Basketball Singing Time

Here is a great idea for Singing Time from Amy (Thanks Amy)
I teach singing time for a senior primary of mostly boys. I can’t get them to even open their mouths unless we are playing a competition sport! So I finally figured it out! SPORTS! So*. I invented a basketball game. I created basketballs with the following words on each one: EFFORT, WORDS, NOTES, LOUD, RHYTHM, DICTION, FEELING, and BLEND. I brought these signs and a small soft basketball to church (bean bag size.) I taught the children what each of these words meant and how each is a step toward beautiful choral music. Then I placed a *basket* (garbage can) at the front of the room. I then placed each basketball sign on the floor each at a further distance from the basket. The girls & boys were divided into teams (because this automatically infuses them to try harder) and a scoreboard drawn on the board. They picked team names: Daughters of Zion & Sons of Helaman. This can be done to practice one song over an over again or by selecting a song to review. When a song is sung by the primary the referee (song leader) tells selects a team representative to try for a basket. I tell them how well they did (ie: EFFORT being the worst & BLEND being the best) and they get to take a shot from that basketball sign on the floor. The team gets 2 pts for each basket. I gave them a choice to move up one spot for only 1 pt or back a spot for 3 pts. I think next time I will allow them 2 shots per song because they miss a lot. I have NEVER heard these kids try so hard or sing so well! They LOVE IT! It also teaches them to focus on more than just being loud and takes care of the single shouter you always have in primary. I’m going to try football next.