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DIY Christmas Party Snack Tree

December 16, 2020 in Creative Adventures, TSN outreach Projects

Christmas Snack Tree w word

Update: This really was a fun project and a great center piece. Check out the last link at the bottom too for a smaller candy tree version. Have a Merry Christmas!

I had this crazy idea as I was preparing for Children’s Church. Please allow me to diverge from the healthy posts today. It is the Christmas season right? I thought, wouldn’t it be nice to share something that would tell the Good News. I wanted to make a snack tree for our friends at Green Briar, a local older folks home. So… I started putting it together and discovered it would be a better project for older kids. It took me about 3 hours to make this baby. It was fun and you can make a smaller version to share with your co-workers or bring to a Christmas party. You could even make one for your family or classroom. Adding healthy pre-packaged snacks like nuts etc is also an options. So here we go.

What you will need: 2 large poster boards, pen, string, clear tape, packaging tape, glue gun and glue, 1 large pizza box, wrapping paper and about 100 snack bags. attach 2 poster boards

Hot glue 2 pieces of poster board together if you want to make a 3 foot tree.


draw an arc
make quarter circle

place your string at one corner of the shortest side, attach a pen and draw an arc, the results is an 1/4 circle. Cut along the line.

Make a coneAttach cone to wrapped Pizza box

Overlap the edges to make a cone, be careful with the hot glue gun. The hot glue gun works great, but if you have another pair of hands handy, you will be less likely to burn your fingers with the hot glue. Wrap a large pizza box and tape the cone to the box using packaging tape. Any square box will do but the pizza box works nicely.

Build a Christmas Snack Tree

Start at the base of the cone, attach a couple of pieces of scotch tape to your snack bags and tape them to the cone. Work  your way around and up the tree, staggering the bags as you add another layer. This tree was made from 3 large boxes of snacks. Each one contained 32 snack bags. So…this tree is made with almost 100 snack bags.

I added a bow and a star on top with a Christmas message. We created a large Christmas card for the kids and their families to sign. The card was the shape of a Christmas bulb. Two of our friends from Green Briar posed with the card and Christmas Snack Tree. 

Green Briar Christmas Snack Tree w words

Hope you have a blast making this. Try making it for a teen event or bringing it to a Christmas Party this year. Time is getting away from us all. Not sure if I will make it, but I plan on posting about making a tree with my patient Kian. He was very proud of it so I wanted to do a separate post in honor of him. Keep your eyes peeled.

Have a Very Merry Christmas,

Dawn

Go here to hear my Christmas song video which has lots of cool vintage type pictures in it. You can also request 3 FREE  songs.

You may like this Poster Board Christmas Tree Card from last year.

Making a Christmas Candy Tree with SMA1 child Kian.

Make Your 12 hour Shift fun by Recycling Medical Supplies

September 25, 2017 in Creative Adventures

Mr. K’s Physical Therapist just had surgery so we decided to create a “get well” card for her. Kids that have lots of hours to fill enjoy doing for others and creating something thoughtful for them. We used #medicalsupplies that are always around in abundance. Can anyone guess what these items are?

If you think you know, email the answers to dawn@thesingingnurse.com and put “recycled card project” in the subject. I’ll through your names in a hat and send the winner something fun. Hint: ask your #nurse friends for help. There are 3 items.

Have a great day and stay healthy,

Dawn 

Look around you might find some more fun projects, health lessons and fun songs to bring your day to life.

More about Mr. K & #SMA1

Easter Tissue Cross Craft

April 9, 2017 in Creative Adventures, God - Faith - Hope - Love

 

Updated Easter Paper Plate,Tissue Paper Cross: Draw a cross on the eating side of your plate, then cut little shapes with your exacto knife. Glue small pieces of tissue paper and add curling ribbon to the bottom of your plate. For further instructions see directions below. Happy Easter!

 

 

 

 

We are going to an old folks home tomorrow so I pulled together a craft for the  kids at church to make that will be used to decorate for our visit. Our friends love anything we do for them, love our visits and are always very appreciative. So sad to be lonely.

Make a pattern for cross.

 

 

 

 

 

1. Make a pattern for the cross by folding a piece of paper in half and cutting it as shown in the picture.

Trace pattern to plate

2. Trace cross pattern to the inside near the top of your paper plate, you will be adding words to the bottom. After you cut out your first cross use it as your pattern now, it is easier to handle.

Adult cuts cross with small razor.

Remove cross cut out.

Cross cut out.

3. Cut with a small razor knife, this of course is done by an adult. I prep all of the parts of the project so the kids only need to glue, color and tie a string. Now flip your plate over to the eating side to get ready for tissue paper.

