NATIVITY SING-A-STORY

What child

doesn't like to take part in the

Nativity Story??????

If you are looking for something to do for the Sunday before or after Christmas, try doing a

Nativity Sing-a-Story.

Last year I did a Nativity Sing-a-Story and the children loved it and what a wonderful and spiritual feeling of the Savior's birth that was felt by all. The script is compiled from Sharing Time ideas in the 1984 & 1985 December issues of the Friend magazine and from Luke 2 and Matthew 2 in the Bible.

I had the whole singing and sharing time last year, so this is great to use as a combined Singing and Sharing Time or you can shorten it for just a Singing Time. It is pretty easy to do. There are a few things you will need to prepare for ahead of time, but acting out and narrating the script is pretty much on the fly. 

Here are a few heads up things to prepare for (all speaking parts can be assigned that day):

• You will be narrator #1 and you will need a narrator #2, preferably an adult male. Assign ahead of time or ask a male teacher in the Primary that day. You will both need a copy of the script.
• You may want to make a couple of extra copies of the script for your helpers that will help with the children.
• For JR, the narrators will speak the parts as denoted but for SR, have the children read their parts. Just cut out the speaking parts to give to each child.
• Simple costumes that can be easily worn over the children's clothes. Before Primary starts as the children are coming into the room, have your presidency helpers or other helpers start helping to select and dress the children in the hallway or in the back of the room. This will save time. The children can just sit in seats on the front row until it is time.
• Have the costumes labeled and lined up along the wall or on chairs or in separate bags.  It helps to make it quicker and easier to find the right costume and dress the child.
• Props (Most props on the list are self-explanatory. The star I used is a big lighted treetop star that I mounted on a tall stick and plugged it in and handed to the angel to hold when the angel stood behind Mary and Joseph.) You could make a big glittery star out of poster board or cardboard and mount to a tall stick.
• If your Primary does not know some of the songs suggested in the script, just select appropriate songs your Primary knows.
• At the end, you may want to turn off the lights to sing the last song(s). Just make sure you have a light source for your pianist and one for the room if your room gets too dark.
• The script is written how I presented it. Feel free to revise for the needs of your Primary.

More detailed instructions for these are in the script. The script may look daunting, but it really isn't. I just tried to be pretty detailed so it would be easy to follow and flow for everyone, which it actually was. It is really in the prep and organization that helps to keep things flowing smoothly or as smoothly as you can in Primary while doing a skit on the fly.

You could do the Nativity Story every year and the children would never tire of it. They just love being a part of the story about our Savior's birth and it is amazing how reverent they can be and the spirit that can be felt as they experience such a special event.


The Nativity Story Sing a Story

THANKSGIVING SPIN & SING-A-STORY

As I mentioned in my last post here, here is another option I've used in conjunction with the spinner, but you can use it in other ways.

Spin & Sing-a-Story of Thanksgiving.

The concept of the story part I got from A Children's Songbook Companion book, so it is not my original idea; however, I did rewrite it for my taste and revised how to present it using my spinner and the songs we knew. You can still present the story using the turkey cut out from the previous post here or if you don't want to use a turkey visual to present it, you could use it in a book format as originally mentioned in the companion book. If I had done this in a book format, I would have used a thin binder with page protectors with the storyline pages inserted and the facing page for each left blank to insert the pictures after they had answered and picked the correct picture.  I just noticed a great blog here that posted this same book idea.  It is so wonderful the many great ideas and variations floating around out there.  My file for the First Thanksgiving Story I wrote is attached below.

So here is how I presented it with the spinner. I've also inserted comments for the book version as well.

