Our Christmas Story Tree

♫ It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! ♫

I don't know about you, but I am getting into the Christmas spirit.  And with only a few weeks left in the year, I'm sure some of you are into Christmas songs full-swing.  If not, don't stress!  It's never too late to teach a new song for the holidays!  I LOVE this song that was published in The Friend a couple of years ago.  It's catchy, they lyrics are simple, and you can teach it really easily with the flip chart or just a few props (or combine the chart with props, which is what I would do.  But that's just me!).

Here is the sheet music.
Here is the flip chart.

Here are a few things you could use:

Box labeled "Ornaments" - keep all of your items in the box, to stay organized!
Small Christmas tree (to place the ornaments on, of course)
Candy cane
Picture of shepherds (p. 4 in flip chart)
Angel tree topper
Silver star (if you don't have one, just cover a cardboard star with foil)
Picture of star of Bethlehem (p. 8 in flip chart)
Package wrapped in red paper
Picture of Savior
Evergreen sprig or bough (pass around so they can feel and smell it)
Jesus in the manger piece from a nativity scene

This may not be the most appropriate song for a Sacrament Meeting number, but it is a great one for the kids to learn to connect a few secular symbols with gospel meaning, especially tying into the Savior.  Let me know how it goes!

What songs are you teaching for Christmas?  Any fun plans?


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Last Minute Christmas Ideas

I love last minute singing times.  Last minute anything, actually, since I'm a bona fide procrastinator.  Here are a few ideas for those of you who are having a hard time finalizing your Christmas extravaganza for tomorrow!

1.  Snowball fight.  This can be a great way to end your singing time.  Just hand a piece of paper to each child, and have them write down their favorite song(s).  The reason it's a great way to end, is this:  don't sing them this week!  Take them all home in a garbage bag, and tally up the votes.  Write the top ten on paper strips, and number the back of the strips in order.  Then, on New Year's Day, do a "Primary Top 10" and sing them in order from 10 to 1, 1 being the most favorite-est song.  Easy, and you don't have to worry about planning anything when you should be out partying on New Year's Eve.

2.  A hand's on nativity.  Gather up a few items that the children can pass around while you sing songs about Christmas.  Try to find things that aren't breakable or noisy.  Children learn best when all of their senses are engaged, so this is a great teaching tool.  Here are some examples for some things that apply to different songs:

star ornament or cutout
stuffed sheep toy
sawdust (good for smell, touch, and sight)
drawstring sack with items hidden inside (to represent bread and cheese)
picture of nativity scene or infant Jesus
hay or straw, you may have some of this in your own nativity scene
baby Jesus from a nativity scene
linen cloth, tea towel, or bread cloth (to represent swaddling clothes)
bell
small wrapped gift
miniature Christmas tree
palm frond or branch from a fake tree in your house (I know some of you have these!  use it to represent Hosanna! Hosanna!)
any type of decoration that you have in your house that looks like an urn, dish with a lid, treasure box, etc. (to represent gifts from the wise men)

3.  Nativity scene.  Assign a song to each piece of a nativity and sing them to assemble the whole scene, with Jesus coming last.

4.  Hand bells.  If you have them, bring them out for some easy-going fun.

5.  Hymnbook sing-along.  I explained this activity in this post.

6.  Christ-centered singing time.  Go to lds.org and search for quotes from the prophet/general authorities on the Savior.  Read their testimonies between songs.

7.  2012 preview.  Play an MP3 recording of As a Child of God, have them sing or listen to the other songs from next year's outline.  They won't know some of them, but at least a few should be fairly familiar.  Get them excited about next year's theme and songs!

8.  Remove the "centerfold" of the December Friend magazine.  If you have alphabet magnets, put them in a bag or jar to be drawn out by a primary helper.  If you don't, just write letters on slips of paper.  Have a helper draw a letter, and read the accompanying scripture passage.  Sing a song between them, or do a couple in a row and then sing the child's favorite Christmas song.

What are you doing for the last singing time of 2011?

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Christmas Fun Ways to Sing Cards

I'm up late.  The kids and hubby are sleeping, and I'm stuck on Pinterest wasting the night away!  But, as Pinterest addicts fans know, there are just tons of awesome things there!  Here is one I just came across that I just have to share with you.  Alison over at www.oopseydaisyblog.com created these adorable cards that could so easily be used for singing time!  Swap these out for your usual Fun Ways to Sing cards, and you've got instant holiday actions.  You can download them for free on her website.  Here is the link to the post.  And thank you, Alison, for your awesome cards!

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Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus

We learned this song a couple of weeks ago, and it was awesome!  I had planned on spending a few minutes working on the first verse and chorus and then doing the rest on the following week, but the kids were loving it and they learned the entire song in about 10 minutes!  I put together a flip chart, which you can download here.  I printed it out twice, on cardstock, and used one to cut each of the pictures out.  I put the pictures in phrases, but all mixed up on the board.  I sang a phrase, then had them repeat it, then had them put the picture cues in order to match what we had just sung.  They were all over it - as I sang, I could see all of their eyes darting around the board to find the next picture.  It was so fun, and I actually didn't have to change the activity at all from JP to SP, which was very helpful!

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