These ideas are for songs from the Primary Songbook, Hymn Book and Friend
...and you!  Click on the first letter of the song you are looking for.

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2012 HELPS:

Click here for 2012 Primary Song Helps

2010 HELPS:

 2010 Primary Music - Download all the songs for the program to make CD's, listen to them, etc.

2009 HELPS:

 2009 Music - Download all the songs for the program to make CD's, listen to them, etc.
 Ideas on how to teach the 2009 Primary Songs by Carolyn - Great document for Primary Music Leaders!
 2009 Music CD Label by Maggie Jones
 2009 Primary CD Jacket Cover by Dawn Hardey
 2009 Song Trivia by Dawnell Porcaro
 CD Covers by JollyJenn
 Primary 2009 CD Labels from Emma's Place
 2009 Primary Music Schedule by Anabelle Chacon
 2009 Primary Music Songbook by Kalani Mortensen
 D'Net's 2009 Music Helps
 My Eternal Family Songbook by Heather Lyman

Articles of Faith Singing Times:

 Thirteenth Article of Faith Singing Scripture Game by Wendi Baggaley

Baptism Ideas:

We sing the monthly birthday song and then ask the 8 year old to pick 8 friends to stand up and be candles-they have to wiggle and flicker like a lit candle. We then sing the first verse of 'I Like My Birthdays'. After the song, the 8 year old blows the candles out and her/his friends 'fall' to their chairs. It's really fun and the children look forward to it. (Idea by Yolanda)

Birthday Ideas:

 Birthday Cupcakes by Amanda Fenenma 
Birthday Tree
 I have a "magic candle" that I let the children blow out after we sing to them, and they all seem to love it. (Okay, some of the older ones may roll their eyes, but I've also heard them ask for it if they missed their turn.)  It is very simple and cheap to make. It's just a 1" thick round dowel, about 18" long. You just attach something to look like a flame at the top, this could be tulle in orange and yellow glued on to make it look like a flame, tissue paper (though this may not hold up as well) or even tassels from a pom-pom in yellow/orange. Then you simply get a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper in whatever pattern you like and tape it tight enough around the dowel where it can stay on but still slide up and down easily enough to "extinguish" the flame by going high enough to cover it. Then I just looped ribbon around the bottom to make it look a little cuter. I hope that makes sense."  (Idea by Carolee)
I like my birthdays
You've had a birthday

Calendars and Schedules:

 2009 Yearly Music Schedule by Nekell Bjorn
 January - March Singing Time Schedule by Chris Dolman
 Monthly Song Calendar by Jenny Chidester
 Music Schedule Template by Erika Glancy
 Primary Pianist Schedule by Heather Matthews

Candy Bar Wrappers:

Music Candy Bar Wrappers from lds.about.com (1), (2), (3)
Singing Time Candy Bar Wrappers from lds.about.com (1), (2)

Chat Group:

 Primusic Message Board (NEW! January 2009)

Children Graduating from Primary:

"As my children have turned 12 and are leaving Primary, (or moving out of the ward), we sing the Hello Song to them but as a Farewell Song.  Instead of singing Hello four times, we inserted - "Farewell, Adios, See 'ya later, Alligator."  And depending which side of the room they are coming from, that side gets the "Alligator" part of the song.  It makes it so that as the children are leaving Primary, it's not so sad for them.  We have also sang it when we have changed Primary Presidencies or teachers leaving."  (Idea by Molly J. Arthur)
Farewell Song by Kelly Hatch
Goodbye Song by Yolanda Jensen
 This week we lost a girl to Young Women's (boohoo) so we sang them the Goodbye Song (Goodbye, Goodbye, We're sad to see you go... the rest of the song is the same as Hello Song) while the Young Women waited to escort her to her new class. Afterward the Young Women's President said, "We want to sing the Hello Song to welcome her!" and they did. It was really cool, because it really emphasized the transition from Primary to Young Women's. (Idea by Jennifer Garrett / ga08212011)
We don't have a graduation song. We just sing that child's favorite song as a way to say goodbye and we will miss you. The young women always come to "get" their new girl and so we always invite them to sing the song with us--since I have been the chorister so many times over the years, I have had most of the girls in primary with me and got to do the same for them.  (Idea by Kris Parkinson)
We sing "If your SAD and you know it .... wave goodbye" sung to "If your Happy" in the Primary children's songbook! The children LOVE IT! (Idea by Jen Lefler / ga02122008)

