Oh, What Do You Do In the Summertime?

Summer vacations are well under way and our Primary attendance shows it.  Instead of learning a new song for the program, I like to do fun activities during the summer.  For the last 2 weeks, we have sung "Oh, What Do You Do in the Summertime?" (CS-245).

Last week we sang through the 3 verses using props.  Many of the Jr. Primary kids didn't know this song and it was fun to see them pick it up quickly.  We sang through each verse 2 times, using different kids to hold the props each time.  For the last run through, we wanted to sing all 3 verses without stopping.  I handed out the various props to the kids with instructions to come up front when their verse comes around.  When we started singing the end "Is that what you do?  So do I", the current verse prop kids went back to their seats and the next verse prop kids came to the front.  By the time we were singing the end of the beginning "when all the world is green", they were in the correct order and we sang away!  They did great!

 Verse 1 props:  Fishing pole, Pillow, Cloud

You may need to clarify the definition of "bank".  None of the Jr. Primary kids knew what that phrase meant as they thought it had to do with Savings accounts and such. Kind of funny:)

 Verse 2 props:  Swim goggles, Hand fan, Artificial greenery with a swing hanging from a "branch".  Artistry done by courtesy of my 11 year old, Olivia and attached to the swing with poster putty.  The swing is made from craft foam and hemp string.  

The primary kids LOVED this prop.

 Verse 3 props:  Flag, Lemonade bottle, Star sticks

What parade doesn't have flags?  I had just emptied 2 huge lemon juice containers the day before.  So I pulled one out of recycling.  Then I took 2 patriotic straws, taped them together for the length I needed and stuck it in the bottle.  Kids loved this prop, too.  They were instructed to NOT put their mouths on the straw.  EW!  

In Jr. Primary this week, we sang through the 3 verses, using the props.  Then I pulled out a prop from a separate bag.  These items are shown below:

Various Props:  A super hero cape (top), snake, tree, marshmallows, hero type book, flowers, bee, fire, sidewalk chalk

Last night I spent 3 hours driving one of my girls to archery class and back.  That gave me plenty of time to do some pondering.  I came up with 5 verses to teach the primary.  

1.  Do you go to the Lakes and catch water snakes to make the girls scream so high?

2. Do you roast a marshmallow to share with the fellow who sits with you by the fire?

3. Do you climb tall trees, or run from the bees that sting noses and make us cry?

4. Do you like to smell flowers, or read books for hours of heroes who fight for the right?

5. Do you like to use chalk and draw on the sidewalk fun pictures that make others smile?

I spent this morning gathering the props needed to help teach them.  I placed the props in a separate bag than the original verses' props.  The first prop that was pulled out was the snake.  I asked the kids what words rhyme with snake.  Sunbeams don't know how to rhyme. :)  But they sure are cute!!   I asked them to think about where they could find snakes and come up with a rhyming word.  LAKE!!  I drew 3 "lakes" on the chalkboard and labeled them.  Then I asked what would happen if they went to some lakes and found water snakes and then decided to take them home.  Oh yeah!!  There would be some screaming, don't you think?  This is how we learned these verses.  We didn't do all of them, but we got to 3 of them.  We sang them just once because of the time we spent discussing (me trying to pull the verses out of them so that they felt they were the ones making up the verses.  I'm very sneaky like that!) each verse.  

For Sr. Primary we didn't bother with the 3 original verses.  I jumped right into the rhyming process used in those verses to set up the activity for the props I had brought and already used with the Jr. Primary.  I let a child come up and look through the items in the bag and then choose what one would be used.  The first item chosen was the artificial "tree".  They spouted out different words that rhymed as I wrote them on the chalkboard.  When they got excited about "bee", I pulled that out of the bag.  It just so happens that 2 days ago I was stung by a bee on my NOSE!  So I told them about it and they came up with the last rhyming word needed for the "I" in "So do I" at the end of the song.  The picture below is the result of the 4 verses they made up today.  They were so proud of themselves!  We invited the presidency back in at the end and sang all the verses for them.  The presidency just laughed and laughed!  Especially at the last verse.

CHALKBOARD TRANSLATION

-Oh, what do you do in the summertime when all the world is green:

Verse 1: Do you roast a marshmallow until it is yellow and make a gigantic s'more pie?

Verse 2: Do you draw with some chalk, a picture of Spock flying The Enterprise?

Verse 3: Do you climb a tree or run from a bee, then scream 'cuz it made you cry? 

Verse 4: Do you jump in a lake and get bit by a snake, then float to the surface and DIE?

-Is that what you do?  So do I!

Verse 4 was my favorite!  I'm a bit morbid and I must say that these kids TOTALLY surprised me with their creativity.  The only verse I had much influence on at all was the bee stinging one.  But they did fantastic with their rhyming and music skills in this activity!  I just hope I still have this calling next month after posting about Spock and floating dead bodies being sung in Primary. :\   

"Live long and prosper"!