Blow Up Dice No Prop or Prep Primary Song Review Activity

 INTRODUCTION:

I love simple activities that I can just grab-and-go, especially when life seems extra hectic.  My favorite grab-and-go activity is the Silly Signs.  If you do not know what I am talking about, then look at my blog post here.  The Silly Signs do take much more prep than this activity, even though the prep is worth it.  You can have the signs forever and even add on to the Silly Signs when you have ideas.  The dice Singing Activity is so simple and takes a ton less prep than the Silly Signs!

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

1.  I ordered two of these blowup dice from Amazon:

2.  I created visuals and then printed them out on cardstock for the No-Prep/No Prop singing activities.  I got the singing activity ideas from  here on camillesprimaryideas.com.  Here are two samples of the activity visuals:

VISUAL PDF'S:

Here are the PDF's that you can print.                  

Move your mouse in the left right hand corner and you will see a little arrow inside a small box.  Click on it to open the PDF's.                     🠟

After I printed the pictures I had to trim them so they would fit in the dice plastic inserts.  I think I cut them to be 8"x8".  Maybe a little smaller.  I cut one of them the size it should be and then used that to measure all of the other papers.

**There are 12 inserts on the dice and only 9 No Prep/Prop activities on Camille's website that I used.  I made a sign for "Body Rhythm" and I put one "Silly Sign" on each of the dice.  The kids love the silly signs.  In fact some of the children just wanted to do the Silly Signs.  If you do not have Silly Signs, then you can make your own sign for the remaining two plastic inserts on the dice.  You could have a sign that says "your choice" or "teachers sing" or any other idea you come up with. 

HOW TO USE:

There are two different ways I have used the Silly Signs and the Dice Signs.

1.  You can use the dice to review one song.  This way every time you sing the same song there is a different activity to go along with the song so the children do not get bored singing the same song over and over.

2.  You can use the dice to review multiple songs.  This way you would choose out of the songs you are teaching for the program and have someone role the dice to see which activity to do while singing the song chosen.  It is a great way to review the songs for the program.

DESCRIPTION OF EACH ACTIVITY:

I don't know about you, but my mind goes blank sometimes when I am up in front of the children.  I made a Word document with the description of each activity.  I had it sitting on the little table in front of the primary room so that I could easily reach for it and read the description.  Don't read it out loud.  I learned the hard way that there are some activities where the children have to guess the song or the word.  Also, for the Body Rhythm activity, I just asked four children to come up.  I gave each child a rhythm (snap fingers, clap, pat lap, stomp foot).  Then when I touched a child's head the child would do the rhythm assigned to him/her.  Then I would put my hand on the next child's head and that child would do the rhythm assigned to him/her, and so on.  Here are the activity descriptions (rules/definitions):

Silent Singer:

A child is called out into the hallway. The Primary chooses another child to be the silent singer.  They are to only mouth the words but make no sound (in essence, pretending to sing). The child in the hallway is called back in and must figure out who is the silent singer.

 

Body Pitch Leading:

As you sing a song, have the children stand and move their bodies up or down relating to how the notes move in the song.  If the notes move up, the bodies move up and as the notes move down, bodies move down.

 

Endure to the End:

Children hold up their arms (like a “T”) as they sing.  The last child to put their arms down is the winner.  It doesn’t get any easier than that!

 

Charades:

Pick keywords, phrases or song titles to have the children act out.  Once guessed, sing the song!  If guessing words, a fun variation is to omit that word (or sing it loudly) when singing the song.

 

Lights Off:

Sing when the lights are on and listen (don’t sing) when the lights are off as the piano continues playing.  Choose good singers to switch the lights on and off as the rest of the children sing. 

 

Duck, Duck, Sing!:

Put chairs in a circle or sit on the floor in a circle. A child walks around the room tapping heads. The pianist plays the song and stops randomly. The person who was tapped on the head last has to say what the next word or line of the song is. If they get it correctly, they get to be the next one to go around the room.

 

Jack in the Box:

All the kids are in a pretend box. Think of a word in your song (preferably one that repeats a lot) and don’t share it.  When the secret word is sung, give two thumbs up to the kids. The kids jump up when they see your thumbs. At the end of the song, the kids have to tell you what your secret word was.

 

Who’s Missing:

Send a child into the hall and pick 2-4 kids to hide together behind the piano (or bring a blanket or sheet). The child from the hall returns and has until the end of song to figure out who is missing from their seat.

 

Freeze Tag:

The pianist stops randomly and the kids freeze.  Choose a child.  The child must complete the phrase by saying it correctly in order to unfreeze the Primary.  If incorrect, the Primary must remain frozen for the remainder of the song.  If correct, the Primary unfreezes and continues on with a new child and phrase to freeze

The Singing Hospital

 

Introduction:  

It is that time of the year when primaries are getting ready for their programs.  Some primaries have already had their programs.  My ward's primary program is in November, thank goodness!  If it were up to me, I would be having the program in December.  I got called right before summer break.  Most families where I live go on vacation for every break throughout the year, including three day weekend, so they are missing each of those Sundays.  During the summer, our ward numbers go down by 3/4's.  School started up which was great because everyone was in town.  I tried to cram as many of the program songs down the kid's throats (figuratively, or course!).  I was able to teach the songs, but most of them are still not down pat.  Then we have had General Conference which led right into a two week Fall Break.  Then we will have Stake Conference.  I am picky about the children knowing the words to the songs and projecting their voices.  I do not feel that any of the songs are ready for the program.  I have had to take a step back and realize that the most important aspect of the calling is helping the children learn gospel truths and to love coming to primary.  I have no idea how the primary program will turn out, but it is what it is.  I need to have some fun or I will start getting grouchy and taking my calling too seriously.  

