Primary Olympics

This is one of those singing times that you are so grateful for the talents and generosity of others.  Most of what I used I got from In the Leafy Treetops, her singing time she made 4 years ago for the Olympics.  It is wonderful and I used a portion of her genius to make my own singing time.  It took us 2 weeks of all singing and sharing time to get through what I did... and there are so many more ideas on her post than I didn't have time to do.  Jump over there and get some inspiration!

Here is what I did with her awesomeness!

 First I made this poster.  Again this idea I cannot take credit for... Tammy on "LDS Primary Choristers" Facebook page came up with the design for this tri-fold poster.  We have 8 songs for the program and I put all 8 titles on the poster sides and then made the middle Olympic-ish... :)

 Also for decor, my friend Karen had just had a b-day party for her son and let me borrow the flags she bought and the rings she made.  (They are made of Styrofoam wreaths from the dollar store and then wrapped with crepe paper... So cute!!!)

For each song I chose one Olympic event:

For synchronized singing, I used the primary position cards found on Camille's Primary Ideas.  I chose a slower song for this one so that we could move in a relaxed fashion.

song: "If I Listen With My Heart"

 For fencing fun, I passed out straws to each child.  The package was from the dollar store so they were very cheap!  I gave instructions on proper behavior and use of the 'sword' and then gave them a second to pare with their neighbor... just to get it out of their system.  Then I had them hold them up and follow me in conducting to the beat.  I chose another slow song for this one and it had a 4/4 time signature.  I also lead a modified rhythm so that all could participate.

song: "Faith"

 Table tennis was fun!  I held up ping pong paddles, one for each side of the room.  I picked a song that dealt with service.  I explained that in ping pong sometimes you serve and sometimes the other person serves.  Just like in life, sometimes the Lord asks us to serve others and sometimes he steps in to help.  Also, sometimes we are on the receiving end of service.

song: "Holding Hands Around the World"

 In torch relay, I did as suggested and passed the torch around the room with the lights off.  Then when the pianist stopped playing the song, the child holding the torch gave the next word in the line of the song.  Then we would continue singing. This was good to work on trouble spots that we had in a song.

song: "I Love to See the Temple"

 Boxing beat was a winner, mostly because I borrowed these gloves from a friend of mine!  I had a child wear them and they, along with the entire primary, followed punching moves I made.  I picked a short song for this one and all we needed were 4 moves done in slow rhythm to get through the song...  punching twice with each hand.   

For example: front punch right x 2, front punch left x 2, side punch right x 2, side punch left x 2, slide punch right x 2, slide punch left x2, uppercut right x 2, upper cut left x 2

song: "Stand for the Right"

 

Weightlifting!  A child came up to the front and pretended to be a weightlifter.  I did an example for them on how weightlifters move very slowly as they lift the heavy weights up above their heads.  I then had them mimic moving the 'weight' up and down as would a weightlifter.  When the weight was low we sang soft, as it went up we got louder.  This weight was one I made years ago for a party photo prop.  It is a large dowel with foam balls on either end... all spray painted black.  It's fun! :)

song: "Praise to the Man"

For the relay, I used the idea of splitting the primary into 4 sections.  You have each section sing a different part of the song.  It's like passing a baton to the next group to sing. This worked great for our song because the 2 verses can easily be split up into 2 sections and then everyone sang the chorus together both times.

song: "I Believe in Jesus"

Sailing was kind of a repeat idea I had done to review this song a month or so before.  I had each row of children come to the center of their row so that there was an empty chair on either end of the row.  Then as we sang the song, we listened for key words that repeat frequently that required us to move seats (left or right... I would point the way to move).  I chose the words 'me', 'my', & 'I'.  We moved every time one of these were sung. The movement they made was kind of like swaying on the boat or hitting turbulant water that caused them to move seats.

song: "I Will Follow God's Plan"

After we sang each song the fun way a time or two, our practice was over.  We got serious and sang for the Gold!  The pianist and I judged them honestly and they received either a Gold, Silver, or Bronze medal on the song they sang. I had different medals for Junior and Senior. We practiced standing up and being still like soldiers.   Then we sang like we were champions!  And they were!!!!  They each got a Rolo as a gold medal as they left that day. :)

I am so excited for this program and how awesome they are going to be!