Good Bye

Hey, they called a new chorister and she starts this coming Sunday.

It was a great experience being a Chorister and I'll always cherish all the fun and uplifting times I had each week.

Thank you for encouraging me with your comments. I hope you all have success and find joy in your calling as I did.

May the Lord Bless you.

-Melanie Ketcheson

One more for old times sake?---Christmas Singing Sugar Cookies

Hey folks....they haven't found a replacement for me yet and so I've been pulling double duty for a couple of weeks. I think they are being kind and allowing me to back away slowly so I don't go into shock. :)

Anyhow, I had a fun idea this past week for singing time and it worked really well and was so much fun. I thought I'd post it.

Prep:

6-7 different shaped Christmas Cookie Cutters

1 12 x 12 piece of brownish (dough colored) paper

6-7 different colored paper

1 cookie sheet

Tape

Use your cookie cutters to trace their shape on the large piece of brown paper. Fit them like a puzzle so all of them fit just as you would if you were trying to get the most out of the last bit of cookie dough. I used the outside edge of the cookie cutter to get the largest shape possible for the dough part. Carefully cut them out and tape the large brown paper back together where you cut through. Write different Christmas songs on the back of the cookies

Now, using the inside edge of the cutter, trace and cut the different shapes out of the colored paper. This will serve as the frosting of the cookie so you want it slightly smaller than the cookie.

Before singing time begins, tape the "dough" on the board, and using a small piece of tape on the back of each cookie, carefully fit them back into their cut out spot on the dough.


Presentation:

I Welcomed the children to primary. I Explained that fun family traditions are always apart of the Christmas season and I wanted to share with them my family tradition of making sugar cookies. As we sang "do as I'm doing" I had them follow me in pretending to make the dough for the cookies and rolling it out.

I then showed them my cookie cutters. I explained that as the pianist was playing some music, they would pass one of the cookie cutters around the room. When the music randomly stopped, whoever was holding the cookie cutter would come up and try and find the shape on the dough that it matched. Place the cookie on the cookie sheet. (I leaned my cookie sheet up on the chalk board so all could see the cookies on the tray as we put them there) We would then sing the song on the back (I made it slightly harder for senior...they had to try and guess what song it was). If they sang the song really well, I told them we would be able to decorate the cookie.

To decorate the cookie, have them pretend to have a huge bag of whatever color frosting goes with that cookie. Have them pretend from their seats to frost the cookie their very best. Tape the frosting to the cookie. Repeat the process until all the cookie cutters have been passed around the room.

This was so much fun, and we were able to sing quite a few Christmas songs...even some they didn't really know.

I hope you all are having a very Merry Christmas!

*thecrazychorister (who apparently can't let go)