Choose and Review - Pull a Picture

Find a picture that illustrates each song that you wish to review. If I used pictures to illustrate the phrases when I taught the song, I like to choose one of these. Put the pictures in a manilla envelope. One at a time, slowly pull a picture out of the envelope. Ask the children to stand when they think they recognize which song the picture represents. Sing the song and repeat with the other pictures.

If you’ve used a flipchart to teach a song, this activity can also be used to review that song. Just put all the phrase pictures randomly into the envelope and then draw them out, one at a time. When the children recognize the phrase, begin with that phrase and sing to the end of the verse (or chorus).

Riddles for Snowflakes

Here are the riddles on the back of the snowflakes. I should have thought to include them with the original post.  Just use these as examples and write something similar for the songs your primary likes to sing.

I am a two-part song. I remind you to pray everyday and then teach you the 4 steps in saying prayers. What song am I? (I Pray in Faith -CS14)

I teach you to feel glad for the things that Heavenly Father has created. I tell about 5 blessings. What song am I? (The World Is so Lovely -CS233)

I tell you about a special gift and when you sing me even your heart can sing. What song am I? (A Special Gift is Kindness -CS145)

I describe something that you should do when you have to make a choice. What song am I? (Listen, Listen -CS107)

I remind you of something you should remember to do in the morning before you wake and when you go to bed at night. What song am I? (I Love to Pray -CS25)

I tell about some special books and describe three things you should do when you read them. What song am I? (Search, Ponder and Pray -CS109)

When you sing me you will remember Jesus when he was just a little boy. What song am I? (Jesus Once was a Little Child - CS55)

I talk about rocks and rain and sand and men building houses. What song am I? (The Wise Man and the Foolish Man - CS281)

I talk about the words of a prophet. I tell you how to find safety and peace. What song am I? (Keep the Commandments - CS146)

The doors in my song say something special. What song am I? (The Chapel Doors -CS156)

I talk about someone who knows the way. If we want to get to where we should go, we should follow them. What song am I? (Follow the Prophet -CS110)

I tell about a time, long ago, when ancient people crossed the sea to find a promised land. What song am I? (Book of Mormon Stories -CS118)

I tell about a special generation of children who have a special responsibility to do missionary work. They are called an army. What song am I? (We'll Bring the World His Truth -CS172)

I talk about walking and gathering blossoms of blue. These flowers remind me of someone special. What song am I? (I Often Go Walking -CS202)

Choose and Review - Snowflakes

Because it is January, I need to restock the emergency singing time plan that I keep in the closet at the church. These large snowflakes are mounted and laminated with a magnet on the back for posting on the chalkboard. I've prepared a "What Song Am I?" riddle for the back of each and will leave them in the closet in case I'm sick or snowed-in this month. How do you all prepare for emergencies?

Choose and Review - Who Am I?

"Who Am I?" is another easy, fun singing time that you can prepare ahead and have available for one of those weeks. Just write several clues for people or things and assign an appropriate song to sing. Put the clues in an envelope and have the children choose one. Read the clues and guess the person or thing. Sing the song. Although the following clues are already in my box, I think it would be fun to write clues about people involved with miracles to go with the theme in August.

• I went on a mission to the Lamanites and was put to work tending sheep. I was able to defend the sheep against robbers and the king listened to my message about the gospel. Who Am I? (Ammon = sing Book of Mormon Stories -118)
  
  Many beautiful things are part of me. I was created by God in just seven days. When people look at me, I can make them happy! What Am I? (The earth = sing My Heavenly Father Loves Me-228)
  
  One day as I was walking down the road I saw a man who had been beaten. I felt sorry and stopped to help him. I took him to an inn and even paid for his care before continuing my journey. Who Am I? (the good Samaritan = sing Go the Second Mile -167)
  
  No one believed Noah when he said I would come. For forty days and nights I fell on the earth and caused a great flood. Only Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark survived me. What Am I? (the rain = sing Dare to Do Right- 158 or Rain is Falling -241)
  
  I am small and round and was made by God to help Lehi’s family get through the wilderness. I can only work by faith. What Am I? (the Liahona = sing Faith -96)
  
  I was instructed by Heavenly Father to build a boat. My brothers laughed at me because they knew I didn’t know how. I prayed and God blessed me and helped me finish the boat. Who Am I? (Nephi = sing Nephi’s Courage -120)
  
  I had been taught that I should always pray, but in my country there was a law that said you could not pray. I obeyed the Lord and prayed anyway. I was put into a den of lions, but the Lord protected me and blessed me for being valiant. Who Am I? (Daniel = sing I Will Be Valiant -162)
  
  When I was young I did many things wrong, but I repented of my sings. With four of my friends, I went on a mission to the Lamanites. We became great missionaries. Who Am I? (Alma the Younger = sing We’ll Bring the World His Truth -172)
  
  I came down from heaven to help feed the children of Israel when they were in the wilderness. I taste like wafers made with honey. What Am I? (manna - sing For Health and Strength -21)
  

This makes a good singing time to prepare and leave for a substitute if you're traveling or have an emergency. If you prepare it and leave it in the closet or in your bag, it is also handy if you have extra time for some reason.

