A Singing 4 Corners Game

Last Sunday most of the kids were less than enthusiastic about singing time. It was partially my fault--my plans were not as good as they could have been--I tried to teach them too much new.
So this week I came prepared with the help of Sunbeam Singing Time's Post I had a new idea.

Materials: Numbers 1-4 written on construction paper, a blindfold

Set-up: Tape or push pin one number in each corner of the room.

Directions:

Tell the kids that you have something fun to play, but they have to be really reverent or you can't play (I'm not great at being stern, but I made them listen today).

First we discussed what pretty singing is--I said it was loud enough to hear, but not shouting. Sing prettily. Also, make sure we can understand the words--I gave an example of mumbling while singing the kids thought was funny.

Next I explained I would pick a name from my Pick'em Sticks of a child to be a judge of pretty singing. While I put a blindfold on the child, everyone else would walk really reverently with their arms folded into a corner. I helped the judge child into the center of the room.

After that we sang our song and the judge picked the prettiest corner. "Don't just pick the corner you think your friend is in. Pick the prettiest one!"
Those not in the prettiest corner sit down, while those who were in the prettiest corner got to walk around for another round. I picked a new judge, and the kids in the winning corner got to stay in.

New Rule this round: The judge may pick the sitting group if they are prettier than the corners!

We sang each song for 2-3 rounds. At a new song, we reset and everyone was back in again.

Pros: 

This worked really well in my small primary of about 20 kids. Even a girl who hadn't come to church in over a year who came today was singing the song we learned today!

Cons:

It did take awhile to explain this game and ate up some of our time. 

Tips:

I told the Sunbeams to stick with their teachers.

Funnies

Today in singing time I had to laugh at a few points.

I introduced I Will Follow God's Plan by telling the story of the war in heaven. On a spiritual note, it's amazing to tell true stories to kids who may not have ever listened to them before! We even have some kids whose family is investigating the church. I was struck by how important it is to explain scripture truths simply and clearly.

When I got to the point where God presented a plan and Satan presented one, and what they suggested, I asked the kids whose plan they chose. Many kids said they chose God's plan. Then a new child, just old enough for primary, told me, "I chose cars!"

We also sang Follow The Prophet. After singing about Adam "we are his descendants in the latter days" I asked what descendants means.
One boy guessed it meant servants. I got a mental image of all the people in the world serving Adam.