If you're just looking for a song idea, and have not done Mad Gab with your primary yet, it is sooo fun. To visit my Mad Gab post from last Christmas, go here.
Christmas Music CD gifts
I'm putting the finishing touches on these Christmas presents for the primary children today - CDs with the main program songs that the children sang in 2013, as well as next year's songs. (I left off songs that were too specific to Father's Day, Mother's Day, or Christmas.)
I like having the past and future year on the CD since the children will already have a sense of familiarity with half of the songs on the CD, in other words, they will be more excited to listen to and sing along with the music. This will in turn help them to listen to and sing next year's music.
I used two different types of CD cases (the clear ones and the cardboard envelopes pictured above) because I was trying to save money, and use up a previous supply of cases.
I did not purchase CD labels because, wow, they are expensive!
If you want to make your own CDs, here's some things I did:
1. Purchase Avery labels. Make sure to buy InkJet labels if you have an InkJet printer (if you have a small, personal printer that cost a couple hundred at most, it's most likely an InkJet.) If you have a LaserJet printer, then buy LaserJet paper. Otherwise, your ink will smear.
2. Google for design programs to make your CD cover if you don't want to go to the trouble of changing margins in a Word document. Microsoft Word offers free CD templates. I found this black and white picture on www.lds.org/media-library because I wanted something that would not be expensive to print if I needed to make as many as 80 copies.
3. Invest in a paper cutter. I use mine all the time for primary. You can print off a 40% off coupon for Joann's or Hobby Lobby and buy one for fairly cheap. I am a big fan of Fiskars.
To burn your own LDS music CD (these instructions assume you have iTunes installed on your computer and know how to create a playlist):
1. Go to http://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook?lang=eng for the Children's Songbook or http://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns?lang=eng for the Hymnal. The Children's Songbook landing page (or Hymnal landing page) will appear.
2. Either click on the song from the list on the left, or search for the song in the column on the right.
3. Download the song by either placing your mouse over the Down arrow circled here, then choosing "Vocals and Music," or if you went to the song's page, clicking on the Down arrow on that page, on the right side.
5. Insert your CD into your CD player. A dialog box will appear.
6. Click on your playlist so that iTunes knows what you want to burn. Then, go to File --> Burn Playlist to CD. The Burn Settings dialog box will appear.
7. Select the "Audio CD" radio button, then clicked "Burn." The CD starts to burn.
8. You can view the read-out at the top to see how long it will take your CD to burn.
Christmas Music CD gifts
I'm putting the finishing touches on these Christmas presents for the primary children today - CDs with the main program songs that the children sang in 2013, as well as next year's songs. (I left off songs that were too specific to Father's Day, Mother's Day, or Christmas.)
I like having the past and future year on the CD since the children will already have a sense of familiarity with half of the songs on the CD, in other words, they will be more excited to listen to and sing along with the music. This will in turn help them to listen to and sing next year's music.
I used two different types of CD cases (the clear ones and the cardboard envelopes pictured above) because I was trying to save money, and use up a previous supply of cases.
I did not purchase CD labels because, wow, they are expensive!
If you want to make your own CDs, here's some things I did:
1. Purchase Avery labels. Make sure to buy InkJet labels if you have an InkJet printer (if you have a small, personal printer that cost a couple hundred at most, it's most likely an InkJet.) If you have a LaserJet printer, then buy LaserJet paper. Otherwise, your ink will smear.
2. Google for design programs to make your CD cover if you don't want to go to the trouble of changing margins in a Word document. Microsoft Word offers free CD templates. I found this black and white picture on www.lds.org/media-library because I wanted something that would not be expensive to print if I needed to make as many as 80 copies.
3. Invest in a paper cutter. I use mine all the time for primary. You can print off a 40% off coupon for Joann's or Hobby Lobby and buy one for fairly cheap. I am a big fan of Fiskars.
To burn your own LDS music CD (these instructions assume you have iTunes installed on your computer and know how to create a playlist):
1. Go to http://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook?lang=eng for the Children's Songbook or http://www.lds.org/music/library/hymns?lang=eng for the Hymnal. The Children's Songbook landing page (or Hymnal landing page) will appear.
2. Either click on the song from the list on the left, or search for the song in the column on the right.
3. Download the song by either placing your mouse over the Down arrow circled here, then choosing "Vocals and Music," or if you went to the song's page, clicking on the Down arrow on that page, on the right side.
4. Create a playlist for your Primary Music CD. Then, drag and drop all of the songs you just downloaded into this playlist.
6. Click on your playlist so that iTunes knows what you want to burn. Then, go to File --> Burn Playlist to CD. The Burn Settings dialog box will appear.
7. Select the "Audio CD" radio button, then clicked "Burn." The CD starts to burn.
8. You can view the read-out at the top to see how long it will take your CD to burn.
9. When your CD is done. Go to Controls --> Eject Disc to safely remove the disc from your computer.
I quality checked myself by playing every 10th CD in a separate CD player to make sure I had burned everything properly.
Thanks so much! I'm burning ours for this year today and will give them to the kids next week. Thank you so much for the step by step, technology is wonderful but doesn't come naturally to me!! :) thanks for sharing your hard work!
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