• Post the pictures on the board or around the room randomly.
• Number the back of the feathers (I used the medium feathers only). Although there are only seven parts to the story, I kept the eighth feather blank on the turkey. If the spin landed on the blank one, they just pulled it out and another child took a turn. This allowed at least an extra spin just for the fun of it. If you want to present the story in order instead of by the random spin, don't number the feathers. As each feather is picked, just go in numerical order. The kids will have fun just spinning/plucking the feathers and won't notice that you are being sneaky and going in the order you want to.
• Have each story statement numbered on a key sheet.
• If using the book format, number the story statement pages and insert those in the page protectors leaving the facing pages blank for the pictures that are posted to be inserted later as you go through the story.  
• Let a child spin the turkey and pluck a feather or pluck a feather from your other turkey visual aid.
• Read the appropriate story statement and let the children give the answer to fill in the blank.  Let them also select the picture that fits the answer. To make it a little more difficult for the SR kids, have the pictures turned over on the board so the kids can't see them, then post the song titles facing front over the back of the correlating pictures. Let the SR kids figure out which song is correct for the answer then remove the song title and turn over the picture.
• If you are doing the book version, you would insert the picture in the appropriate place in your book in the page protector.  You could set the open book upright on the table or on an easel to display the part of the story you are on while you sing.
• Sing the song that correlates with the picture.
• Repeat until done.

There you go. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

First Thanksgiving Story-Nalani

TURKEY SPIN

               HAPPY      
     THANKSGIVING!!!

Here is another way to use the  Big Wheel Spinner I made here. I know this wheel spinner isn't something many of you will make, so I do have another option I'll tell you about later.  

This is how I made this Turkey Spinner

• Cut out some small sized feather shapes from various colored card stock and adhere permanently to the back of the turkey so that the turkey isn't so "naked" by the time the other feathers are pulled out.  Laminate the combined body and feathers. Decorate the feathers making a squiggle line with glue and glitter.

• Cut out some medium sized feathers from various colored card stock, laminate and attach popsicle sticks to the bottom of the feathers so they can be inserted into the styrofoam turkey body.  Decorate making a zig-zag line along the top of the feather with glue and glitter.

• Cut out some large sized feathers from various colored card stock and laminate. Decorate making a swirl design at the top of the feather with glue and glitter. Adhere two square pieces of the loop side of Velcro on each of the corners of the feathers on the back side. Leave the hook side attached to the loop so it is easier to know where to place the hook side on the spinner. Attach the large feathers on the spinner equally. Make sure your feathers are short enough to allow a space in the center for where the turkey body will be attached.
• I don't have a template for the feathers to give you. The shape is just a rounded, rectangular teardrop I freehanded at the time. The size would depend on your spinner. I did eight feathers for each size.

Small feathers and turkey

Medium feathers

Large feathers

• Turkey Body
• Print and cut out the turkey body. File attached. Attach the small feathers to the back and laminate. See small feather instructions above. After it has been laminated, you can glue on some large google eyes. It gives it a more fun and animated.
• Get a round styrofoam disk about 6" x 1 1/4". With some brown craft paint, paint around the edges and about an inch into both of the flat sides of the disk—you could paint it completely, but it will be covered with paper anyway.



Back side of disk

• After the paint is dry, glue a circle of brown card stock on each side with a hot glue gun. The paper gives the Velcro something to stick to.
• Take a 2" strip of clear Velcro and cut lengthwise down the center so you have 2 long, skinny strips. Adhere both of the loop sides (soft & white side) of the Velcro strips to one side of the disk.  Leave the hook side (clear & rough) of the Velcro mated to the loop side. Remove the release liner of the hook side of the tape and adhere it to the spinner wheel in the center. The Velcro allows it to be removed so the spinner can be used for other games.
• Take a square piece of clear Velcro and attach the loop side to the front of the disk in the center. Leave the clear, hook piece mated to the loop. Remove the release liner from the hook side of the square piece of Velcro on the front of the styrofoam disk and center and attach the turkey and small feathers that have been laminated together onto the styrofoam disk.

• Insert the medium sized feathers with the popsicle sticks around the styrofoam disk. They will be between the large feathers on the spinner and the small feathers on the turkey.

HOW TO SPIN AND SING

• If laminated, use wet erase markers to write on the back of the large feathers the songs and page numbers to sing.
• On the back of the medium feathers with wet erase markers, write "how to sing" the song, e.g. clap to the rhythm, staccato, fast/slow, your teacher's favorite song, etc.
• Let two children come up and each takes a turn to spin. One spins for the song and one spins for the "how to sing".
• Now, spin away!!!

I've attached a file with a turkey body and some ovally-shaped feathers if you want to just make a turkey that you can post on a board and have the children pick feathers from to choose songs. You could leave the feathers off and scatter them on the board or around the room and have the children pick/find a feather, add it to the turkey, then sing the song. There are colored feathers if you want to print on colored card stock or a black and white one you could use to color them in yourself. Just print how many feathers you want your bird to have.

