Oh, how I love General Conference! To help your Primary children to be a little more excited for the upcoming session of General Conference, you can make the singing time before (or the week after) a little extra fun and help the children feel more connected with the apostles of the church.
I’ve complied this collection of short and funny general conference moments that will be perfect to share in singing time!
** See MORE General Conference Singing Time ideas! **
How to Use these Funny General Conference Moments in Singing Time
To get started, remind the children that General Conference is coming up (or just passed). Share how you thought it would be fun to hear some funny stories from the prophets and apostles.
Pick any of the funny general conference video clips below and watch it together as a Primary.
Share what fun way you will use to sing through the next song that relates to the video clip. They’re all included below right below the video. Of course, you can adapt any of my ideas!
Then sing your choice of Primary song with the silly action! You can use songs you are currently working, a song that goes well with the funny video, or repeat a few favorite songs from this list that will work perfectly for celebrating General Conference!
If you’d rather use your own Primary Program songs, just pick out 6 songs and let a helper roll a 6-sided dice. Then, sing the song number they landed on.
General Conference Primary Songs / Hymns:
- Follow the Prophet
- Stand for the Right (“Our Prophet has some words for you…”)
- We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet Hymn
- Keep the Commandments
- Latter-day Prophets
- Teach Me to Walk in the Light
- Seek the Lord Early
- Choose the Right Way
- I Am a Child of God
- We’ll Bring the World His Truth
- How Firm a Foundation Hymn
- Praise to the Man Hymn
- Come, Come Ye Saints Hymn
- Redeemer of Israel Hymn
- Come, Listen to a Prophet’s Voice
General Conference Ways to Sing Song Actions:
- Wiggle Your Ears
- Paint the Song (Pretend paint in the air)
- Smile
- Double Speed (Sing twice as fast)
- Sit or Lay
- 1, 2, 3, 4… (Countdown, Alt: Fold Arms)
- Left & Right (Look to the left and right)
- Like a Mother (Pick a mom action to replicate)
- Wave Hello
- Ride a Bike (Alt: Fly an Airplane)
- Read a Book
- Cool Off (Fan yourself with your hands)
To add even more fun ways to sing, head over to this post with 110+ Fun Ways to Sing a Song!
Funny General Conference Moments Video Clips
1. President Monson – I Wiggled My Ears
This cute story is the perfect one to start with – it’s all about a little boy mimicking President Monson! You can replicate the actions he talks about in the story step by step and stick to just this one clip for the entire activity! Or, the kids will LOVE trying to wiggle their ears while they sing!
- Try to wiggle your ears while you sing!
- Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
- Oh, How We Love to Stand (vs 1)
2. Elder Stevenson – Paint the Dog (Watch until 1:12)
This adorable story tells of a young son who is trying to turn a black lab into a dalmatian with a bucket of white paint. It shares the analogy of us being perfectly made by God.
- Draw the song in the air with an imaginary paint brush.
- I Am a Child of God
- We Are Different
3. President Hinkley – Smile Right Now
This message was given at the Missionary Training Center and was a funny rebuke it was for those poor missionaries! Come on already and smile!!
- Smile BIG! Don’t let your lips touch!
- Smiles
- I Hope They Call Me on a Mission
4. Elder Ballard – Breathtaking Speed (Watch from 5:55 to 6:20)
I love the complete honesty by Elder Ballard! I agree, President Nelson is absolutely a go-getter that is hard to keep up with! The kids will love this funny message and this perfectly themed silly action to sing and twice the speed.
- Sing Double Speed!
- Redeemer of Israel Hymn (Gathering Israel)
- We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet
- The Priesthood is Restored
5. Elder Uchtdorf – Can’t Get Up (Watch from 5:50 to 6:34)
Oh, Elder Uchtdorf really got us all laughing with this one! I’m not sure why, but this classic saying doesn’t get old and the children will bust up with this one! You can pair it with the action to let the kids sit or lay down on the floor for the next song, which they will think is extra special!
- Fall down and sit/lay on the floor the rest of the song! (Or pretend to ski)
- Once There Was a Snowman
- The Iron Rod
- Reverence is Love
6. Elder Gong – A Child’s Prayer Gets Finished
If you have enough patience for this video, then I think the children in your Primary room will really relate! This is a sweet little clip that’s perfect to tie into any song about prayer.
- Count off on your fingers 1, 2, 3, 4…, or fold your arms.
- A Child’s Prayer
- Search, Ponder and Pray
7. President Monson – Left and Right (Watch until :29)
If you’ve ever wanted to get out of giving a talk, you will definitely relate to this funny clip with President Monson! You could bring a printable arrow along (like this one here) and change which way to look during the song.
- Look left and right throughout the song.
- Choose the Right
- Choose the Right Way
- Dare to do Right
8. President Nelson – As a Mother (:13 to :33)
This one my be my favorite of all the funny general conference moments I’ve shared here!! It’s not the easiest one to match an action to, but oh I just love the simple slip of tongue President Nelson shared with us.
- Pick a favorite motherly action – such as rock the baby, sweep the floor, wash the dishes, etc, etc)
- Mother, I Love You (or any Mother’s Day song)
- When We’re Helping
- Oh, Hush Thee, My Baby
- Could I Hold the Baby (or any Baby Jesus themed Christmas Song)
9. Elder David B. Haight – I’m Waving
This is such a tender and sweet moment, and the children will love trying out Elder Haight’s one-of-a-kind wave or their own wave hello!
- Wave like Elder Haight!
- Hello Song
- My Hands
10. Elder Uchtdorf – Flying an Airplane (2:14 to 2:45)
You can’t get away without a Elder Uchtdorf loves to talk about flying joke!! This is a great one because the kids can pretend to ride a bike or fly an airplane!
- Pretend to ride a bike OR fly an airplane!
- Fun to Do
- I Will Be Valiant (Riding a bike like a Missionary)
- Oh, What Do You Do in the Summertime?
11. President Nelson – Feed My Spirit (Watch from :37 to :52)
This one is short, sweet, but relatable! Have the kids hold up their hands like they are reading through a book or they can pretend to eat to “feed” their spirit!
- Pretend to read
- Seek the Lord Early
- Search, Ponder and Pray
- Teach Me to Walk in the Light
12. President Hinkley – It’s Hot in Here
And if you’re looking for one for the older Primary children, they will get this one! I love the tie in of a call to repentance in such a fun and lighthearted way!
- Fan yourself to “cool off”
- Help Me, Dear Father
- Choose the Right
General Conference Ways to Sing Cards
Printable Singing Time Lesson Plan
If helpful, you can grab this fun printable to help you with this singing time! Use these printable cards with the different ways to sing actions that match these funny video clips. You could even have the kids draw one of the actions, then watch the matching video!
To pair with it, I printed out a picture of the First Presidency. I’ll just link to where you can find a recent First Presidency picture from the LDS Media Library, so I don’t need to update the file in the future.
To access the free in-post printables for this post, you’ll just need to create a free account or login with the Grow.me tool. Then, confirm by email and refresh the page and ALL my free printables will automatically unlock in every post!
For more information on why I use a content lock or how to create your account, you can see the FAQ page here.
For another fun singing time idea before General Conference, head over to this We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet Gibberish Eraser singing time idea!
Which of these funny general conference stories did you love best? Do you have other ideas of how to incorporate the stories into singing time?
So excited to use this on Sunday, thanks for sharing!!
Hooray!! I’m sure the kiddos are going to LOVE it!!