10 reasons to use Jolly Jen's
Primary Song Thumbnails
by Jolly Jen
 

Click here for a list of the Primary Songs of thumbnails that Jolly Jen has created

Here are things that people have told me they will use the thumbnails for and a few of my own ideas too (in no particular order):

1. FHE - make a family songbook for FHE and other singing times or make several songbooks, one for each family member, if you care to.

2. Cut the full sheet into "pages", laminate them (or not), hole punch each one, place them on a ring (in the correct order), and use the ring to help memorize lyrics. [I remember doing something like this in college to help me memorize things. I'd use the ring of 3 X 5 cards all the time to refresh my memory.]

3. Print all the songs you will be singing (perhaps the CSMP 2008) and staple them (or some other form of binding) together in book-form to distribute to families so they have a set to practice with at home.

4. Use the thumbnails as a reference page to order your pages quickly.

5. Use the thumbnails as a cover page. Some people place all the pages for one song into 1 page protector or into 1 manila envelope.  On the page protector, if one side is the title page and the reverse side is the thumbnail page, it's faster reference. If placing them in a manila envelope, it's the same idea-- title page on one side and thumbnails on the reverse.

6. Adhere the thumbnails on the back of each corresponding page.  When you're holding them (or when someone else is holding them) you know what the children are seeing.

7. (My personal favorite, but a little confusing.) I keep the pages in numerical order, one behind the other. I always hold the visuals.  I don't want the children to be focused on holding a page instead of singing. [But that's just MY preference.]

On that note, I place thumbnail 1 on the back of the LAST page of a song (because I am looking at the back of the last page as the children are looking at the front of page 1-- we're both seeing the same thing at the same time, I am seeing it in a smaller version).

When I turn page 1, I place it in the BACK of the stack, so I am looking at the back of page 1. The children are looking at front of page 2. Thumbnail 2 goes on the back of page 1. I am now looking at thumbnail 2 while the children are looking at page 2.

I repeat this process for the whole song. (TN=thumbnail and p=page)  Basically, TN 2 on p 1. TN 3 on p 2. TN 4 on page 3. TN 5 on p 4. to the end. TN 1 on LAST page.

8. Cut the full sheet into "pages", mix them up, have the children place them in the correct order.

9. If you do idea 2 (placing the thumbnails on the rings), you have a quiet activity for little ones to look at during "hard to sit still times" in Sacrament Meeting or other meetings.

10. Hide thumbnails under chairs around the room. At a certain time, have the children look under their seats for the "winners".

a. winners come up and put the song in order (if you used thumbnails from just one song)

b. winners get to sing that part of the song when it's time to sing that part (you can have a few thumbnails from one song or ALL the thumbnails from one song)

c. winners get to be part of "The Singing Bee" to see if they can sing the next line (use thumbnails from several different songs)

d. any other variation you can think of