Choose and Review - Title Toss

Title Toss makes a fun singing time, however it takes a little work to prepare. But then it can live in the closet and be pulled out when you have extra time or when you've had one of those weeks and need to use something you've already prepared. I believe in being prepared for one of those weeks!

Just type the titles of MANY songs into the computer. Adjust the fonts and sizes and then print the titles out. Cut them out and randomly paste them onto a poster board. I say random, but you should mix the rest songs or wiggle songs in throughout the other titles. I also used appropriate stickers to enhance the poster a bit. When you're ready for singing time, put the poster on the floor and hand a child a beanbag. Invite them to toss the beanbag to choose a song to sing. You can adjust the tossing distance according to age or ability.

The only problem with this activity is that it might take the pianist some time to look up the page number of the song. This won't bother an experienced pianist because they often remember where the songs are and can find them quickly. But, to make it easier, you could copy the index in the songbook and have it available so that they don't have to keep flipping to the back of the book to look things up. Or, make an alphabetical list with the page numbers and keep it with the poster.

Singing Time Puzzle - Acrostic

Puzzles, like those typically found in the Funstuff features in The Friend Magazine, make a fun singing time for Primary. The last several days I've been working on writing down directions for the puzzles I have used for singing time. I think I may need help on technical writing! :o) Hopefully a picture really is worth a thousand words.


This puzzle is a typical acrostic, but is already written out, prepared and made easy for singing time. It seems to take so long to choose a child, invite them up, hand them chalk and let them stand there and decide on something! I just find it easier to do as much of that as I can ahead of time, so that we can sing more songs.

To create a puzzle for singing time, begin by choosing a word that describes the monthly or weekly theme, or a seasonal word, or even just a general word like "gospel". The example in the picture is SPRING, because I am so ready for spring! Next choose several words that match the puzzle word in some way. Choose one word for each letter in the puzzle word. These words should have a letter in common with the puzzle word. As you think of words, cross off the common letter in your main word. This will help you know which words you still need to come up with. Write these sub-words on a word strip, with the common letter highlighted in some way. Use a capital letter or use a different color, or both! Assign an appropriate song to sing with each word strip.


When you're ready to sing, post the word strips on the board in a column, in the order that will reveal the main word as the children turn them over. Have the children turn the word strips one at a time and then sing the song. As they turn the strip, have the children line up the colored letters to gradually reveal the main puzzle word. They can choose any word strip, just have them keep it in proper order in the column.

If you think you'd like to try this, some other examples of words that match upcoming themes are: "gospel" (tithinG, Ordinances, Service, rePent, prayEr, tempLe) "principle" (Prayer, scRiptures, faIth, repeNtance, serviCe, tIthing, baPtism, Love, obediencE) "restored" (pRayed, josEph, viSion, propheT, bOok of mormon, tRanslate, gospEl, appeareD) and "miracle" (Manna, faIth, poweR, Ask, peaCe, heaL, blEssing).

If you want to use a word that has more letters than you have time to sing songs, simply put a song on some of the word strips.

I really like to use puzzles for singing time. They are readily adapted to different themes and the kids like doing them because it seems like a game. It also makes a quick activity to prepare ahead for an emergency or to plan for a substitute. I have several more puzzles that I use and am trying to write down directions that make sense. I'll post these in upcoming weeks.

Emergency Singing Time

This is my "emergency" singing time. I've been in the Primary presidency a number of times and I think it is really nice to have something prepared so that you don't have to scramble quite so much. So, I prepared the gifts, chose the songs and typed up the directions. I even made a separate list for the pianist. Then I put everything in a ziplock bag and put it in the Primary closet in case I can't get to church. The Primary presidency knows where to look. I hope that it will be helpful in case I'm not there.

Here are the directions for this singing time. It's just a basic choose and review and is pretty flexible as far as theme. I only offer this an an idea of what could be done. The idea came from the Sharing Time Ideas in the December 2008 issue of The Friend.

Briefly talk about gifts in our lives and how much it means to us to receive a gift. Show the children the wrapped gifts and explain that Heavenly Father has given us special gifts because we are members of the church. Have someone choose one of the gifts. Have the pianist play a few notes of the song and ask the children to guess the song. After they have guessed the song, help them guess the blessing. They may need to sing the song before they will be able to discover what the blessing is.

The number on the back of the gift is keyed to a song on the list for the pianist.

#1 ---Priesthood ---"Love is Spoken Here" (CS90)
#2 ---Scriptures ---"The Golden Plates" (CS86)
#3 ---Baptism ---"Baptism" (CS100)
#4 ---Holy Ghost ---"I Know My Father Lives" (CS5)
#5 ---Prophets ---"Follow the Prophet" (CS110)
#6 ---Temples ---"I Love to See the Temple (CS95)


This just might be the week someone will have to substitute for me. We've had snow and it is always possible that we won't be able get down our road. We live about 7 miles down an isolated dirt road. The road also gets bad if it rains too much. This is kind of challenging since we are active members of a church with oodles of activities! But I love where we live, so we, and I guess everyone else, just have to put up with it.