Instead of a poster, another option, if you want more of a 3-D look, is to get a bigger and fatter styrofoam disk or ball, cut in half and paint, adhere the turkey you've cut out, use smaller pieces of popsicle sticks to adhere to the bottom of the feathers and pluck the feathers out or stick them in the turkey for the songs. You may have to weigh the styrofoam down a little so it won't topple over as easily.

I'll post another way I used this with a Sing-a-Story next.

Turkey Song Pick Pattern

I PRAY IN FAITH: SING-A-STORY SKIT

I wasn't able to get this posted earlier as I originally hoped. There were some technical difficulties with uploading to Scribd but it is working now, so here you go.

Last year I decided to teach "I Pray in Faith" during Thanksgiving time. It is not a song we would normally think of for a song of gratitude, but if you think about it, prayer is an important way that we can talk to our Father in Heaven and share all that we are thankful for. I like throwing something else in the mix than the typical thankful songs that remind the children of things they are thankful for, like one that also teaches how they can show their gratitude.

This can also be tied in with this week's theme of I can be a missionary by setting a good example by being an example of prayer.  Another way to tie it in is you could point out that missionaries have prayers with their investigators. This helps to teach the investigators about the importance of prayer, many of which may not even know how to pray.  Maybe you can think of something even better to tie it in.

"I Pray in Faith" lends itself nicely to a Sing-a-Story and that is how I introduced it. The children were just glued to the presentation, were amazingly reverent and picked up the song quickly because they were engaged in what was going on and were comprehending the importance of prayer and how to pray. Mind you, the script is a pretty simple story line, but simplicity in understanding helps to make things easier to learn. If you are not sure what a Sing-a-Story is, click here for an explanation and click here for an example of another way to present a Sing-a-Story with an Easter theme.

The Easter example link above uses narrative stories, pictures and several songs that correlate with the stories and pictures. For "I Pray in Faith", the Sing-a-Story is a song specific skit singing the words of the song as part of the script. This helps the children to hear the words to the song in a purposeful manner and let's them focus on the words and their meaning. When you present this, make sure you bring out the actor in you and act the part throwing in some fun "drama" to make it interesting and engaging to the children. All you need are a few simple props, someone to help act as your BFF (best friend forever) in the skit and some courage if you are a little shy to have that attention on you as you sing your parts. Oh, you will also need your pianist to help out too. 

Here are the props you will need:

• 2 chairs
• 2 dolls
• 2 bathrobes to be placed on the back of the chairs
• A large, cushy pillow or two to kneel on if you and your BFF have tender knees like me (optional)

Here is the script. I will include a link to a downloadable pdf version at the bottom of the post.

“I PRAY IN FAITH” SING-A-STORY SCRIPT

PIANIST:  Softly play melody of first verse as the girls come in.

Really have fun with this skit and act it up.

Girls come in through the door holding their dolls and walk to the front of the room while laughing, jabbering and giggling like girlfriends do. Sit down in chairs as if on the edge of your bed or plop on the floor and start playing with the dolls.

YOU [excited]

I’m so happy that you could sleep over tonight?

BFF [excited]

Me too! We should do a sleep over EVERY weekend!

YOU

That would be soooooo cool! But I bet our moms won’t let us do that.  [Yawn] I’m really tired. We better get ready for bed before my mom gets MAD at us.

BFF [sighing & rolling eyes back]

Yeah, you're right.

Girls get ready for bed by taking shoes off and putting on the bathrobes. 

BFF

[Shake hands by face while opening eyes wide.]

Hey, before we go to sleep, let’s tell some scary stories.

YOU

[Clap hands in excitement.]

Ooooo, that would be so fun,

but I need to do something first.

[Kneel on a pillow or the floor and fold your arms and bow your head in prayer.  BFF sits on a chair holding her doll with a curious look on her face at what you are doing.]

PIANST: Play melody of the first 9 measures during the “praying” part.

During the following dialog, sing the song parts A cappella, which is easier to do or have the pianist play each phrase as you sing.

BFF [whispers after music stops]

Hey, what’s that you are doing?

YOU [singing]

I kneel to pray everyday.

BFF

Everyday?!?!  Why?

