Celebrate Pioneer Day in singing time with this fun lesson plan! It will help Primary children better understand the pioneers all while singing pioneer day songs!
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Pioneer Singing Time Supplies
Here’s a quick list of items you’ll need to bring/buy:
- Pioneer clothing (optional)
- Pioneer GAB pictures (optional)
- Plastic knives
- Cream
- Salt
- Prescription bottles
- Crackers
- Salt water taffy
- Large bucket or tin
- Ice
- Towel
Before Primary, set up the room so the chairs make one large circle and wear pioneer clothing (optional). You can also set up a pretend fire in the middle. Create one at home or purchase one (Amazon affiliate link):
Pioneer Pictures
Find pictures of pioneers and hang them on the board. There are several in the Gospel Art Book that work wonderfully HERE.
Pioneer Temple Stories
Paraphrase a few stories relating to some of the pioneer temples including the:
Homemade Butter
After the stories, move on to life as a pioneer. They had to make almost everything themselves including bricks to build their homes and buckets for drawing water.
They also had to grow and make all their own food, including butter.
To make butter pass out pre-filled bottles with tightly fitted lids that are each filled with the following:
- 1 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream
- 1 pinch salt
1 clean marble (to help stir the butter)
Purchase prescription bottles from Amazon or try to get some donated from your local pharmacy:
Here’s the recipe:
Access these printables at my Resource Library. Instructions for accessing the Resource Library are found at the bottom of this post.
Tell the kids that if they are persistent like the pioneers and shake their bottles, the liquid will turn into delicious butter that they’ll get to eat at the end of Primary! Encourage shaking during the next activity…
Pioneer Cake Walk
The pioneer children walked for thousands of miles to reach Salt Lake City. They also did lots of singing to help pass the time.
Tell the children to see how much walking and singing they can do while they sing Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked.
Post the words like I do HERE to encourage singing.
More details for creating a cake walk are HERE. To simplify it significantly, as the kids step on the footsteps, they simply sing and shake their butter.
Good singers receive a “pioneer” treat (salt water taffy!). Once everyone has received a treat and sung the song a few times, move on to the next activity.
Icy Water
Tell the story about the boys at Sweetwater River HERE (the kids can still be shaking their butter if needed). After the story, provide a large bucket of ice water. Children who want can put their feet in the cold, icy water to imagine what it felt like to cross the freezing cold river.
After the story sing To Be a Pioneer. As you sing, have the teachers and presidency members butter crackers with the homemade butter.
Bear Testimony
To close briefly discuss how we are all pioneers. It’s important not to forget our pioneer heritage and all they sacrificed for the gospel. Just like the pioneers, we make sacrifices for the gospel too.
More Pioneer Singing Time Ideas
Check out this quick tutorial video for accessing the Resource Library:
These printables are filed on the Resource Library page under Category Title > Pioneer Day.
2 thoughts on “Pioneer Day Singing Time Activity”
What was the recipe for the recipe for the homemade butter? I want to do this this week with my kids.
Hi Kristina!
There's really no recipe, I just do a tablespoon of heavy whipping cream with a pinch of salt. Put it in the can and shake it up! I hope that helps!
~Camille