Song Review - String Singing

String singing is another variation of "who sings". The idea is to tie different colored string or yarn together in varying lengths, roll the string into a ball and put this into a can. Then pull the string out through your fingers. Different children sing according to the color changes. This is a fun way to review a song several times.


The picture shows the can for boys and girls singing. The blue string instructs the boys to sing, the pink indicates girls singing and the green color represents everyone. I've made the string start with green so that everyone begins singing. The children have to watch closely and keep the song going in their mind to be ready to sing when their color comes up.


One advantage to the string idea is that because you control the length of the string you have some control of the timing. Even though the children are manipulating the string, the singing can be more smooth and the review is more effective. When the children use the boy/girl puppets, for example, they love to shift quickly from one to the other and it can become a little confusing. While this is fun for the kids, it obviously doesn't review the song as well.


I also have a ball with green, yellow and red string. The green yarn indicates that everyone should sing, the yellow yarn tells us to hum and the red yarn says to stop singing. The piano continues to play, so the children need to keep the song going in their mind in order to come back in on the right words.


There are probably other ways to set up the colors. If your primary assigns class colors you could have the classes sing in turn.

Smiley Beanbag

This is my smiley beanbag. I have lots of beanbags (see this post) and some are made for specific choose and review activities, but this is just a generic beanbag. There are a number of ways I use a beanbag.

"Pass the Melody" is a musical game that you can play with a beanbag. I think it is best played with a smaller group, so it works pretty well in a small primary. Or, it works in a class. There may be some time to fill while waiting for a substitute teacher to arrive! Gather into a circle and start off singing a song. After a few words, pass the beanbag and the song off to the person beside you. That person sings and then passes the song and the beanbag to the next person. On around the circle it goes until the song is finished. Repeat the song so that everyone has a turn. Emphasize to the children to keep the transitions as smooth as possible. Use familiar songs until everyone is well acquainted with how to play. Then the game could be used to review a new song. Remember that young children often don't have a singing voice yet, so they can just pass the beanbag along if they don't wish to sing.

I often pass a beanbag up and down the row while we sing a song. At the end of a verse or when the piano stops, I can ask a question of the one who is holding the beanbag, or invite them to share their thoughts about something or other. I could ask them to answer a question or tell something they can do to get ready for family night, get ready for church, help a neighbor, etc. Then sing another appropriate song and pass the beanbag again.

Sometimes I will pass more than one beanbag so that more children can participate. I may also have to be prepared for the kids to manipulate who gets the beanbags. I have used a beanbag to play a "hit the target" kind of game for choosing songs. I can use the beanbag with pictures and an assigned song. The kids toss the beanbag to choose one of the pictures.

Matilda recently had a post about beanbags. I really don't think Primary could function without beanbags. Does anyone else use them for singing time?

Song Review - "Crazy Singing Scramble" - A Link

Bridgette has a cute idea for a song review and I wanted to share it. Go to The Ordinary Adventures of a Primary Chorister to read about "Crazy Singing Scramble." I think if I take it slowly at first, it could be really fun. Once the kids are familiar with the game I can use it to review any of our songs. As long as the song has a fairly limited number of phrases. :o) If it gets too complicated I know I will start goofing up and look really idiotic. The pianist may have a bit of a hard time too, so they should be forewarned. They should mark their music and generally get used to the idea!

I like new ideas for reviewing songs, since we have to do so much of it. This one will go on my list. I certainly appreciate all of you who blog and share such great ideas. Thanks Bridgette.

Puppets for "In The Leafy Treetops"

These little puppets have been in my primary music box for ages. I made them years ago to use with the song "In The Leafy Treetops" (CS-240) and I am so anxious for spring! The bird puppet is used by putting the thumb and forefinger through the holes to make a beak. You can then move your fingers to make the bird "sing." The flower shape is simply taped to a green chenille stem and, as you gently move it back and forth, the flower "nods."

These would be fun to put into the surprise sack to pull out when the kids are ready for a rest song. It would be pretty easy to make enough of these for most of the littlest children to use. Puppets are such a fabulous music aid. Children just love them and they will always pay attention when you bring a puppet out.

Singing Time Puzzle - Scrambled Phrase

I like to use puzzles for singing time review because it involves thinking on the part of the children and keeps them at it for the whole time. Everyone who wants to can participate at the same time. Obviously some puzzles involve more thinking than others and some are more suited to Jr. or Sr. Primary. The very easiest kind of puzzle to prepare for singing time is a scrambled phrase puzzle.

Choose a phrase that states an eternal gospel principle, a scripture phrase, or a phrase related to the monthly theme. The picture illustrates a phrase related to the theme for April. Write each word on a card large enough to be viewed by the group. Assign an appropriate review song for each card.

Put all the cards into a bag and have the children draw them out one at a time. Post the card on the board and sing the song. When all the cards are posted, invite the children to unscramble the phrase. Take a minute to testify of the principle and help the children find the application.

Depending on how familiar the phrase is, the children will solve it before you're finished. Be prepared to praise the ones who figure it out, but encourage them not to solve it out loud before others have a chance to figure it out on their own. If your group is combined, as mine is, this will take some self-discipline and cooperation on the part of the older kids. You might try two different phrases with the cards in different colors and paper-clipped together so they are drawn out at the same time. This way, the olders and youngers can solve each puzzle at the same time.

Song Review - "Pop Quiz"

In the last couple of posts I’ve written about using discovery questions to teach a song. These kind of questions also work well to review the songs we’ve been learning. The “Pop Quiz” is a cute way of asking questions that help review the song.

Write several discovery questions on slips of paper. Roll up the slips and drop them in an empty pop bottle. Shake up the bottle and tip out a slip into a child’s hand. Have them read the question. Sing the song and answer the question. Since the littlest kids can’t yet read, have them help you shake the bottle and pour out the questions.

The color of the paper could match the type of pop bottle. Use orange or purple paper for Crush or brown for A&W root beer. It might even be fun to use printed scrapbooking paper, if you have any lying around. The strips should be about 1 inch in width so they will pour well from the bottle. You can use questions for just one song, or review several songs with different colored strips-- “Hawaiian Punch” style.

Ideas for Using Discovery Questions

Because I like to use questions to teach a song, I’m always looking for creative ways to ask the questions. In some cases it works best to ask questions in a particular order. So, I just ask them without having the children choose them. Or, one or two questions may need to come first and then the rest can be random. These are some ideas I have used.

The easiest way (other than just asking, of course) is to write them on index cards or slips of papers and have the kids choose them from my hand or from a can or basket or the pockets of my apron. Sometimes I write them on the back of a seasonal shape or picture or even just on cut-out questions marks and post them on the chalkboard. Once I made little scrolls with toothpicks glued to the end of the paper strip and rolled them up. I can’t remember which song I was teaching, probably one about Jesus, but I remember making the scrolls.

When I taught “I Know That My Savior Loves Me” I used cutouts of children gathered around a picture of Jesus.

I often put the questions on the back of parts of a puzzle, building it up as we sing. This picture shows a puzzle of a sun which we built as I taught “Shine On.”

Sometimes I write the questions on the back of the letters of a related puzzle word, unscrambling the word as we sing. These letters spell “family.”

Its easy to put the questions in a little container of some kind like plastic Easter eggs or the Valentine heart boxes, or the glass snowman.

Maybe you all have some great choosing ideas. I’d love to hear them.