Cut tissue in 1×3 inch strips.

 

 

 

 

 

4. Cut tissue paper in 1 x 3 inch strips. Cut various colors, I chose, pink, purple and sparkle white.

Glue tissue across opening.

 

 

 

 

 

5. Glue tissue strips across cross opening. Glue in different angles overlapping a bit each time to create a stain glass look. Add more glue as needed to make edges stick.

6. Final touches:  Add a greeting, I said Happy Easter and added a flower graphic to each side which I found on the web. I made several copies of my greeting in a word doc. and cut them in strips with a paper cutter. You might also find a nice one in sticker form. I drew a little grass at the bottom of the cross, green makes things look like they belong. I  added a small sun made from yellow tissue paper, colored the edges with purple, pink and green, punched two holes and added a string.

You can hang your Easter plate in a window which will catch the light nicely or you can hang it on a wall, cabinet knob or wherever you like.

Tissue Easter cross on wall.

Light shines through Easter plate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you have a blessed Resurrection Easter Sunday. Thank God for His awesome love.  Easter wouldn’t be Easter without all that Jesus has done.  Have a great day with family and friends, enjoy the warmer weather and be healthy.

Dawn

You may like:   Spring Tissue Paper Vase

Happy New Year!

January 4, 2017 in Creative Adventures, News - Updates

img_4261Have an awesome New Year! My patient enjoyed creating this little candy snack tree for his nurses.

How?

  1. We covered a pizza box with paper
  2. Attached a New Years cone hat to the box with tacky glue
  3. Taped candy to the cone
  4. Taped curly ribbon in between the candy
  5. attached a piece of covered paper towel dowel
  6. cut a couple of slits at the top and inserted his picture

We hope you fill your new year with lots of fun, giving and learning. We are learning it is more blessed to give than to receive. We are thankful for the freedom to live a full life even in the midst of difficult times. We are learning that family and friends are important and we need to encourage and nurture them in any way we are gifted to do so. How are you going to celebrate your new year? What do you want to learn about. What are some of your ideas to bless others?

Check us out on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest

Happy New Year!

Ms. Dawn

#happynewyear #thesingingnurse

“Don’t Spread Your Germs Around!” Poster

February 16, 2016 in Creative Adventures

"Don't Spread Your Germs Around!"It’s not too late or early enough to remind your kids to stop spreading their germs around. I just created this colorful poster which is really easy for you to “save image” to your computre and print in different sizes. You have my permission. They look best printed on photo paper. Hang them around your classroom, office or Library. You can even print them out in wallet size and let your students use as bookmarks.

Just a note of credit. My patients and his teacher Ms. Sandy painted the background which I really loved and snatched up for a Valentines project and this poster.

Hear the Song

germ poster

We used the same painted background and then created a page on Kian’s table. We added both together to create Valentines cards for all the staff that works with him.

Valentine card w kian

Valentine 2015 coworker project

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Germ Posts you make like.

Green Germ Lesson    Hand Print & Wash Hands    Germ Game

Subscribe for Free Handwashing Activity eBook for Kids

Have a Healthy Day,

Ms. Dawn

Goofy Gobbler Thanksgiving

November 26, 2015 in Creative Adventures

Kian with goofy gobblerWe made some simple footprints with different color paints, yellow, orange and red.  And I drew a simple outline around the prints with a few embleshments. We added Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving. This is a hand over foot 🙂 project. He enjoyed it.

Blessings to you and yours. Ms Dawn

It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Check out my Christmas board on Pinterest.

Happy Mother’s Day!, Tissue Paper Vase

April 29, 2015 in Creative Adventures

tissue paper vase w pictures and wordsTo liven things up a bit my patient Kian and I like to create things. We spend long 12 hour shifts together and he enjoys artsy projects, singing, reading and other activities appropriate for your typical 8-year-old. We originally made this for Valentine’s Day but as you can see an awesome Tissue Paper Vase can be used on many occasions.

Tissue Paper Vase with OJ BottleTissue paper is a wonderful tactile experience. It crinkles, it rips easy, its gentle and also gets nice and slippery in the gluing process.  We used a printed tissue paper this time and just ripped it up and started layering it using thinned Elmer’s type glue(thin with H20). We left the twisty ridges on top of the OJ bottle so mom can also use it with the lid to put things in. If you cut the top at the widest point of the OJ bottle it will make a better vase and the flowers will fit and arrange better. But of course this will remove the container aspect of the bottle. Try it either way, it really comes out nice with the printed tissue paper. 

tissue paper vase with lid, picture and words We created little sayings for the vase. “We Love You Mom!”, “My Three Sons”, etc. I went on my computer and printed out the words and we cut them in strips. We also printed out pictures of Kian & his brothers. We glued the words of love and sweet pictures to the tissue paper vase. Mom says anything with the kid’s pictures always makes it a better keepsake. 