YOU [singing]

I speak to Heavenly Father.

BFF

You speak to Heavenly Father?

YOU [singing & nodding head in a yes manner]

He hears and answers me

When I pray in faith.

BFF

Oh! I see. Well how do you pray?

YOU [singing]

I begin by saying “Dear Heavenly Father”;

BFF

Then what comes next?

YOU [singing]

I thank Him for blessings He sends;

BFF

Hmmm, that sounds like a good thing.

What else do you do?

YOU [singing]

Then humbly I ask him

for things that I need,

BFF

What do you say when you are done with your prayer?

YOU [singing]

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

BFF

That is cool!

Will you teach me how to pray too!

YOU

Yes!  I’ll teach you.  You need to remember though;

the most important thing about prayer is to

make sure you PRAY IN FAITH.

Your BFF kneels next to you and

both of you begin to “pray.”

PIANIST: Play melody of first verse as they pray.

After the Sing-a-Story presentation, I also used a visual imagery visual for the board instead of a flip chart to help in teaching and practicing the song. That allowed me to have my hands free so I could also use some simple actions and ASL to help in teaching each phrase.  The link to the visual imagery is at the bottom of the post as well. For the four parts of prayer speech bubbles, I've included them with the blue background as well as a white background if you prefer to not use as much color. Just print on card stock, cut, laminate and adhere a magnet on the back of each if you use a magnetic board.

I Pray in Faith

ASL & ACTIONS (Remember you are doing these the opposite of the children so they can mirror you.)

I kneel to pray [ASL: Pray] Bring the palms of the hands together in a prayer gesture and bring inward to chest in two small circular motions.
every day [ASL: day] With your left hand and finger pointing upward, rest your left elbow on the back of your right hand then lower the left hand until your arms are together. The moving hand represents the sun moving across the sky and the horizontal arm represents the earth. 
I speak [ASL: talk] Alternate the index fingers on both hands back and forth from the mouth to represent people talking. 
to Heavenly Father [ASL: God]  With fingers together, point up to heaven then bring downward over the center of the face as a sign of respect.
He hears [ASL: hear] Point to the ear. 
and answers me [ASL: me] With index finger, point to your chest. 
When I pray  [ASL: Pray] Bring the palms of the hands together in a prayer gesture and bring inward to chest in two small circular motions.
in faith [ASL: faith] by pointing to your temple then bringing your fists together or just bow your head on the word "faith".

I begin by saying [ASL: begin] Stick the index finger of the left hand between the first two fingers of the right hand and twist. Or you could just hold up the #1 finger and point to it with the pointer finger of the other hand.
"Dear Heavenly Father" [ASL: God]  With fingers together, point up to heaven then bring downward over the center of the face as a sign of respect.
I thank him for blessings he sends: [ASL: thank] Bring the palm of the hand close to the mouth and extend the hand back out, almost as if you are blowing a kiss, but without the pursing of the lips. Do it about three times until you finish that phrase. 
Then humbly I ask him for things that I need [ASL: ask/request] Bring the palms of the hands together out in front of you pointing outward, then bring the hands towards the body still clasped as if in prayer.
In the name of Jesus Christ [ASL: Jesus] With the middle finger of the left hand, point to the center of the palm of the right hand and vice-versa. This represents the nails that were pierced through Jesus' hands. 
Amen [ASL: Amen/Pray] Bring the palms of the hands together in a prayer gesture and bring inward to chest in two small circular motions.

Don't forget to point out to the children that these are the four important parts of prayer and their order. You could also explain to them that when you say "Amen" after someone has said a prayer, it means that you agree with the prayer.

Believe me, an engaging Sing-a-Story is well worth it. Whenever I've done some version of a Sing-a-Story, it has always been amazing how the children are mesmerized by it and how you can feel the spirit as they absorb and understand the gospel message. Go ahead. Give it a try!!!

I Pray in Faith Sing-A-Story Script-Nalani

I Pray in Faith Viz-Nalani

NEPHI'S COURAGE: IDEAS

"Nephi's Courage" is a fun and easy song to teach without a flip chart. It is what I consider to be an action song that you can put some fun movement to. So I'm Excited to work on this action song because I know I could use a bit more exercise and singing time seems to be the only time I can find time for a WORKOUT—if you know what I mean. Here are some ways I've used before to teach other songs that have worked well that I am implementing in introducing or rather reintroducing this month's song.

