Wintertime Nursery Song List

If you go into Nursery to do Singing Time with them, a list of songs by your side is helpful.  If you DON'T go into Nursery, please consider it.  It is so worth it!  The new Sunbeams this year have had a great transition.  They know me and know what to expect with Singing Time.  Now I continue to build that relationship with next years kids in Nursery every week for 15 minutes. For the most part, I keep the Nursery Songs consistent.  However, I like to sing about the different seasons as they come.  I have learned that by rotating "action" songs with "props" songs is helpful, too.  That way we can be putting the props away at the beginning of the action song.  It runs smoother that way.  I can then dig out the props for the next song at the end of the action song we're singing.  It's all in the planning:)

This is my current (winter time) list of songs we sing every week:

Gathering Song:  Here We Are Together (in our nursery, sing kids' names).  I begin singing this song the second my foot enters the room.  That the signal for them to gather around me to begin Singing Time.


Singing Time 
If You're Happy - actions
It's Wintertime/Snow Is Falling all Around - sway the snowflake strings (see picture above) in time with the feel of the song
Once There Was a Snowman - actions
Sing a Song/Ring a Song - Bell bracelets
Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam - actions
5 Little Ducks - duck glove
I Am Like a Star - star sticks
Hinges - actions
Stand For the Right - "Bee" true crocheted bee
Follow the Prophet chorus - latter day prophet sticks & march in place
I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus - Jesus hearts to hug

Closing Song:  I Am a Child of God - continue to hug Jesus hearts

We always sing a'cappella. That's why I don't have page numbers on my list.  We move along quickly, so it's nice not to mess with a CD player.   The 2nd songs on the Singing Time list is the melody to "It's Autumntime" in the CS page 246 and "Rain Is Falling All Around" in the CS page 241.

I made up the lyrics for "It's Wintertime" to the tune of "It's Autumntime":
It's wintertime, it's wintertime, with snowflakes falling down.
It's wintertime, it's wintertime, with snow upon the ground.
It's wintertime, it's wintertime, enjoy the chilly air.
It's wintertime, it's wintertime, white snow is ev'rywhere!

We like to sway the snowflake strings while singing both songs.  We even let them tap our noses, hands & toes for the 2nd song.

Happy Winter Singing!

Jesus Hearts

Over the last couple of weeks, I've started singing "I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus" as one of the songs in Nursery Singing Time.  I have a consistent list of songs we do every week.  I wanted to add this song to sing just before the closing song, "I Am a Child of God".  But by then end of Singing Time, the little ones have a hard time sitting back down to fold their arms & become more reverent.  So to help with this, I was inspired to make little foamy hearts with a picture of Jesus in the center.  I felt that they needed to show their love for Jesus by giving Him a hug as they sing the 2 closing songs.  As I passed them out to the little ones, I showed them the picture, explaining that Jesus loves us so much!  We love Him too, and can show Him by giving His "heart" a beautiful hug while we sing about Him.  It was amazing to see how many of the little ones understood the concept & studiously hugged Him to the very end.  One girl wanted Jesus even closer to her that she opened the neck of her shirt & dropped him next to her heart!  Gotta love kids:)

At Joann's, I found a package of 18 valentine foamy hearts.  9 were glittered, 9 plain.  I removed the inner hearts to make the large ones into "frames".  I traced the frame heart onto another piece of foam to create a back.  I then cut a smaller heart to trace onto the picture of Jesus.  I laminated the pictures before gluing them to the front section of the foamy heart.  Some of the babes in Nursery put the song props in their mouths.  Ew, I know.  More than one prophet has bite marks:)  Need to make them slobber proof!  Once the glue was dry, I held the front & back pieces together & "sewed" them together with a craft needle & yarn.  This is to prevent the hearts from being pulled apart.  However, one little turkey pulled the stitches & ripped them out of the heart.  But, you still gotta love kids:)  I tied the two strings in a knot at the end.  I also tied a knot in each string left to prevent the yarn from splitting/unravelling.

I've used these for the last 3 weeks.  The kids love them (and Jesus, too)!

Nursery Singing Time

About 6 months ago, the Primary Presidency asked if I would be willing to go into the Nursery for 10-15 minutes each week and do singing time with the babes.  Because of the weekly primary schedule, the only time I can do it is the last 20 minutes of the block time.  But the Nursery Leaders were fine with that & so it began!  I jumped online & gleaned ideas that have been put out there.  A BIG thanks to all of you who take the time to post on your blogs!!  

