An Olympic Torch! It does look pretty cool with the lights off.

Singing Sport Sign Example

I will have my Primary Singing Olympic sign posted at the top of my board (pictured at the top of this post.) If you want the Olympic sign a little bigger, you could print that page in poster format on two or more pages. I did mine on two pages. Then I will have my Singing Sport Signs for the different sports posted on the board underneath it. The link to all the files I made are posted below. I will have a child pick one of the sports and we will sing the song assigned it while doing the "sport" activity. You could also just post the signs in the order you want to do them in and proceed in that order. I have to admit that I kind of got carried away during my brainstorming session when I was going through the list of sports that are in this year's Olympics and trying to think of names for the sports and activities. I did some "singing" word play on the sport names. I know the kids may not get them all, but the teachers might think they are fun and I had fun thinking of them. During my brainstorming, I ended up with WAAAAAAAAAAAY more sports than you will ever do for your singing time and I created signs for each one as well, so at least you have quite a variety to pick from. Just select the singing sports activities you want to do for the time you have. I've also attached a key sheet file for the sports and songs. Just select which sports you want to do and write in the songs you want to do on the key sheet. You could even just write what the song is and activity on the back of your sign if you don't want to refer to a key sheet. Don't forget to take any items/props, if needed, for each sport activity you have chosen. I've tried to keep the props simple to none. If there are any props needed, I've listed those items in each section on the key sheet.  Here is a list of the songs and sport activities that I am thinking of doing:


TORCH SONG RELAY: If the Savior Stood Beside Me
RHYTHMIC RIBBON: When I Am Baptized
SYNCHRONIZED SINGING: Nephi's Courage
SHOT PUT IN ORDER:  Choose the Right
ARCHERY ARTICULATION: The Wise Man and the Foolish Man
TENNIS WORD: Dare to Do Right
SAILING SERENADE: As a Child of God
TRAMPOLINE TRIPLE TIME:  Stand for the Right
VOLLEYBALL VIRTUOSO:  I'm Trying to Be like Jesus
MOUNTAIN BIKE MEDLEY: Stand for the Right and Dare to Do Right Medley


Probably won't have time to do all 10, but I'll be prepared just in case with the last two.


I tried to use most of the actual olympic pictograms for the signs but many of the sub-categories didn't have any, so I just created my own, so many are not the official pictograms in case you were wondering. Although I don't care for the Olympic font London chose, I used it anyway for a more authentic look.  I tried to do a variety of "sport" activities; however, don't expect them to be these big running, relay type of sport activities for the children to do. I find too much playing around type activities make it difficult to keep some semblance of reverence as well as the children get too busy "playing" instead of singing, so I try to select activities more conducive for singing that the children enjoy doing but still gives them some movement, variety and a challenge. There are a few more "sporty" events on the list just in case you want to throw in one or two for a moment or two of added play time.


I also plan to have someone be a judge; maybe one of the presidency members or maybe take turns having the teachers help judge. This is optional, but kids seem to like to perform well when they are being watched. I will give the judge three paddles: GOLD MEDAL, SILVER MEDAL and BRONZE MEDAL. They are the big medals in the file that I have cut out and attached to tongue depressors. If the children sing the song/verse well, the judge will hold up the GOLD MEDAL after they sing. If they sing okay but the song still needs some work, then the judge would hold up the SILVER MEDAL paddle. If we could really use a bit more work on the song, then the judge would hold up the BRONZE MEDAL paddle. Oooooo, I sure hope we don't earn too many bronze medals!


If the song has more than one verse, I plan on only having them sing the first verse then stop to be scored by the judge, then sing the second verse, stop and be judged and so on. Whatever paddle the judge holds up, I will put up a smaller version of the medal next to the Singing Sport Sign. So, if there are three verses to a song, there should be three medals next to that sport sign when done to reflect how we did on each verse. This will be a fun and incentive way for everyone to see how many gold, silver or bronze medals they have earned as well as it lets you know what needs more work. I've included in the file all three versions of smaller medals as well as a black and white version if you would prefer to print on colored paper instead of in color or print on white and just color them in. Just print and cut out how many scoring medals you might need for the number of songs/verses you plan to sing.


I haven't brought a treat all year, but I decided to for this activity because you just can't have an Olympic event without a medal, so of course I've done the obvious GOLD CHOCOLATE COIN that I hot glued some blue curling ribbon to. If you don't want to do an edible treat, I've included little gold medals that you can print on gold card stock, punch out and tie curling ribbon or yarn to make a gold medal.


Another gold medal option would be is to wrap a cookie in gold foil and then glue ribbon or yarn on it.

Hope you have some

OLYMPIAN SINGING FUN!!!

Primary Singing Olympics—Nalani


Primary Singing Olympics Key Sheet-Nalani

TIC-TAC-SING REVIEW

I'M BAAAAAAAACK!

WHEW! It has been a busy summer already with a new grandchild being born, hanging out at amusement parks with the grand kids, camping with the fam and a zillion other things on top of the every day stuff. 

Since this is the last Sunday of the month, it is time to do a review of the

program songs.

