Musical Dice

This one is a lot of fun and a great way to reinforce music theory that you've taught the children! Just a warning--you MUST have a confident accompanist in order to do this activity. If your Primary pianist is struggling or uncomfortable, this one will probably stress them out.

Supplies needed:

• 6 sets of opposing musical terms. I use the following:
• forte vs. piano
• Treble Clef (girls) vs. Bass Clef (boys)
• a cappella vs. accompanied
• staccato vs. legato
• Adagio vs. Allegro
• stand up vs. sit down
• pictures to represent each of the 12 terms above, printed very large (1 per 8 x 11 piece of paper)
• 12 pieces of thick construction paper 
• I like to have a pink piece to glue the Treble Clef on and blue for Bass Clef (helps the kids remember which one is which)
• marker
• one die, preferably in some small container to avoid die-tossing across the Primary room
• list of 8-10 songs you want to sing

Set up:

1. Glue your pictures to your construction paper
1. Don't forget to use pink for Treble Clef and blue for Bass Clef
2. Arrange the papers into their sets (forte and piano together, etc.) You should have 6 piles.
3. Label the back of each paper in the set, giving each a number from 1-6 to correspond with the numbers on the die. For example:
1. forte vs. piano (write '1' on the back of both of these)
2. Treble Clef (girls) vs. Bass Clef (boys) (write '2' on the back of both of these)
3. a cappella vs. accompanied (write '3' on the back of both of these, etc.)
4. staccato vs. legato
5. Adagio vs. Allegro
6. stand up vs. sit down
4. Place sets on the table or floor in numerical order
5. Have your die (in container) ready

Game play:

1. Before beginning, give the kids a quick review/introduction to all the terms on the pieces of paper. I usually just hold up each set and remind them of what "staccato" means, etc.
2. Choose a child to come roll the die. The number they roll indicates which set they get to use.
3. You can either hold the set yourself or let the child hold them (one in each hand).
1. Whichever picture is held up high is the one the kids have to follow. So if the child is holding "staccato" in one hand and "legato" in the other, he should pick one to hold up high--that's how the Primary knows how to sing.
2. Alternate between the pictures, lifting them up and down at intervals so the Primary has to keep switching back and forth between "staccato" and "legato" or "Adagio" and "Allegro."
4. Sing the songs in the order. 
5. Two things you may want to keep tabs on:
1. If you're letting the kids hold the pictures, make it clear that they can't just continuously swap back and forth the entire time. That ruins the fun! If you have to take over mid-song, do it!
2. Make sure your pianist is comfortable with the songs you've chosen and is capable of following the directions. This one will even keep your pianist on his toes!

Temples Around the World

I LOVE this activity and it never gets boring since you can always swap out temples!

Supplies needed:

• 8-10 pictures of temples around the world (I have more because I just can't help myself!)
• heavy construction paper
• glue
• map of the world
• masking tape
• Sharpie marker
• yarn
• tape
• list of songs you want to sing (one song per temple)
• tape/pins to hang up map & temples

Set up:

1. Glue each temple picture onto a piece of construction paper (for extra strength)
2. Using the Sharpie and masking tape, write the location of each temple and paste it on the correct place on your map (look at the picture above if you need help).
1. This can get complicated if you have several temples in close proximity to each other. Try to spread them out across the entire map!
3. Before Primary starts, pin/tape up your map on your board.
4. String time! Tape a piece of string with one end starting at the masking-taped locations on the map and the other end hanging off the map (this is where the kids will put the picture of the temple that corresponds to that location). (See the picture above for detail).
1. Make sure you don't have any strings crossing! I like to tape all my strings to the map first so I can arrange the positions without any cross-overs.
5. You can either hang your temple pictures around the room or have them laid out on a table. 

Game play:

1. Have a child pick a picture of a temple and bring it to the map.
1. For Junior Primary I immediately tell them where it goes and throw in a fact or two about that temple/country.
2. For Senior Primary I have a list of hints to help them identify the correct location (language spoken, famous people, famous landmarks, etc.)
2. Attach it to the correct spot on the map and sing the song!
3. End with your testimony about temple work and how awesome it is to see temples appearing all over the earth!

Dispersed Titles

A fun one I found while searching for ideas! This one is a Senior only game (unless you happen to have a very advanced Junior Primary where all the kids are able to read). 

Supplies needed:

• list of 7-9 songs you want to sing
• blank white notecards (and lots of them)
• markers

Set up:

1. Using your list of songs, write each word of each title on a separate notecard. For example, if you were singing "Called to Serve", you would end up with three notecards: called, to, serve. 
1. I like to use all different colors to mix things up, but you could color coordinate titles if you wanted to give the kids a bit of a hint.
2. Another fun hint--try to pick at least one song that has a single word title, like "Faith" or "Baptism". Makes it more of a challenge. 