In the end, this is what I came up with:

I took a big sun I'd made years ago & used it as a prop for the song "Rain is Falling All Around".  Of course, I changed the words to "Sun is shining all around".  The stars on sticks are used to "I Am Like a Star".  Prophets on a stick are used for "Follow the Prophet" chorus.  The butterfly & bee on strings are for the song "It's Autumntime".  Yes, I changed the words to "it's summertime, it's summertime with bees and butterflies.  It's summertime, it's summertime, we love to see them fly!"  The kids sway the bees/butterflies to the rhthym of the song.  They love it!  Now that it IS Autumntime, I have leaves on strings for them to use.  In a couple of weeks, I'll change those out for snowflakes & make up other words to fit the song:)  The duck glove was a FANTASTIC idea I found on another website/blog.  This was so long ago that I don't remember where I found it.  Just know that I'm a great copy cat & claim no ingenuity for this idea:)  The ducks are made of foam & wiggly eyes.  The soft garden glove was a whole whoppin' dollar at Walmart and it's my favorite color.  We sing "5 Little Ducks" while I wear the glove.  It is one of the babes favorite songs!  The bell bracelets are from last Christmas that I made for Singing Time.  We use them to "Sing a Song" changing the words to "ring, ring, ring, I like to ring. I like to ring a song, ring, ring, ring!"  We then will use them for "Do As I'm Doing", too.  The kids always end up taking their shoes off as we're singing these bell songs so that they can put the bracelets on their feet.  They think that's the best!

This is the singing time list I keep in a page protector & have taped to the inside lid of my clear box I use for just Nursery Singing Time.  I always enter the nursery singing the Gathering song, naming every child in the room as we gather in a circle for singing time.  I try to alternate between action songs and prop songs so that we have time to put the props away while engaging in the action song.  We also ALWAYS end with "I Am a Child of God" and the babes all sit down & fold their arms as we sing it.

On my Nursery Singing Time list, I have many lyrics to songs that have had the words changed for the season or even lyrics to some of the less common songs that we may sing in Nursery.  I also keep a Song list in the page protector.  Every season I change SOME of the songs we sing every week.  It is very important to be consistent, singing the same songs every week so the babes can learn them.  They learn through repetition & they don't get "bored" with it, they THRIVE on it!  But the list posted here is the one I started with & continued to do throughout the summer.  It's also great to have everything in the box so that if I need to send a sub in for me (like when we're doing Primary Program Rehearsals during Primary time in October), the sub can just go right down the list & the kids will be comfortable because the songs are familiar.

Now that it's Fall, I have changed some of the songs we sing each week.  

This is what we do:

Gathering Song-  Here We are Together (of course!)

Singing Time-  If You're Happy and You Know It (actions) all 3 verses:)

                  I Am Like a Star (star sticks)

                  Rain Is Falling All Around (umbrella I hold over their heads as we sing)

                  Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam (actions)

                  5 Little Ducks (duck glove)

                  Sing a Song/Ring a Song (bell bracelets)

                  Christmas Bells, pg. 54 in CS (bell bracelets) this was a new one last week!

                  I Am Glad For Many Things (ask kids what they're glad for)

                  It's Autumntime/Leaves Are Falling All Around (string leaves)

                  Once There Was a Snowman/Pumpkin (actions)

                  Stand For the Right (crocheted Bee) just hold it up when you sing Be True

                  Follow the Prophet (prophet sticks)

Closing Song(s)-Thanks To Our Father/I Am a Child of God (sit down, fold arms)

Even though I get only 10-15 minutes with these babies, it is my FAVORITE part of Sunday!  Sometimes we don't have time to sing all of the songs, but for the most part we are consistent.  I try not to have any "silent" time between songs.  I just start to sing the next song & they join in.  It seems crazy at first, but after a couple of weeks, it will flow much easier & you keep the babes' attention the whole time.  If it's a song they're not familiar with, like "Christmas Bells" that I started with them last week, just sing it 3 or 4 times & over the next couple of weeks they'll join right in.  Just sing, sing, SING!  And sing to THEM, as if they are the only ones that matter at that moment, because it's true.