If I Listen With My Heart – Verse Two

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If I Listen With My Heart – Verse Two

Preparation

  • Items needed: two hinged rings or two pieces of ribbon, a marker, strong magnet strips, a hole punch, and a lamp or lantern. You will also need the chorus cards, the black and white picture of the prophet, and the picture of the Savior from the previous week’s lesson. Put the black and white picture of the prophet into a page protector, and slip the picture of the Savior behind it. Print the pictures and word cards onto cardstock. Cut out each picture around its subject’s outline. Attach a strong magnet to the back of each picture. Cut out the word bubbles. Glue the word bubbles that say “Love & Serve” to the picture of the prophet and to the picture of the Savior. Attach a magnet to the back of the rest of the word bubbles.
  • Cut the word cards in half on the dotted line. Stack the word cards in order with the start of the song on top. Attach strong magnets between each card (on the top, middle of the cards) so the cards stick together.  Hole punch the bottom of each card on the corners, and connect the six cards together with the rings or ribbon. Put a long strip of a strong magnet onto the top back of the last card.

Presentation

Tell the children they are now going to learn the second verse of the song “If I Listen With My Heart.” Remind them that it is about the prophet’s words being a way to hear the Savior’s voice. Put the black and white picture of the prophet in front of the lantern, and turn on the lantern. Put the flip chart on the board with the first lines of the verse showing. Go through the words of the flip chart with the children, and put the following corresponding pictures on the board for each page.

 I hear a living prophet speak – Put the picture of the prophet and the podium on the board.

the things that Christ would say –  Put the picture of the Savior to the left of the picture of the prophet.

if He were here upon the earth – Put the picture of the Savior over the picture of the prophet.

to talk with me today – Put the picture of the children to the left of the podium.

Put the word bubbles on the board to the left of the the picture of Jesus, and ask the children what the Savior would tell them to do if he were here upon the earth today. Write a response with the marker in each word bubble.

The prophet teaches how to live – Take off the picture of the Savior so that the prophet is showing, and explain that the prophet tells us the same things because he tells us the Savior’s words–the things the Savior wants us to know.

in righteousness and peace – Explain that the Savior wants us to live in righteousness and peace, so the prophet teaches us the Savior’s words on how to do that. Point out the word peace, and remind the children that the word peace is in each verse of the song. This is to help remind us that if we listen to and obey the Savior’s words, we can have peace in our lives. (When singing the song, put the labeled word bubbles up during this line of the song.)

Put the chorus pages on the board, and remind the children that they sing the chorus at the end of each verse.

Note: You may wish to teach Junior Primary a couple of lines of the verse at a time, and then have them sing those lines before teaching the next two lines.

Prepare to have the children sing the verse by resetting the flip chart and taking off the pictures.  Have a child helper put the pictures on the board at the appropriate times as you turn the pages of the flip chart. Go through the words and visuals again before singing the verse to make sure the helper knows how they go. Have a different child help with the visuals each time you sing the verse.

Tell the children they are now going to memorize the second verse. Review the words on the first flip chart card. Put it down so it isn’t showing, and have the children sing the song again. Do the same with the second card in the flip chart, then have them tell you what the first line is again. Sing the song again without the first and second cards showing. Continue in this manner until they can sing the song without the flip chart.

Note: To help the children review lines, tell them the line, but stop at certain points and see if they can tell you the next word or words.

Safety Reminder: Use only battery powered lanterns. If you use a lamp, put the paper on the lamp shade using a straight pin. Do not put the paper near the hot light bulb.


Easter – Song Review

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Easter – Song Review

This activity is based on the classic game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, but instead of a tail and donkey a blindfolded child will attempt to put an Easter egg into a basket. Have a child choose an egg and read the name of the song on the back. Blindfold the child and turn them around. Point them in the right direction. Have the other children help the child find the basket by singing the song soft when the child is far away from the basket and loud when the child is close.

A real basket and plastic eggs can be used, or you can print and cut out the eggs and basket visuals. (I used sparkly paper for my eggs.) Write or print out a list of songs you wish to review and put each one on the back of an egg, or in an egg if plastic eggs are used.

Post the picture of the basket on a wall where there is an open space to get to the basket. For safety, stay next to the blindfolded child to help them when they get near any obstacles. Put removable double-sided tape or sticky tack on the back of each egg so it can stick to the basket. (You may wish to move the basket to a different location each time, but move it when the child is blindfolded.)

Remind the children that eggs are used in the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection because for some people the new chick coming from the egg is a reminder of the risen Lord coming forth from the tomb.


Word of Wisdom Song

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Song – “In Our Lovely Deseret”, Hymn #307

Preparation

Print one copy of each page of the song words and pictures. Cut apart the pictures and the words on the dotted lines.

Song Activity

Put the words of the song in order on the board or wall. Randomly put one of the pictures next to each word card.

Read the first word card to the children, and have the children look at the picture next to it to see if the picture matches the words. If it doesn’t match, ask a volunteer to find the correct picture to switch it with. Continue doing that with each set of words. When each picture is with its matching set of words, sing the song (but do not sing the chorus). (CD music accompaniment can be checked out from the meetinghouse library if needed.)

After singing the song, have a child choose one set of words to turn over or take off. Sing the song again. Have another child choose a different set of words to turn over or take off, and then sing the song again.  After all the words have been taken off, take off all the pictures and see if the children can still sing the song. If not, put up a few of the pictures of parts they are struggling with and try again.

 


Song: The Holy Ghost

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The Holy Ghost – Lifesaver Candy Activity

To teach the second verse of  The Holy Ghost, I used Bridgette’s flip charts to initially introduce the verse. I did change the picture on the page “by sacred priesthood power” to a picture of  the Melchizedek Priesthood being restored to give the visual aids in the first part of the verse more variety and more teaching moments.

When I teach a song I like to explain each line and visual aid. When I came to the part “and with his light I’ll do what’s right”, I showed the picture of the lighthouse and explained what lighthouses do; they guide ships away from danger. Then I explained that the Holy Ghost can light the way in our lives to guide us away from spiritual and physical danger.  

I told an abbreviated version of the story Turn Upside Down and Push, found in the July 2010 Friend. The story is about how the Holy Ghost helped a boy in a dangerous situation. I showed a picture of a life saver/preserver and talked about its purpose. Then I told the children they were going to do a choosing activity using lifesaver candies to help them remember that the Holy Ghost, like a life preserver, can help keep them safe from physical danger (and spiritual danger).

 I had put different colored backgrounds on each picture of the flip chart. I had a baggie with eight corresponding colors of lifesavers in it. I put a blindfold on a volunteer and had the volunteer tell what color the lifesaver was by tasting it. If the child got the color right, I only covered up the words on the matching picture. If they got it wrong, I took down the picture with its words. 

The children loved the activity and tried to guess the color correctly so they would at least have the picture to help remind them of the words. We sang the song each time after the words were removed. By the end they had it memorized.

I gave each of the children an individually wrapped lifesaver when we were done.

I got the candy choosing idea from the primarysingingtimeideas.blogspot.com/ skittles game idea. 

Many thanks to the blogs and websites that help inspire fun ways to teach!