(Luana Willis) I had a fun singing time last week for the 4th of July.  I got those "confetti poppers" and told the kids we had daylight fireworks. I took the little round cardboard circle out of the ends and stuck a song inside and then replaced the cardboard. It was a big hit.  (Additional comments by Liz: I called my president and asked if she thought it'd be ok & she didn't think there'd be a problem. Then we had a bishopric member give a little message in the opening exercises - so I asked him too, right after the kids were dismissed. He thought it'd be ok too. I did it for the the 4th and my kids just LOVED it! It sure was FUN! I had a bunch of kids asking me how I got the songs in there and told them it was my special secret!)

Build a flag: Laminate white posterboard. Cut 7 red stripes, a field of blue with silver stars. Place songs on back and tape to white board. Torch (Statue of Liberty): Wrap foil around paper towel roll in torch shape. Sponge paint copper. Attach red/orange cellophane to end.  Insert extension cord through middle of roll. Wire with dimmer switch. Use red night light. Turn dimmer according to how they sing. Between
songs ask questions:

1. What material is the Statue of Liberty made of? Copper
2. The Statue of Liberty was given to the U.S. to celebrate the 100th birthday of our Independence. Who gave it? France
3. What does the Statue of Liberty hold in her left hand? The Declaration of Independence.
4. There is something at the Statue of Liberty's feet the people seldom notice, what is it and what does it symbolize? A broken shackle symbolizing the overthrow of tyranny
5. Every President but one lived in the White House, who was he? George Washington
6. Who is said to have made the first American Flag? Betsy Ross
7. What do the colors of our flag stand for? Red-courage, white-liberty, blue-loyalty
8. What is our National Motto? Hint-It's printed on our coins. In God We Trust
9. Our national bird is a symbol of strength and power. What is it? The Bald Eagle

SING: "My Country" (pg 224): Have 2 kids carry flags into room. As they walk past each row, have kids stand and put hand on heart. March to the beat.

4th of July Fishing: Attach flags to legs of table turned upside down (pond). Back smaller flags with posterboard (fish). Write freedoms on back that correspond to songs. Talk about freedoms or tell short stories about people who don't enjoy them. (For example: We can choose-Choose the Right, Freedom to speak and sing-Hum Your Favorite Hum, etc.)

I told them I thought they could sing louder than fireworks, and if they did, I would "light" my "firecracker."  I had thought that those frozen yogurt "Push-Up" pops would make perfect looking fireworks. They have a stick with a disk that fits perfectly inside the tube that you can push up. I wound up replacing the tube with empty toilet paper rolls, so they were easier to push up.

I wrapped the tubes in red, white, & blue paper. I put push pins through the bottom of the plastic disk, and attached wired garland with stars to the handle, giving the impression of a firecracker. Then I had red, white, and blue balloons blown up and held them at the top of the "firecracker." I thrust the disk through the tube until the push pins reached the balloon, which of course popped.  Clear as mud? Basically, the paper tube "firecracker" was a clever way to disguise the push pins that pop the balloons.

But the effect was fun. The kids couldn't see when the pins would reach the balloon, so it was always a surprise when one popped. I had adults only handle them, and when I got them singing really well, we had a "3 firecracker salute!"

Definitely our best singing in a very long time, if not ever! Balloons are fantastic as incentives, no matter how you pop them! And even better when used maybe only a couple of times a year! (Elaine Shankly)

Wave Flags - Make little American flags with paper and straws-wave the flags as you sing patriotic songs. (bendy straws make it easy to wave if the bend is on the bottom and you attach the flag to the top).

Lead With a Flag - Have a child help lead with a flag.

 (by Jody Boyd / ga06282007)  4th of July Singing Time

 

SET UP:

 

Decorate the bulletin board for the 4th of July-make it look festive and patriotic!!  (Use paper bunting and flags!!)