Sometimes, these review times are the only chances we get to sing some of them with so many other songs to sing throughout the year. This Sunday, I am going to do a

Tic-Tac-Sing. 

This is an easy and fun review game to play. I have an old Tic-Tac-Toe poster board game board I'm going to use that I made a zillion years ago before we had a chalkboard in the old building's Primary room—back when the room was originally designed as the "JR Sunday School Room" AND before they had the portable rolling chalkboards in the building AND shortly after they changed to the block time and moved Primary from the week day to Sunday AND when computers filled rooms instead of compactly on top of a desk, so yeah, we used easels and posters a lot back then. WOW! I'm really dating myself aren't I?! The lamination has actually held up well on this poster over the years compared to other posters I made back then. I just cut strips and letters out of red poster board and glued them to a yellow poster board. I did revamp my "X" and "O" markers using my Cricut machine a year or two ago. I've attached a scanned image of the "X" & "O" markers, so if you want to make a poster, you can print at least 5 sets of these markers out on card stock paper, cut them out and laminate them without having to go through the work of making them from scratch. I did add Velcro on the back side of the markers as well as on the game board so they can easily be placed or removed with each game played, but you can use good ol' masking tape like I did back in the day. If you don't want to make a game board, just use chalk and eraser.

Easy and Quick!

To play this game, I am actually going to have them sing one of the verses of the song first before asking and having them answer the question. Since we haven't sung some of these for a while, this will help them review it, hopefully they will concentrate on the song so it will reinforce it in their mind as well as help them so they can answer the question correctly. I will be reviewing the songs/verses in the order I have on the Q&A sheet.


Here are the general game rules to play. I've attached the file and questions below if you want to print them out. I have more questions than can be done in the 20 minute allotment, because I will have the full Singing and Sharing Time this week, so adjust to fit your Primary and time slot. 


HOW TO PLAY

JR: NO TEAMS

•  Sing the song or verse to review before each question.
•  Split the songs into verses so you can focus on each section at a time and to give more opportunities for questions.
• Singing first will help to review the song while giving the children the opportunity to concentrate on what they are singing and to also motivate the children in singing in the hope to be chosen to have a turn to come up.
•  Ask the question for the song/verse just sung.
•  The child that answers the question correctly gets to come and put up a game marker.
•  Rotate selecting a child from each class to have a turn to answer.
•  Alternate the “X” and “O” markers with each question. 
• Warn the children, if necessary, that if they do not participate or are not reverent, you will remove one of the game markers (start with the center one since that is the most strategic spot.)
•  Continue singing and playing until there are three in a row.
•  Start a new game if time permits.

JR optional ways to play with teams

Primary vs Music Leader (you)

•  Play the game similar to the rules above; however, the Primary will be “X” and you will be “O”.
•  If a child answers correctly, they put up their marker. If they give a wrong answer, you get to put up your marker.
•  You do not answer any questions; just the children.

 Teachers vs Children

•  See the SR “How to Play” rules.

SR: TEAMS

• Divide Primary into 2 groups.
•  Sing the song or verse to review before each question.
•  Split the songs into verses so you can focus on each section at a time and to give more opportunities for questions.
•  Singing first will help to review the song while giving the children the opportunity to concentrate on what they are singing and to also motivate the children in singing in the hope to be chosen to have a turn to come up.
•  Let the teachers and children know that their teacher will be watching to see who is participating and paying attention and will be picking who gets to come up and play for their team.  If you are playing teachers against the kids, have a presidency leader help look for the children who are participating or you can just pick.
•  After singing, select a class on each team and have the teachers select a child from their class to come up to be the game contestants to answer the questions. You should have 2 contestants.
•  Ask the question to the song/verse just sung.
•  The first contestant to ring the bell or buzzer and answer the question correctly gets to put up their team’s game marker on the Tic-Tac-Sing board.
• The contestant has 5 seconds to answer the question correctly. If he/she cannot answer correctly within the 5 seconds, the other contestant gets a chance to answer correctly and put their game marker up on the board.
•  If neither team answers correctly, no “X” or “O” gets on the board at this time. Just have any child answer the question 
• OR
•  Sing the song/verse again and then pick someone from the team that was singing the best to answer the question. If he/she answers correctly, that team gets to put up their game token on the board.
•  Repeat playing the game until one team has three markers in a row.
•  Start a new game if time permits.
•  To help keep some semblance of reverence, let the children know that if at any time their team doesn’t sing or gets noisy; they will have one of their markers taken off of the board.

TYPES OF TEAMS FOR SR PRIMARY

• Split the room in half
•  Girls vs Boys
• Children vs Teachers

GAME VARIATIONS

• Play a life-size version by using painters tape to make a grid on the floor or use small chairs and have the child that answers correctly stand or sit in the spot. You may want to have the child hold an "X" or "O" to help visually.
• Play the game to just review one song over and over again as you practice each phrase of the song.
• In reviewing one song, you could take turns for each team to sing the song and if they sing it well, they get to place a marker.
• Do a combo version with "Name that Tune". Have the pianist play a few notes and the contestant that names the song correctly gets to place their marker then sing the song.

Tic Tac Sing Program Song Review Nalani



Tic-Tac-Sing X-O-Nalani