Today I wanted to share a bit about washing our hands and rinsing our bodies off after swimming and beach combing on the shore.  My grandsons really enjoyed both, well not swimming exactly, but wading and chasing the waves for sure. My oldest grandson thoroughly relished amassing a large bag of shells. I was looking forward to a nice walk as we picked up select shells, but being three and a half, the first big pile of beaten shells filled our bag to the brim. It shortened our walk,  but he was so excited about his discovery, how could I halt his enthusiasm to teach him to be pick only the “pretty and perfect” shells, maybe next year.

It sounds like there may be more in the sand and sea to be aware of than what we can see. Washing our hands before we eat our lunch or snacks, even in the great outdoors, is good advice. Make sure to shower off while exiting the beach and before you jump in the pool. It will make more sense as you read on.

You will be interested to find that there are possibilities of bacteria or other biological microbe findings in the sand and sea. I was researching today and found two eye opening posts from the National Geographic News and Oceanus, The Magazine that Explores the Ocean in Depth.

We should be aware of any recent sewage overflow in the area and just because you are in the sun and sand does not mean everything is exactly healthy. So, again I’d like to remind you to wash your hand or bring some hand sanitizer with you to the beach.

Read the National Geographic News post by clicking the link below.

National Geographic News

Cherie Winner from whoi.edu says:

Read the whole article by clicking on the link below.

Shifting Sands and Bacteria on the Beach by Cherie Winner

**If you missed my last post about hand washing and feeding the stingrays, click here.

**You may enjoy a short post about shoes, travel and hand washing, click here.

**More info and an Animation teaching young children about Hand Washing, click here.

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Ms. Dawn, The Singing Nurse

Father reads with son...

♥ Nothing creates a love for reading more than sitting with our child and doing just that, reading.

♥ Start as soon as they will sit still, which of course starts as an infant right from the crib.

♥ Our children love hearing our voices, the rhythm and the tones.

♥ We  spark our toddlers curiosity when we read to them, let them turn the pages and allow the anticipation of what’s to come, remember not to rush. They will ask for the same book again and again.

♥ Start with board books which you can pick up cheep from your local thrift store.

♥ Visit your local library and participate in a story hour for young children. Story hour is a nice break for moms and expands your child’s exposure to new stories.

♥ Make sure and sign up for a library card and let your child be part of checking out the books.

♥ It is helpful to use a book bag to keep books organized and accounted for.

♥ Remember to borrow more books than DVDs.

♥ When the children get older it is fun to create a chart to keep track of the titles and the amount of books read.

♥ Good books are windows to explore the world in which we live.

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Young children love to move about their world to learn, explore, create, make believe and trust, and that is what The Singing Nurse loves about babies, preschooler and older kids too.

Children are special creations, unique in all aspects and have been gifted in their own peculiar and extraordinary way.
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————–—–Healthy Living

Children will take our lead when it comes to life and healthy living. Give a child a choice between apple and orange slice and they will pick a healthy snack each time.

It is an awesome privilege to guide these little ones through the maze of  the “good and bad” things for us.  Kids are so very impressionable and eager to copy our actions.

Guiding children through good health habits like; hand washing, coughing or sneezing in our shoulder, not spreading our germs around, brushing our teeth, going to the dentist regularly, resting our bodies and the overall monitoring and care of our amazing bodies is a distinctive task of parenting. It is draining and demanding as well as an unexpected joy to be part of.

———–——–Music/Movement

Young children blossom and thrive in the presence of melody, rhythms,  instruments and voice. Kids are just free to express what ever is in their being.

Who among us has not observed a small child bee bopping to the beat, and you yourself being ignited by this show of innocence and freedom. Here we can follow the children’s lead.

It plainly puts a smile on your face. “A merry heart does good like a medicine”.

Provide a child with simple percussion instruments, simple wind instruments and they will derive great pleasure in the music they make. Encourage this!

——————–——–Art

Give a child paper and writing utensils from a colorful palette and they will express themselves with utter abandon.

Give them watercolors and they will paint to your amazement for long periods of time.

Give them clay and they will relish the opportunity to manipulate it by smooshing it, squeezing it and pounding it with delight to their own identifiable creation. You’ll say,”Tell me about what you have made”, and they will know and tell you exactly what it is.

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We as the adults in our children’s world must provide the basic raw materials and tools to foster creativity, curiosity and expression. They will take our lead, what a privilege.