Choosing Helpers in Primary:

 Click here for ideas on how to choose your helpers

Clipart:

 E-Primary
 Free LDS Art
 lds.about.com
 Mormon Share

Conducting Ideas:
 
 Conducting Elephant by Brynn & Tifany Hoecherl
 Conducting Wand
It's all in the hands by Aili Katherman
 Leading Sticks by Brooke Wakefield

Games and Ideas to Review Songs:

 Click here for games and review ideas

General Conference:

 179th Annual General Conference Matching Game/Song Review by Tasha Reeve
 2009 General Conference Review by Wendi Baggaley 
 General Conference Singing Time by Katherine Barrus
 I wanted to use the theme of General Conference this week and just sing songs not in the program, since we have been practicing really hard and need a break. I downloaded conference talks on a cd, and am going to have a picture of each apostle on the bulletin board. I will play a voice and have the children match the voice to the right picture. Then I will have a fact about each person and a song that cooresponds. Like for Henry B. Eyring since he was a professor we will sing Teach me to walk in the light. For President Monson, We thank thee of God for a prophet. (Idea by Alisa Durtschi)

Getting the children quiet:

 (Idea by Loralee Kurzius / ga10012010) - Never try to get their attention by being louder than them.  Whisper.  It never fails that they stop so that they don’t miss what you are saying.  Another trick is to start in a fairly loud voice, while opening and shutting your hands: 

“Open them, shut them, open them, shut them,
Give a little clap.”
(Now your voice gets progressively softer till you are whispering)
“Open them, shut them, open them, shut them,
Fold them in your lap…”

Handbells & Chimes:

 8 note handbell set
Handbell Heaven - A blog dedicated to chime music
 How to make your own chime set
Scroll down and you'll see a set of handbells for $35

Holidays and Seasons:
 
 Autumn Singing Time Ideas
 Back to school
 Christmas
 Easter
 Father's Day
 Halloween
 Independence Day
 Mother's Day
 New Year's
 Pioneer Day
 Spring Singing Time Ideas
 St. Patrick's Day
 Summer Singing Time Ideas
 Thanksgiving
 Valentine's
 Winter Singing Time Ideas

How to organize your stuff....  

 Don't lose it! by Jacy Rogers
 How to organize all of your visual aides
 Organizing it all....by Wendi Baggaley
 Primary Singing Folders by Mary McDonald
 Where do you keep your visuals?

Jolly Jen:

 Click here for Jolly Jen's files

Jokes:

 A year ago, I was the primary music leader and I was giving the children a "heads up of next week's song, "I will be Valiant", and asked them to look for ways they can be valiant at home and at school.  Just then, a little boy leaned over to his neighbor and with a very puzzled and concerned look on his face said, "She wants us to be VIOLENT this week?"  Needless to say, I quickly clarified the word VALIANT and it's meaning!  (Shared by Wendy Lindsey / ga01192007)
What happened to the primary music leader who bought snow tires? ~ In the sun they melted, melted, melted...

Music:

Children's Songbook Song List by Amberly Brown
 Letter to accompany music CD
My Gospel Standards put to music - by Tara Tarbet (ga07152007)
The Family Proclamation set to music

Online Video Clips:

 Conducting Tips for LDS Choir or Music Leaders by Michelle Willis

Other:

