Adventures in Primary

I've been the Primary Chorister now for almost 3 months.

It's going much better than I expected, but I still can't seem to figure out the rythym of what works and why some weeks are awesome and some weeks the kids just kinda stare at me.

One thing I have had fun with is teaching them new, fun verses of songs they already know.

When I was a kid in Primary one of my all time favorite songs was "Kindness Begins With Me" (Primary Songbook, pg 145), except we would sing it "Kindness begins with K".

(Hello? That's just more logical.)

Our poor, tormented Chorister compromised with us and would let us sing "Kindness Begins With K", as long as we sang it the right way one time first.

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Another favorite of mine was "Give Said the Little Stream" (pg. 236), but with the slight alteration of being silent any time we were supposed to sing the word Give.

If you have never tried that (and know the song) give it a shot.

One of the fun parts of that was laughing at the kids who screwed up.

I haven't had time to teach the kids these favorites yet, but I have taught them 2 others that we are having fun with.

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Did you ever learn "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" (pg. 275) in spanish?

For my readers who possibly have never heard this song, it is an activity song. You have the kids stand up and point to each body part as they sing it.

"Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes, knees and toes.

Head shoulders knees and toes,

Eyes, ears, mouth and nose".

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If you've never learned it in spanish, the spanish words are:

Head - Cabesa (kuh-bay-suh)

Shoulders - Ombros (ohm-brose)

Knees - Rodillas (ro-dee-yas)

Toes - Pies (pee-ace)

Eyes - Ojos (oh-hose)

Ears - Orejas (oh-ray-hahs)

Mouth - Boca (bo-kuh)

Nose - Naris (nah-reese)

The kids either are enjoying this one or are convincingly humoring me.

But they have requested to learn it in Chinese. So, uh, any chinese speakers out there that can help me with that?

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The other one I have taught them is one I got from my sister's blog.

It is the second verse to "Popcorn Popping" (pg. 242).

This is another fun activity song where the kids do actions that go along with the song.

The original verse goes:

I looked out the window and what did I see?

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

Spring has brought me such a nice surprise,

Popcorn popping right before my eyes.

I could take an armful and make a treat.

A popcorn ball that would smell so sweet.

It wasn't really so.

But it seemed to be.

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

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The second verse is:

I looked out the window and what did I see?

Figs are growing on the fig tree.

Summer has brought me such a nice surprise.

Figs are growing right before my eyes.

I could take an armful and throw them in the sea.

A great big wave would bring them back to me.

It wasn't really so.

But it seemed to me.

Figs are swimming in the Sea of Galilee.

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I really appreciate all of your suggestions and support about this calling.

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One funny "primary moment" happened when I was teaching the kids what the word Omnipotent meant.

I asked if they could tell me who the most powerful being in the universe was.

My own son raised his hand and yelled out "Chuck Norris!"

Thanks, Mark. Now everyone knows what we talk aboutat family home evening.