Retiring the Blog

It is with mixed feelings that I write to tell you I am retiring this blog. I have poured my heart into it! However, I feel like Ammon, who was "called another way" by the Spirit of the Lord (Alma 22:4). 

I know that God still speaks to men and women today. I know that He has a specific plan for each of our lives. And I know that if we seek to know His will for us, He will help us know what we should do. For me, the Lord's plan includes grad school and advocating for supports for gifted children. It is overwhelming and exciting and scary and wonderful.

Don't worry, though; I'm still singing. I brought in rhythm instruments to my Sunbeams class today. :) I desperately hope I'll get to teach Primary music again. Maybe I'll even start back up this blog. Until then, may you always feel the Spirit of the Lord as you help these precious children sing praises to Him.

Happy singing!

"A Child's Prayer"--Reviewing with Egg Shakers

We have a newly called Primary Music Leader in our ward, and she's fantastic with the children! Nicolle Sherwood is a professional musician, and she gave me permission to share an activity she brought into Primary her first week. 

The children have already learned all the songs for the Primary program, but they get forgetful. So, Nicolle has been going through and reviewing how well they know each song. Her egg shaker activity is a great way to review "A Child's Prayer" in Junior Primary. 

Here is a video of me, showing Nicolle's activity:

When I saw Nicolle present this activity, I wasn't sure if the kids would go for it. I mean, the egg shakers weren't moving that fast or anything, and that didn't seem that exciting to me. I was amazed at how the kids responded. They were completely focused on her, mimicking her movements carefully. She did a couple repeats, having them focus on different aspects of the music or movements, and then at the very end, she had the children shake their eggs crazy fast and loud, just for fun. The kids loved it. :)

This just shows the first verse of "A Child's Prayer," but you could improvise your own actions for the second verse. 


Happy singing!

Looking for more?  Here is a collection of other review ideas. Or, try using this charades activity for any of a number of songs.