 10 reasons to use Jolly Jen's Primary Song thumbnails
 A fun way to teach children to watch you, the director
 A Good Start - Start Singing Time out with a scripture was a super way to bring the Spirit in! Sometimes I'd have a child come up and read it and have them guess what we were going to focus on for Singing Time!
 An idea while waiting for parents to pick up children from Primary
 Annual Singing Time Checklist by Bekah Novitzke
Chorister Orientation by Kristina Labadie
Confessions of a Primary Chorister (from the Deseret News)
Do you have a troublemaker in Primary?   
 For many songs, I create visual aids by printing off the words on my computer (36+ font is a good size) and combining them with pictures from old Church magazines.  Some of my favorite visual aids were made using those gorgeous pictures.  (Idea by Mary Ann Clements / ga02262009)
Here is what I do each week as the children come.  Our pianist plays a song and I have faces that say "oh", "ah", "la la la", "hum", "sing." They each come in and start doing whatever face I hold up and if they aren't and start talking, I walk up individually to them and show them the face and look very earnestly at them and they start doing what's going on. This helps keep the noise level down and invites the spirit off the bat! (Idea by Nicole Marino)
How to get more singing time in....
Jolly Jenn Flipcharts by Teresa Aitken
Learning the children's names - What I did when I got called is took pictures of all the children. I cut it out and put it on a square paper then put their names on the bottom. I used them to call on the children and choose which child was going to help me. It is great because I could look at the pictures when I wasn't teaching and then when I was, if I forgot a name it's okay because I was reading it off the paper. I now have all the names down. (Idea by Whitney Walters)
Life size game board
Medal Ideas
 My office-in-a-bag by Jana Whitley
Primary Program Song List (1998-2008) by Emily Woidka
Singing Notes by Olivia Hood and Kristi Mayer
 Spanish/English Primary Song Converter by Megan Whitmire
 Super Singer Award Ideas by Cindee Alexander
Click here for ideas on how to choose your helpers
 Wiggle Songs by Jocelyn Gibbons

Pianist Appreciation Ideas:

 A bouquet of carnations by Christy Gearhart
 Chocolate Keyboard
 Pianist Appreciation Song
 Pianist Recognition Idea by Sue Ward
 Thanking your pianist by Melissa West
 Thanking your pianist each week

Poems:

 Primary Program CD Poem by Kim Klinkowski

Primary Program Helps:

A few months ago I read a music leader's blog post about using marshmallows to motivate her primary children to sing. For each song they did well (during the program), she set aside a large marshmallow, then had to stuff those in her mouth and sing a song to them. We had our program today. At the practice yesterday, I talked to the children after we had run through the whole thing once. They were basically whisper-singing - very quiet and breathy - instead of using their wonderful voices. I demonstrated the difference to them, explained the marshmallow idea, and we practiced a few of the songs again. What a difference!! If they got quiet all I had to do was hold up the bag of marshmallows and it was like holding up a microphone. Immediately they sang stronger and projected their voices. This morning our stake primary president was sitting on the back row, so I took the bag of marshmallows to her with the instructions to put one in the jar for every song where she could hear the message and feel their testimonies. I kept a single marshmallow with me and would hold it up once in a while with my non-leading hand to remind the children as needed. It was seriously the best program EVER since I have been in this ward. They had me crying with the song "I Know that Jesus Lives" and when they did the first verse of "Praise to the Man" I thought the congregation had already joined in because they were such powerful singers. I was so pleased.  The children loved it, and the bishop even hung around in Primary so as not to miss the spectacle of me singing "Once There Was a Snowman" with my mouth full of marshmallows. (Idea by Angie Rhodes)
 Crossword Puzzle Game by Wendi Baggaley
I took pictures of primary children all summer long, ward campout, ward activities, parties, etc.  The children that I didn't get pictures of, I contacted their parents and they sent them to me.   I have put them into a slide show and this Sunday is our program.  I am going to show it to them as a surprise.  I put it to "O What Do You Do in the Summertime,"  "Happy Family,"  "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus,"  etc.  I am really excited to reward the children with this.  We even got the Bishopric and teachers to send in pictures that portrayed them in a more "sporty" light.It wasn't as much work as I thought it might be. (Idea by Lara Parker)
I just finished my 3rd primary program and I've used a balloon the last two years to much success. I get two balloons with smiley faces on them from the dollar store (one in case the other gets loose) and have my teenage son stand at the very back of the gym so no one in the congregation can see him (and get distracted) but the primary children have a great view. He raises and lowers the balloon depending on how they're singing. I then give the balloons to the Primary President and counselor over music as a thank you. (Idea by c.schneg of Primary Yahoo Music Group)
Primary Pianists
 Primary Program Song Survey by Wendi Baggaley
 Primary Appreciation Songs by Carolyn Frances
Primary Song Motivation Board by Angela Duncan
 Scrambled Titles Game by Wendi Baggaley
Silent Simon Says by Bethany Adams - helping your children watch you
 Song Ingredients by Michelle Pack
 To help encourage the children in singing and reviewing our songs for the program I took a foam board and put a picture representing each song down one edge. I made 5 stars for each song and laminated them. I then placed Velcro on the board and on the back of the stars. You could also Velcro the pictures on so you can change it next year. And then after we sang the song our pianist would then tell us how many stars we earned. You can also cut some of the stars in half as well. I put junior primary on one side of the foam board and senior primary on the other. The loved it.  (Idea by Shelia White / ga08232008)

