Primary Top Ten

This is my favorite activity to do on the very last Sunday of the year!

What are your Primary's top ten FAVORITE songs? The kids LOVE this activity, but it does take some pretty decent preparation in order to pull it off (basically, this is not one you can whip out at the last minute). But the kids and teachers have a great time trying to guess what the most popular songs in Primary are!

I have VERY different versions of this activity for Junior and for Senior--the game for Senior is really involved. You can use the Junior version for both if you're not up for all the craziness. The instructions for each are listed below.

Supplies needed:

• FOR JUNIOR: Top Ten survey lists (one for each class in your Primary, both Junior AND Senior--I find it works best if you label the lists before you hand them out. That way you know who to pester in order to get them back!). I have the list I use pasted below.
• 10 medium-large balloons 
• sharpie marker
• lots and lots of pins
• a copy of the list of your Top Ten Primary songs, cut out into individual songs. 

• FOR SENIOR: You'll use the survey lists you used for Junior.
• a copy of the list of your Top Ten Primary songs, cut out into individual songs. (You CAN use the same papers from Junior, but they'll be pretty mangled. If you're doing both activities, just make two copies of the list and cut them out). 
• 2 balloons 
• 10 pieces of heavy paper labeled 1-10, long/large enough to entirely cover the song strips listed above (you can see mine in one of the pictures below).
• Two scorecards, labelled however you'd like (I did "BOYS" and "GIRLS").
• pen to keep score
• list with the total number of votes for each song
• lots and lots of pins

Top Ten Survey List
(Best if each list is labeled by class name to ensure you get them all back)

Set up:

1. ONE OR TWO WEEKS before you want to do this activity, prepare the Top Ten Survey Lists and hand them out to EACH Primary class. (I usually like to do this two weeks in advance just in case I don't get a list or two back that first Sunday). 
2. Once you've gotten all the lists back, tally the results based on how many children/teachers picked that song.
3. Rank the songs from 1-10 based on the number of votes received (for Senior: keep track of the total number of votes PLUS the votes each song received). ***Often, you'll end up with songs that are tied  (for example, both "Sunbeam" and "Popcorn" end up with 6 votes). In that case, I go by alphabetical order to establish rank (so "Popcorn" would ahead of "Sunbeam" on the list.***

1. FOR JUNIOR (see picture with balloons below): 
2. Tightly roll each song strip and shove into the mouth of an uninflated balloon. ***Do this ONE AT A TIME--you need to keep track of which song is in which balloon.***
3. Using a Sharpie marker, label the balloons with the ranking of the song inside. For example, if "I Am a Child of God" was your top song, label the balloon with that song inside as "#1".
4. Carefully pin each balloon to a board. Have an extra pin ready for popping, as well as some pins to pin up the songs on the board once they are popped out of the balloons.

1. FOR SENIOR (see pictures below):
2. Pin the songs in the center of the board in order (#1 on top, #10 on bottom).
3. Cover with the 10 pieces of heavy paper (obviously #1 should cover song #1, etc.). 
4. Pin the two scorecards on either side of the songs.
5. Pin one balloon underneath each scorecard. Have two pins ready for popping.
6. Have your list with the number of votes each song received ready

Set up for Junior:

(notice my balloons aren't labeled? I messed up and put in all the songs before I realized I needed to label the balloons according to what was inside. LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES!)

Partial set-up for Senior:

(sorry for the awkward angle--this was taken during Primary. I was hiding behind the board trying to be discreet...)

Post-game set-up for Senior:

(the balloons were underneath the "GIRLS" and "BOYS" signs)

Game play:

1. JUNIOR:
2. Choose a child to come up and pop the #10 balloon.
3. Have him locate the paper inside and read the song title.
4. Pin the song on the board (put #10 near the bottom so there's room for the others on top), then sing the song.
5. Repeat with #9, and so on up to #1.

1. SENIOR:
2. This is basically a variation on the game Family Feud, so if you're familiar with that game this will make more sense. Also, you'll want to explain the rules and gameplay to the Primary before you start.
3. Call up one boy and one girl (or however you've divided the Primary into two teams). Give each a push-pin and tell them to start thinking about what the most popular song in Primary is.
4. Send them to opposite sides of the room, backs against the wall. Make sure they are both an equal distance from the board with the balloons and that they have a clear path to the board (nothing to trip over).
5. When you give the signal, both kids will race to the board in an attempt to pop their balloon first. 
1. Whoever pops first must give you an answer immediately. If not, it goes to the second team.
2. If the first kid has picked a song that appears somewhere on the list, then reveal that song and give Team #1 the points (points correspond to the number of votes that song received). Then Team #1 gets to keep guessing until they choose TWO songs that are not on the list.
1. If the first kid picks a song that does NOT appear on the list, the second kid gets to answer. If kid #2 gives you an answer that is on the list, give Team #2 the points for that song. Now Team #2 gets to keep guessing until they guess TWO songs that are not on the list.
1. If kid #2 picks a song not on the list, it goes back to kid #1. Back & forth until someone finally picks a song on the list. Whoever picks correctly wins the opportunity for his/her team to guess first.
6. **As soon as a song on the list is guessed,  reveal the song on the board, tally the points awarded, and sing then song. Then continue with the game.***
7. The team that wins the opportunity to guess first gets to continue guessing until they make two mistakes.
1. You can either elect a team representative, or call on a kid at random.
1. Give them only a few seconds to guess. No deliberating!
2. Once they make two mistakes, the guessing passes to the other team. 
8. The team who guesses second gets to continue guessing until they they make THREE mistakes.
1. You can either elect a team representative, or call on a kid at random.
1. Give them only a few seconds to guess. No deliberating!
2. Once they make three mistakes, the guessing passes back to the other team. This continues until all the songs are revealed or until you run out of time.

This seems kind of crazy at first, but it makes a lot of sense after a round or two. This is kind of a complicated game, so feel free to comment with any questions you might have.

***Just a brief note--Make it clear from the beginning that there is no "booing" or groaning allowed if someone guesses incorrectly. We almost had tears when one little boy got the final strike for his team and heard a lot of complaining.

***Another note--if you've been at this for a while and have the lists of Top Ten songs from previous years, bring those to display at the end. The kids love seeing how things have/haven't changed.