  

INTRO:
 

"I LOVE the 4th of July! Who can tell me what we celebrate on the 4th of July? That's right - our country's independence. I am extremely patriotic - I really love my country and I feel so blessed to have been born in this land of freedom! Do you think that it was just a coincidence that the church was organized here in the United States? No! Of course it was not a coincidence. This land was prepared. There was nowhere else in the world that granted people the religious freedom needed to reorganize God's church here on earth. When the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, 1776, it was the first step to becoming a free country and to the eventual formation of the constitution that gives our citizens the right of religious freedom. The men that wrote and signed the Declaration were prepared by God.  How do I know this?

 

Well, something really cool happened in 1877 to President Wilford Woodruff, the fourth President of the church.

 

Have someone come up and read the Story of the Forefather's visit while the piano quietly plays "I Love to See the Temple" in the background:

 

Wilford Woodruff, the fourth President of the Church, recounted a vision in which many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence appeared to him and asked that their baptisms and temple work be performed for them in the St. George Temple. On 6 September 1877 President Woodruff recorded:

 

The spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they, 'You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we . . . Remained true to it and were faithful to God.' These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and they waited on me for two days and two nights. I thought it very singular, that notwithstanding so much work had been done, and yet nothing had been done for them. The thought never entered my heart, from the fact, I suppose, that heretofore our minds were reaching after our more immediate friends and relatives. I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon Brother McAllister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men, making one hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus, and others. I then baptized him for every President of the United States, except three; and when their cause is just, somebody will do the work for them.

 

Sing - I love to See the Temple #95

 

2. Show the American Flag - have kids come up and hold it. Have someone read the history of the flag.

 

.. "On June 14, 1777 the U.S. Congress passed it's first flag resolution saying the flag should have 13 stripes, alternating red and white and have 13 stars, white in a blue field. This was to represent the 13 original colonies. Then they started added a new star and stripe for each new state. But - the country was growing quickly and the flag started getting CRAZY to work with. So, in 1818 they decided to keep the original 13 stripes and only add a star for each new state."

 

(They LOVED this!) Explain what the colors of the flag represent. Put three songs on the board.  Have 3 clear cups in the front filled with water. Next to them will be 3 spoons. Put a few drops of food coloring on each spoon then a cornstarch paste on top of that, let it dry. This will hide which color it is. Have a child come up and mix solution and see what color it comes out as. Then they can guess which song goes with that color because of the color's

representation.

 

1.. White - Loyalty - I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus #78

2.. Red - Courage - Nephi's Courage #120

3.. Blue - Liberty - Book of Mormon Stories (both verses) #118

 

3. Do you know another name for our flag? (The Star Spangled Banner) Spangled means bejeweled. So it's a flag that is decorated with jeweled stars! That's so cool!

 

Have someone tell the history of the song while the piano plays it in the background.
 

At the end I put in a poem written by my sister, Teresa Bateman (she writes great children's books - get them at your local library). While I read it I have the pianist play "Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies" in the background.  Here it is if you want to use it.

 

Listen by Teresa Bateman

 

Listen -

Can you hear it?

That soft whisper in the trees?

The sound of honest cotton 

Reaching out to catch the breeze?

Unfurling in the gentle winds

Red, White, and Blue it flies -

The flag of our great nation 

Standing crisp in freedom's skies.

Listen - 

Can't you hear it? 

That soft flutter in the wind? 

A touch of martial music,

A soft-sung, distant hymn? 

The weeping of a war bride,

a wounded soldier's moan,

The sound of distant cannon,

A bugle's lonely tone.

Listen- 

Can't you hear them?

Those who struggled valiantly

Through years of war and hardship

that their children might be free?

The winds of change are blowing. 

Can we stand before the test?

Have you noticed it's the strongest winds

that make the flag show best? 

Listen -

Can't you hear it? 

That soft whisper in the trees? 

The sound of honest cotton 

reaching out to catch the breeze.

Unfurling in the gentle wind, 

Red, White, and Blue it flies -

The flag of our great nation 

Standing crisp in freedom's skies.

Remember what it represents -

The cost behind the vision.

Look up -

Can't you see the way it beckons to you?

Listen.

 

This page was  last  updated: 
June 28, 2007

 

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