Primary Sheet Music:

D'Net's Primary Music Page - If you are a piano teacher of have a child in piano lessons or a parent of a child that plays the piano, this is a great website.  Or maybe your Primary Pianist is struggling to play the versions from the Primary Children's Songbook.  Check it out.  She has taken the songs for the 2008 Primary program and arranged them for Primer/Level 1 piano students. 
Simplified Primary Music

Products you can buy:

 Charts to help teach a song
 Dry erase die
 LDS Primary Posters

Puzzles:

 Children's Songbook Crossword Puzzle (Make a giant copy and have the children fill in the answers)
 
Quotes:

"Primary songs are what scripture sounds like."  - Marvin Goldstein

Sign Language:

Children's Songbook (ASL) -  There is a list of selected songs from the Children's Songbook
Hymn Book (ASL) - There is a list of selected songs from the Hymn Book 
Sign Language - A few websites to check out if teaching your children to sign a song

Song Tracker(s):

 Primary Song Checklist by Melissa Bingham
 Songs the Primary Knows by Tammy Griffin

Spanish Resources:

 Dulce Musica de Primaria - SPANISH Primary Music Blog 
 Spanish/English Primary Song Converter by Megan Whitmire
 Versículo Uno - Music Blog for Primary Music Leaders

Teaching Ideas:

 Some Music Ideas

Thanking those leaving Primary:

 Goodbye song for departing presidency (or teachers) by Loralee Kurzius
Saying goodbye to the pianist
The Goodbye Song
You've Had a Birthday---song for children turning 12 and leaving Primary by Wendilyn Stevenson
We sing "If your SAD and you know it .... wave goodbye" sung to "If your Happy" in the Primary children's songbook! They LOVE IT! (Idea by Jen Lefler / ga02122008)
When our pianist moved, I decorated a really cute jar with musical stickers and words like "____ Ward Primary Loves You!", etc. Then I told the children that he was leaving and that I was going to "capture" our singing (and his playing) in this jar, so he could open it a little bit anytime he wished to hear our beautiful music! It was really fun. I went around the room while we we were singing and got each child singing directly into the jar, then paused in front of the piano and got the music and pretended the jar was so full I could barely put the lid back on! Anyway, the jar was really cute and the sentiment was lovely.  (Idea by Dianne Gamblin / ga04162007)

Video Clips:

Click on the television graphic on the upper right hand screen to see an example of how to use music to greet children and welcome them to Primary.
 Primary Music Leader Training Video

Websites:

CHECK OUT THIS SITE!  It's called Posteriza - it allows you to design your own big posters and signs from any digital photo with your home printer! Four steps: Type in text (up to 4 lines per poster), insert picture, choose border and choose poster size...and it's free. Just click on the link at the top that says, "download."
 Divine Secrets of a Primary Chorister
D'Net's Primary Music Page
 Dulce Musica de Primaria - SPANISH Primary Music Blog  
I Heart Primary Music
 I Sing, U Sing
 Jeni's Singing Time Helps
 Jolly Jen's Primary Music Helps
LDS Church Music Website
 Paper CD Case - I thought this website would be helpful to those of you who make CD's for the children of the program songs each year.  This allows you to customize the case.
 Primary Chorister Ideas
 Primary Music Time Ideas
 Primary Singing Ideas
 Primary Singing Time with Matilda
 Shari's Singing Time Collection
Singing a Song is Fun to Do
 Singing in the Rain
 Singing Time Stuff
 The Children Sing
 The Crazy Chorister
 Versículo Uno - Music Blog for Primary Music Leaders