Game play:

1. At the beginning of singing time, disperse your notecards through the Primary. 
1. Try to make sure each child has at least one card, if possible. 
2. Tell the Primary that each of them have a single word from a title of a Primary song they know. Have them raise their hands if they think they know what song their notecard belongs to.
3. Pick a child and have them announce their guess. If they are correct, that child and all the others who have notecards that match that title come to the front and put themselves in the correct order. For example: if the child with "temple" guesses "I Love to See the Temple" correctly, the children with "I", "love", "to", "see", and "the" should join him up front. 
1. You're likely to get multiple "the"s, "to"s, "and"s, etc. Just pick the first one and send the others down until the next title. 
4. Sing the song, then collect all the cards and start again.

Three In A Row

I found this idea while searching for singing time plans and it was a big hit!

Supplies needed:

• list of 8-10 songs you want to sing
• one piece of paper with a group of three words for each of your songs
• small bag/box 

Set up:

1. From each of your songs, pick three words in a row from the lyrics to use as a clue. For example: "I'm going there" from "I Love to See the Temple".
1. Depending on the song/phrase, I'll pick easier ones for Junior and harder for Senior.
2. Write or print out each of your three-word phrases and cut into individual strips.
3. Place strips in a bag/box for the kids to draw from.

Game play:

1. Have a child choose a strip from your bag/box, then see if they can guess the song. Ask the Primary for help if needed.
1. If they are really struggling, add one word at a time to the beginning or end of your three-word phrase. 

Missing Halves

Another one that's just for Junior (to pair with a game that's just for Senior--I usually pair this one with Synonyms for Senior).

Supplies needed:

• 8-10 large pictures (I raid old 'Friend' magazines)
• thick construction paper (to mount the pictures on for added strength)
• scissors
• list of songs you want to sing (one song per picture--I like to try to make the pictures match the songs, like singing 'Nephi's Courage' for the picture on the right above)
• tape/pins to hang pictures on the board and around the room

Set up:

1. Glue/tape each picture to a piece of construction paper.
2. Cut each picture in two (make it fun--some squiggly cuts, some in different directions)
3. Put one half of each picture on the board and hang the other half somewhere in the Primary room.

Game play:

1. Tell the kids you need help finding the other half of your pictures.
2. Have a child find one of the halves in the room and bring it to the board to make a match.
3. Sing the song.

Numbers Game

This was a fun way to help the kids understand the numbers involved in the Church (specifically the leap from ward to stake to members). And a great way to bring up missionary work since the numbers continue to increase every year!

This one is for Senior only since Junior Primary doesn't really have a good number sense yet. I usually pair this one with Build a Snowman for Junior. 

(Yes, we really did have 146 Primary kids that year. I am not kidding about our large Primary). 

Supplies needed:

• 8 pieces of paper with the following labels:
• Primary Kids in Our Ward
• Members of Our Ward
• Wards in the Church
• Stakes in the Church
• Members of the Church
• Missionaries Serving
• Operating Temples
• Presidents of the Church
• 8 pieces of paper with the numbers that correspond to the categories above
• Good contacts for ward numbers: Primary President, ward membership clerk, Bishop
• Search lds.org for the most up-to-date numbers for the other categories. They're always announced in the April session of General Conference (although they're a year old by that point).
• list of songs you want to sing (one song per category)
• I like to try to match my songs with the categories: missionary songs for missionaries, I Love To See the Temple for temples, etc. 
• tape/pins to hang the papers

Set up:

1. On your board, pin or tape up each category label, making sure to leave enough room for the children to place the numbers next to/underneath it.
2. Have the numbers either face up (easier) or face down (more of a challenge) on a table.

Game play:

1. Explain that the object of the game is to correctly match the numbers with the categories on your board. Also a good time to explain the relationship between wards and stakes.
2. Have a child pick a number and choose which category it belongs to. 
1. You have some discretion here: you can either guide the child to make the correct choice, or you can let them put the number wherever they want, with the understanding that the next child(ren) have the option to move numbers around if they feel it's justified.
1. If you do decide to let them choose for themselves, make sure the songs on your list are linked to the NUMBER, not the CATEGORY. Otherwise it gets confusing about which song you should sing. You'll always sing the song attached to the number the child picked up at the beginning. (This can be a good hint--if they place their number under "Missionaries Serving" and the song is "I Love to See the Temple", most of the Primary will catch on pretty quickly and will make the correct change the next turn). 
3. Make sure to end with your testimony of missionary work and how even Primary children can help make these numbers grow bigger every year. 

Build a Snowman

A simple activity I only do with Junior Primary on a week when Senior is playing a more complicated game (I usually pair this one with the Numbers Game for Senior). 

Supplies needed:

• snowman pieces pictured above 
• hat
• head with eyes and mouth drawn on
• torso
• bottom
• 2 arms
• 2 buttons
• carrot nose
• scarf
• marker/pen
• list of ten songs you want to sing (one song per piece)
• tape

Set up:

1. Write a number on the back of each piece. This number will correspond to the song number you want to sing from your list.
2. Have some tape ready to put on the back of the pieces.

Game play:

1. Explain to the children that you are trying to build a snowman and need their help.
2. Have a child pick a piece to put up on the board, then sing the song. 
1. You can try to guide/force them to build the body first, but I never do. Our last snowman was a great masterpiece with everything attached to a floating snowman head.