August

The next couple of months will be busy reviewing songs for the Primary Program.  This post includes my favorite review ideas.  None of these ideas are original, but they are the ones that I continually go to when I need the children to know the songs well.

Magic Water
I've used this idea for years and the children always like this activity.  I usually don't make the CTR shield like the link does.  I will post a song to go with each color and when they stir the spoon and the water foams and changes color we review that song.  The children will sing their best to have a chance to pick the next spoon.

Bubble Gum Singing
This is a great idea that motivates the children and is easy to implement once you put it all together.  I changed some of the categories on the sheet and laminated it so I could use it over and over again.  I found the gumball machine on Amazon for a reasonable price and found the gumballs at Walmart or you can also order them from Amazon. The gumballs lasted me all year and I used it about every 6 weeks.  A tip on managing this activity:  Handing out gum can throw a kink in this activity, but if you let the children know ahead of time that they are not allowed to chew the gum until after Primary they are usually on board.  I announce this ahead of time and when they are chosen and receive their gumball I ask them where they want to put their gum.  I'll say, "Do have a place that you can keep your gum or do you want your teacher to hold on to it for you?"  (I have snack sized baggies just in case, but I have never had a child not have a place to put it.)  One of the options on your chart may be that every child gets a gumball (I think if a red gumball comes out everyone gets one on my page) and when this happens you say, "How exciting!  We all get a piece of gum after Primary!"  When you dismiss have the Primary Presidency help you hand out a gumball as they leave.  Also, never let them choose which color--they can trade on their own once they are out the door.  

Four Corners
I absolutely love this idea and have used it many times, but it is very active and has potential to become loud if you don't stay on top of management. Expectations have to be set ahead of time and they need to understand how to implement the activity.  This may be difficult for larger wards.  However, this is an excellent activity for singing a song over and over again for practice and it gets the children up and moving.

Hide and Seek
I like this idea because it is easy and takes little preparation.  Choose a song that you would like to practice with the group.  Tell children that whoever is singing their best will get to participate in the Hide and Seek activity.  Choose two children--one to hide an object and one to find the object.  Have the seeker go out into the hall while the person hiding the object finds a place to hide it.  Call in the seeker and have Primary sing softer when they are farther away from object and louder when they get closer to object until the object is found.  I've used bean bags, markers, chalkboard erasers, whatever object is on hand to hide.  You will usually sing a song a few times before the object is found.  You can use the same song the entire time or change songs each time a new pair is chosen.

Word Nerd 
This is a quick and easy way to review songs.  I haven't done it with the glasses and sticky notes like the link above, but it sounds fun.  Usually I bring a hat from home that the child wears and I have the word the audience is supposed to not sing taped to the hat.  Surprisingly, Senior Primary really loves this game.  To make it even harder I will sometimes put two words on the hat.

What's that Word?
This is another quick way to review that Senior Primary really likes, but Junior Primary can do, as well.  After you choose a song to review, have a child stand by the pianist and tell her a word to stop just before while playing the music. Most children will point at a word on the music.  The pianist plays the song and stops playing right before that word.  The child then picks someone to tell what the next word will be.  The children aren't singing when you do this, but they are going over the words in their head.  Another way to get more children involved in responding is to have them whisper to a neighbor what they think the next word is in the song.