(Sorry this is so late. Although I have my plans pretty well outlined weeks in advance, finding time lately to formalize it in writing and to post it has been difficult. When I started this blog, I knew it would be difficult with my busy life schedule, but I am determined to keep going because I have so much I want to share.)

GUEST APPEARANCE & SONG SKIT 
With guest appearances, I've used the interview method to introduce songs before and the children always seemed glued to listening to what is being said. I'm going to do a similar take on this by doing it more as a song skit " Guest Apperance".

Doesn't my son make
a great Nephi?!!!

Kids were just mesmerized
by his storytelling.

ITEMS NEEDED

• Book of Mormon with 1 Nephi 3:7 marked
• Pictures for each story or the flip chart (optional)
• Ask an adult to come and play Nephi
• Have "Nephi" dressed in a simple costume and props to help set the stage (optional)
• Costume/Props Suggestions: Outfit, leather belt, sword, bow and arrow, headband, wristbands, sandals, brass plates, boat, etc. (mine is simply put together with just some pieces of fabric and safety pins; one to wrap around the waist and then over the shoulder, another to wrap around the waist, then some vinyl for a "leather" belt tied around the waist to help hold the "wrapped skirt" part up and more vinyl cut into a slight cone shape to fit the forearms for the wristbands using some self-adhesive Velcro to help keep them closed and some sandals on the feet—was quick and easy to put together—nothing fancy, but it turned out surprisingly well—the kids recognized who he was instantly, so I guess we copied the picture pretty well.)
• Make sure your Nephi is familiar enough with both stories told in the song so that he will be able to tell the stories to the children.
• 1 Nephi 3-4: Nephi obtains the brass plates.
• 1 Nephi 17-18: Nephi is commanded to build a ship

SCRIPT

• Start off by showing the Book of Mormon and ask them who the first person that is mentioned in the Book of Mormon.
• Read 1 Nephi 3:7 (Have SR look up the scripture so they can look at the words as you sing.) 

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I ^awill go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no ^bcommandments unto the children of men, save he shall ^cprepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."

• Ask the children to listen as you sing the chorus to see if they hear some of the same or similar words (different but with the same meaning).
• Teach the chorus using the ASL/Actions Combo listed below.
• While you are singing the chorus with the children the 2nd time, have your "Nephi" walk in towards the end of the chorus and come up front. Act surprised and after you stop singing, you can use some dialog like this:

NEPHI: Hello boys and girls. I heard you singing the words I said to my father, Lehi about being courageous and obeying Heavenly Father's commandments. You sounded really great singing those words to music.

YOU: (Acting a little surprised to see him) Oh, my goodness! Children, do you know who this is?

CHILDREN'S RESPONSE

NEPHI: Yes, that is right. I am Nephi.

YOU: Nephi, we are just learning a song about you and your courage. What do we need to have and do to be courageous like you? 

NEPHI: You need to have FAITH first and then OBEY to go and do the things the Lord commands. If you are faithful and obedient to His commandments, the Lord will provide a way for you to follow those commandments because He truly wants wants whats best for you. And your FAITH grows stronger making it easier to obey.

VERSE 1

YOU: To help us understand about FAITH and OBEDIENCE, will you please share with us your story about getting the brass plates from Laban?

NEPHI: Yes. I would love to.

• Nephi tells the story. Try to keep it to around a minute or two making sure to point out the key points of the song and story and his faith and obedience.

YOU: Let me make sure we understand what you did Nephi. Let me sing the story to you and the children. Children, when I get to the chorus part that we just learned about Nephi's courageous answer, will you please join in and sing it with me?  (For SR, if they are already familiar with the song, let them go ahead and sing the whole verse with you.)

• Sing the first verse using the actions so that the children have the opportunity to hear the song and see the actions, then have the children come in on the chorus.
• Have the children sing the whole verse and chorus with you this time.
• Repeat singing the verse if time permits.

NEPHI: That sounded wonderful.

VERSE 2

YOU: Nephi, will you please share with us another story that shows us how you had faith and obedience?


NEPHI: Yes. This is when the Lord commanded me to go and build a ship.