Since most of the primary will be gone on Sunday, I have decided to do the activity, Singing Hospital.  We won't be passing off any of the songs to earn an ice cream sundae party, but we will be working on getting the songs ready for the Singing Pass off Test which will earn the children an ice cream sundae party.

Singing Hospital Activity:

This is a simple and great way to review the songs.  The children do not want to send a song to the ER!  

I first ordered a cheap doctors coat costume and stethoscope off off of Amazon.  The last time I did this activity I was able to borrow an actual doctor's coat and stethoscope from a doctor in my ward.  If you know any doctors you might want to ask them.  

I printed off the title of each song that we are going to be singing in the program.  I only made them a little over 1/2" X 4-5" so the song titles can fit inside the hospital bed.  More on that below. 

(There will be two other songs in the program, but they will be sung by smaller groups.  The Sunbeams will be singing "Jesus Once was a Little Child" and the Senior Primary girls will be singing "I'm Learning the Ways of Jesus".)

I put each title in a little can.  I will pick one of the songs or have a child pick one of the songs out of the can.  We will then sing the song.  After the song is sung we will go over the medical song checkup list.  If the song that is sung does not pass the doctor checkup list then the song must go to the hospital.  If the song is put in the hospital then we try to help heal the song so that the song can be discharged from the hospital.  Example:  If the song did not pass the hearing test, then the children need to work on projecting their voices to help the song be discharged from the hospital.  

I have done this activity without the hospital poster.  I think the hospital part is fun, but if you do not have time then the activity will still work great!  Here are the PDF's that I tape on the board at the front of the primary.  It has each part of the medical checkup that the song needs to pass off in order to have a healthy diagnosis. 

Making the Hospital: 

Supplies Needed:

*Paper for printing

*Scissors

*Poster Board

*Glue or Tape

*Black marker

I pieced together the hospital in the picture at the beginning of this post.  I used a paper cutter and scissors to cut out the hospital. The pieces are not perfectly aligned, but it works for the activity!  I wanted to glue the pieces of the hospital together onto a poster board and then laminate the entire board, but for right now, I just taped it on.  I used a razor paper slicer to cut a space in the bed for the song to "lay" down.  You can use scissors if you do not have a razor cutter.  You can also tape the song onto the bed and not cut out a space in the bed to slip the song title.  I outlined the hospital with black permanent marker because the pictures are blurry.  Once I outlined the pictures, it no longer looked blurry.

Here is a video of the completed Singing Hospital and how the "song" lays in the hospital bed:

(I meant to say, "Doctor Checkup", not "checkoff"

There are two beds to lay the songs.  I tried to make it look like the viewer is looking through the window of the hospital.  Just go with it!  haha.   Here are the PDF pieces to the hospital:

  

I hope this activity is fun for your primary!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ykXT3isndhID1Ha_Lcx7MLqMizKospjn/preview?

Working the Bugs out of the Songs/Name that Tune Song Review

Working the Bugs out of the Songs

  Supplies:

*a list of the primary program songs for the pianist so she knows which song the bugs tell her to play.

*plastic bugs (You can order plastic bugs off of Amazon. I have also found some at Michaels)

*bug catching net (Amazon or Dollar Store)

*a bug home. (Amazon or Dollar Store)

Here is the simplest version to play "Working the Bugs out of the Songs":

Place bugs around the Primary room. Have a child catch a bug in the net. Then have the bug “whisper” the song the bug wants to hear the children sing into the primary pianist’s ear. The children are always surprised that the bug can whisper into the primary pianist's ear and that she knows what the bug said. The primary pianist starts out with one note, then goes to two notes, and then three and so on until someone guesses the song. Then the children sing the song. The bug then whispers in your ear how the song went and what the children need to work on.

For a more dramatic way to present it to the children, here is how I present it:

“My bug collection escaped, and they are all over the room! I need help catching them to put them back in their home. The easiest way to get them to comply is to sing songs. My bugs love to hear beautiful voices and songs! So, if we promise them that we will sing them a song, then they will let us catch them and put them back in their home. The bugs love games also. So, the bug that is caught is going to tell Sister _________ which song he/she want you to sing. Sister __________ is going to have us guess the song by only playing one note. If we can’t guess the song, then she will play two notes and so on until the song is guessed. After we guess the song and then sing the song, the bug will whisper in my ear what he thinks about our song.” The bug always tells me what we need to work on. Then the children try to work the bugs out of the song. The bug is then ready to go into his home.

I have also played "Work The Bugs out of the Songs" by having them sing the song as many times as they had guesses. So, if the pianist had to play 4 notes then they have to sing it 4 times or until the "bugs" are worked out of the song.