Singing Time in Nursery

There are 14 songs that we sing in our Nursery. We do them in the same order, with the same actions or item. I feel the repetition is great for the little kids as they know what to expect, how long it will last (about 10 minutes) and what to do. I have the list of songs printed out (with the page numbers and actions/items) so I remember what goes where - it can get a little chaotic!

We are also able to use the primary room for Nursery singing time. It's been great having the kids get familiar with the primary room, sit in the chairs, sing with the piano and leave all the toys and playtime behind in the nursery room. Our pianist has the same list of songs as I do.

If you can't get into the Primary room because it's occupied, I'd HIGHLY suggest going into a separate classroom. Set up the chairs in a nice U shape with you sitting at the top and a few chairs for the teachers in between the kids.

To get the kids to the primary room all together and somewhat reverently, I sewed what the kids have named "The Dragon." They each put their hand in an elastic band (sewed onto some ric rac) and we walk:

You can purchase something similar on Oriental Trading HERE.

Here's our list of songs and the actions and or items we use to go with each song (the actions just follow along with the words in the song, nothing fancy!):

1.  UPDATE:  I have now added one more song, I Love To See the Temple which we sing first.  Find that HERE.

2. Book of Mormon Stories p. 118 (actions)

3. Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam p. 60 (sunbeam sticks - I found foam cutouts of a sun (at Roberts), put contact paper over them and taped them to popsicle sticks. When we sing the word "sunbeam" we stand up)

**I have since changed these to be sunbeam necklaces.  I simply punched a hole in the suns and strung them with string.  Just changes up the prop - something to wear rather than hold!

4. Popcorn Popping p. 242 (actions)

5. If You're Happy p. 266 (bells - I put 2 small bells on pipe cleaner and made them into a circle by wrapping the ends around each other. So they don't poke, I put a dab of hot glue on the ends. The kids put them around their wrists and we clap while we sing "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands." We also like to put them around our toes and "shake our toes" so we sing it twice)

6. Daddy's Homecoming p. 210 (actions)

7. Do As I'm Doing p. 276 (egg shakers THESE ARE THE FAVORITE !!- I filled plastic Easter eggs with a few dry beans and hot glued them together. We can shake them high and low, fast and slow, etc. as we sing and there's enough for each child to get 2)

**If you have trouble with kids breaking these open, try getting a few empty prescription bottles from your local pharmacy (I've gotten some from Wal-Mart's pharmacy before and they gave them to me for free when I told them they were for my church - otherwise they may charge you around 10 cents each).  Also make sure to ask for the child proof lids so they won't come off easily.  They're not quite as cute but VERY functional!

8. Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes p. 275 (actions - we do the first time normal speed and then we like to do it really fast and race the piano)

9. I Hope They Call Me on a Mission p. 169 (I made simple name tags on white card stock that say "MISSIONARY" and "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints," with a black background, and laminated them. I pin them on each child with a clothes pin. We stand in place and march while we sing)

Here's the document if you can copy and paste it to make your own:

10. Once There Was a Snowman p. 249 (actions - we also sing "Once I Was a Baby" to the same tune with actions and you work your way backwards with actions)

Here are the words:

Once I was a baby, baby, baby,

Once I was a baby, small small small

Now I'm getting bigger, bigger, bigger

Now I'm getting bigger, tall tall tall

11. Follow the Prophet, chorus only p. 110 (prophet sticks - I got 5 x 7 pictures of President Monson, glued them to cardboard and laminated them. Then I taped them to small dowels. Then we march around the room).

The original idea was to just have one stick and everyone else follows the leader but it led to fighting over who got to be the leader so I just made one for everyone!

**I have since updated my bag to be all the latter-day prophets instead of just President Monson (notice them in the picture at the top).  I bought a Latter-Day Prophet Poster at the Distribution Center, mounted it to some cardboard (to make it a little more sturdy), cut out the pictures to include the names, then laminated it. I just searched lds.org/store and found it HERE:

Looking online it appears to be 8.5 x 11 and I think I bought one that was a little bigger but I don't see it. This one will probably suffice though.

12.  My Hands p. 273 (actions)

13.  "Give" Said the Little Stream p. p. 236.  See details about my prop HERE as I've just added this one (also found here is my Nursery Song List you can print out)!

14. I am a Child of God p. 2 (sit quietly in your chair with arms folded)

Then everyone gets a sticker and we go back to class with "The Dragon"