Impressions!

My blog address is "primaryimpressions" because it seems that my ideas sometimes will come as impressions in the middle of the night! Whether you are a new chorister, or have been in the calling as long as I have, you are always looking for new ideas!

Monday, October 8, 2012

"Bubble Gum Singing"

I've been using this bubble gum machine for the last 5 years now as a review of the song we learned for the month.  I actually use it about once a month, usually on the third Sunday.  It makes it easy to remember what activity I am doing for that week.  The children "LOVE" this!  I hold the bubblegum machine while they sing the song we are reviewing and I watch for a good singer.  They will literally sing their hearts out for this!  When we are done singing, I choose a child to turn the knob and watch what color comes out.  They then get to keep the gum. (Make sure you change the gumballs periodically, they do get hard).  We then look at the chart to see how we are going to sing the song.  See chart below for ways to sing.  They always hope for a "red" one because that means they can all sing for a gumball.  I use a gumball machine that doesn't require a penny, it makes it a lot easier.  If they get a red one, we wait till the end of primary to give them their gumball.  (I usually will with Junior primary make sure everyone gets a gumball, whether they get a red one or not!)

I keep the extra gumballs for when they earn a gumball for the whole group.

I should have laminated this chart a long time ago, but it still works
. It is just a little crinkled!

Use a gumball machine that doesn't require pennies.
 The best time to buy them is around Christmas. They always have a lot
 to choose from then.


For "Purple" I have them use these signs for stop and go!
 They sing when the go sign is up, and stop singing when the stop sign is up.
  It helps them to think of the words as they are singing.
  Don't let your child go to fast with them,
 I remind them that policemen who have to signa
l stop and go in traffic would cause accidents if they go to fast!

For "Orange" I have them play "Hide and Seek" with this sheep. I have already described how to play this in another post.

(You could also use the sit and stand signs instead of stop and go signs. This is fun because it gets them moving which Junior Primary needs to do once in awhile.)  This is the sit sign.

This is the stand sign.

For "Yellow" I have them lead the song with my star wand.
 You could use any
 kind of conducting stick, or just have them use their hands.
  I find they like to feel
 like a real conductor when they use the wand however.
 I teach them how to keep
 time with the music. Some of them can really learn how to conduct fast.

For "Pink" I have the girls stand and sing.
 Of course since they
 are the only ones singing,
 they are they only ones that can be chosen to turn
 the knob on the gumball machine.
For "Blue" I have the boys sing.

For "WHITE'" I have them choose a song about the Savior. If they happen to be learning a
song about the Savior, I kind of encourage them to sing the one we are learning.
 However, some of them have a song they absolutely love so I let them sing their choice.


For "Green"  They get to choose their favorite Primary Song!


4 comments:

  1. This is incredible. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. This is sooo cute and sounds so fun! Thanks for such a great idea!

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  3. I have tried to find an email address on here to email you, but can't find one. I love your ideas! I was just asked to serve as the chorister and you're so helpful. I am interested in your stop/go signs. Where did you print those from? I've looked for books from Deseret Book and can't find very much. Could you tell me the name of the book or website where you got your printables? Thank you! My email is lesleyjane84@hotmail.com.

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  4. I can't find your post that describes how to use the hide and seek sheep, would you mind explaining it for me, and thanks so much for this idea, I work very hard to come up with different things and I love the idea you gave to do this once a month, would save me so much time, THANKYOU!!!

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