• Nephi tells the story. Try to keep it to around a minute or two making sure to point out the key points of the song and story and his faith and obedience.

YOU: Let me make sure we understand what you did Nephi. Let me sing the story to you and the children. Children, when I get to the chorus part that we just learned about Nephi's courageous answer, will you please join in and sing it with me?  (For SR, if they are already familiar with the song, let them go ahead and sing the whole verse with you.)

• Sing the second verse using the actions so that the children have the opportunity to hear the song and see the actions, then have the children come in on the chorus.
• Have the children sing the whole verse and chorus with you this time.
• Repeat singing the verse if time permits.

NEPHI: Again you all sounded great!

VERSE 3

YOU: Nephi, in these two stories you have shared with us, what would you say is the message you want to leave with us?

NEPHI: The message is to have FAITH when the Lord gives us commandments and asks us to obey.

YOU: But you know, sometimes I am tempted to choose another way. When I’m discouraged and think I cannot try, what can I do Nephi?

NEPHI:  Do what I did. Have FAITH and be OBEDIENT to the Lord's commandments and you will find happiness. (Nephi then sings the chorus.)

• I will go; I will do the thing the Lord commands. I know the Lord provides a way; he wants me to obey. I will go; I will do the thing the Lord commands. I know the Lord provides a way; (short pause for emphasis) he wants me to obey.

Depending on time, you may only be able to have the children sing each verse through one time so that you can get through the whole song skit. This skit is to mainly help introduce the song and to help give the children a better understanding of Nephi's scripture stories in the song. Next week you can focus more on learning it. I will only have my Nephi there this Sunday (thanks to my youngest son's help with playing Nephi—he is going to look so Nephi—tish with his dark tan and strong muscles), but if you only want to work on a verse a week and are able to to have your Nephi there each Sunday, you could split this up.

ASL AND ACTIONS 

This is a fun one to use actions with in telling the stories in the song. Action songs are great to use as a warm up in singing time and in getting wiggles out.
I have used both ASL and miscellaneous actions in this song. Here is my version.

(Do these actions "left-handed" so the children can mirror you)

VERSE 1

For the ASL links, click on the word.

• The Lord [ASL: God] I use "God" instead of "Lord" since we have used it a lot in many songs and I like how pointing up to heaven helps to point out better who it is.
• commanded [ASL: Commandment] (I chose to use commandment instead of command since we have already used commanment in other songs like "Love One Another" and it will be consistent with the third verse as well as command is the same as reply that I will be using for reply.)
• Nephi [ASL: the letter "N"]
• to go and get the plates [make book with hands.]
  
• From the wicked Laban [make a mean look on your face and place your fists on your hips as you pan the room while singing]
• inside the city gates. [with palms facing you, touch the finger tips of both hands together and open and shut like a gate]
• Laman and Lemuel [as you sing each name, extend left hand out to the side palm up and then the right hand]
  
• were both afraid to try. [turn hands palms down and shake both hands like they have the "shakes".]
• Nephi [ASL: the letter "N"]
• was courageous. [flex your arm muscles showing strength with arms bent at the elbow into a 90 degree angle.] 
• This was his reply: [ASL: Reply]

CHORUS

• "I will go" [with your index finger, point to self on "I" then extend the arm out front keeping the finger pointed]
• "I will do"  [with your index finger, point to self on "I" then point up in the air keeping finger pointed] 
• the thing the Lord commands. [ASL: Thing—can do with both hands if you want to involve the other hand in the action]
  
• I know [ASL: Know] 
• the Lord provides a way; [ASL: Way]
• he wants me to obey.  [salute]
  
• Repeat chorus actions but fold arms on the last "obey"

VERSE 2

• The Lord [ASL: God]
• commanded [ASL: Commandment]
• Nephi [ASL: the letter "N"]
• to go and build a boat. [pretend like you are hammering something in your other hand or waves.]
• Nephi's older brothers [as you sing each name, extend on hand out to the side palm up and then the other hand] 
• believed it would not float. [wiggle your hand with palm down as if a boat floating on the waves of the ocean and then on the word "float", have your hand sink downward like a sinking ship—could also at the same time shake head in "no" fashion" depending on how coordinated you and the children are]
• Laughing and mocking, [with one hand slightly in front of mouth, pretend to laugh and point your finger with the other hand]
• they said he should not try. [shake head and finger in a "no" fashion"]
• Nephi [ASL: the letter "N"]
• was courageous. [flex your arm muscles showing strength with arms bent at the elbow into a 90 degree angle.] 
• This was his reply: [ASL: Reply]

CHORUS

VERSE 3

• The Lord [ASL: God]
• gives us commandments [ASL: Commandment]
• and asks us to obey. [salute]
• Sometimes I am tempted to choose another way [do each action pointing your index fingers in order to the tempo as you sing keeping the elbows close to the body and using the elbows to pivot back and forth on: 
• • Sometimes: extend left arm out to the side
  • I am: extend right arm out to the side
  • tempt—: pivot left arm back to cross in front of your body
  • —ed to: pivot right arm back to cross in front of your body
  • choose an—: pivot both arms back out
  • —other: pivot both arms back in to cross in front of your body
  • way: pivot both arms back out
• When I'm discouraged [frowny face and pretend to cry and rub fists on eyes]
• and think I cannot try, [shake head and index finger in a "no" fashion"]
• I will be courageous, [point to self first then flex your arm muscles showing strength with arms bent at the elbow into a 90 degree angle.]
• and I will [point to self]
• reply: [ASL: Reply]

INTERVIEW VERSION
Here is a synopsis of how I would do an interview version.

• Introduce to the Primary that you have a special guest that has come a long way to visit us and to teach us about following the Lord's commandments.
• Introduce Nephi.
• With a toy or real microphone and clipboard in hand with your questions to help you look more reporter-like (optional), pretend to interview Nephi asking questions with Nephi answering to help tell the story that correlates with the first verse.  
• Make sure to keep this to the point, quickly moving along and keep it to about a minute to two for each verse interview. 
• You can repeat back to the Primary what Nephi said by singing the first verse so that the children have the opportunity to hear the song. Before you sing, you could say, "So let me make sure I understand your story and what you did" or "Children, this is what happened" and then start singing the first verse with actions. Have the children come in on the chorus.
• Have the children sing the whole verse and chorus with you this time. Repeat a 3rd time if time permits.
• Repeat the process with the second verse.
• You can repeat the process with the third verse but instead of telling a story, continue the interview by summarizing the message of the song in the third verse, for example: 

REPORTER: Nephi, in these two stories you have shared with us, what would you say is the message you want to leave with us?

NEPHI: The message is to have FAITH when the Lord gives us commandments and asks us to obey.

REPORTER: But you know, sometimes I am tempted to choose another way. When I’m discouraged and think I cannot try, what can I do Nephi?

NEPHI:  Do what I did. Have FAITH and be OBEDIENT to the Lord's commandments and you will find happiness. (Nephi sings the chorus.)

• I will go. I will do the thing the Lord commands. I know the Lord provides a way. He wants me to obey. I will go. I will do the thing the Lord commands. I know the Lord provides a way. (Short pause for emphasis) He wants me to obey.

Another way to introduce this song is by doing a dramatization.

DRAMATIZATION & STICK PUPPETS

• Assign each verse to a group of children along with a bag of simple props that go with their verse. You don't have to use costumes and props.
• Post all the words on the board. 
• Have the children review their verse in their group and figure out how they can pantomime the song when it is sung.
• Sing each verse at least a couple of times while the group of children pantomime the song.
• You may want to sing the song slowly so the children will have time for their acting.
• Make sure to tell them to keep it simple.
• After your initial intro and song acting with your groups, if time permits you could take turns having a few children come up and put the props on and act out the song story while you sing. This will give you several opportunities to get in that repetition singing.
• Instead of physically acting the song out, you could use stick puppets. Here are some figure drawings that you could print out on card stock, laminate if you prefer and adhere them to the craft stick tongue depressors from various issues of The Friend magazine.
• Colored Drawings for verse 1 & 2: page 1, page 2, page 3 from the Feb. 2008 & Feb 2012 issues.
• Line Drawings for verse 1 & 2: page 1, page 2, page 3 from March 1996, Nov 2000 and March 1992 issues.


BELOW IS THE LINK TO THE SCRIPT AND ACTIONS
Gotta go! My daughter just called and she is in the hospital in labor! YIPPEE!

Nephi's Courage Script-Nalani