We hope you enjoyed out tissue paper vase project. Is there anything you would like to learn from us here at The Singing Nurse? Health project? We love sharing.

I hope to put out a survey soon to learn more about you and what will make your day more awesome. If you have something pressing in on you and you need ideas or resources, we’d love to help, please comment below. 

Have a Wonderful Mother’s Day!

Dawn 

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Hand Washing Activity book sample aug 2013 Dawn Ginese RN resized w TSN

Countdown to Spring Video Project, I need your help!

February 22, 2015 in Creative Adventures, The Singing Nurse Music

Ok here’s the deal…I need your help again!!! I am letting you peek into my little homecare nurse day with my sweet SMA1 patient Kian. His mom suggested that we needed a calendar to countdown to spring. I’ll tell you more about her later. So we made a calendar and sang a little song about counting down to spring. I am finishing up on a recording with drums and keys.

Your part: I need some pictures of you with enough space on either side or up above your face or body so I can add numbers to the pictures in the video. We are counting down right?

I know many of you have been dumped on by the snow lately and you are hoping for warmer weather. My facebook page and computer have been totally lined up with all those green dots indicating people are online and staying out of the cold.

So, send me some happy faces because you know spring is coming soon. They can be a little crazy or you can go outside and stand next to and point to one of those hugendo icicles.

I’d love some pictures of your kids or grandkids. Please keep it family oriented.

Please send your pictures with a note saying you give The Singing Nurse permission to use them in a video, ebook, on TSN website or in promotional products. Please send pictures to TheSingingNurse@gmail.com By emailing your pictures, you are giving express permission for them to be used.

We thank-you in advance.  

Happy Countdown to Spring!

Dawn

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Fall Tribute, “Summer to Winter” New Song Video

October 15, 2014 in Creative Adventures, TSN Therapeutic Projects

Hi Friends,

If you are in an area where you are enjoying the fall, it has been so awesome this year. A friend of mine said his Vermont fall was unbelievable and much better than recent years. He said pictures could not capture it all.
Fall makes us all feel so alive and also gives us a little twinge of reality that winter is on its way yet again. Hopefully we will all stay healthy and safe.

On a somber note…It is so sad that the Ebola situation is here in America and of course it is sad for the other countries it is touching as well.
 Just a reminder to remember to wash your hands often and if you hear someone coughing & sneezing, don’t be embarrassed to move away from them or pop a face mask on.

Back to “fall” again…Many of you know that not only do I sing fun kid songs but I also sing with my husband. Fall will be at its peak soon and I wanted to share my most recent creation. I have created a song video with photos that I have taken from my neck of the woods; water, leaves, awesome moon, sunsets and a few NYC pics. Some pictures are from family & Facebook followers too.
Happy Fall & Healthy Winter to you.

Link to Fall Tribute, Song Video

More info “Transitions” music project

“Summer to Winter”

“Summer days are almost gone,
pretty fall days don’t last that long.
Old man winter, will chill you to the bone,
Hope spring arrives soon,
in the corner of our little home….”

Stop by TheSingingNurse Music page and take a look around to see if there is anyway that we can make your health lessons more fun and engaging.

And if you missed getting our free download of “The Hand Washing Activity eBook” make sure and  get your copy here.

A cool bonus just because I like you and want you to be healthier than ever this year. Fun Flu Quiz post and more on Colds/Germs.

For Happy Healthy Kids,
Dawn

**follow TSN on Pinterest 😀

Subscribe to post, news and FREE Hand Washing eBook 

How does the beauty of #fall touch you? Does it make you feel sad, in awe, overwhelmed? Comment below…no spam and off subject comments please.

Your Emergency Room Bag, 10 essentials for a germ free visit!

April 15, 2014 in Children's Health Education, Creative Adventures

Your Emergency Room Bag, 10 essentials for a germ free visit!

While away on a family vacation, we ended up in the emergency room and I decided that we needed an emergency room bag.

Fun Emergency Room Bag!

Today’s post is a fun parent/family activity that will remind us how we can be prepared for an ER visit. We can all benefit from helpful information to insure our health and safety. Designing and creating an Emergency Bag is a fun relaxing way to spend time together while discussing health related topics.

We all know how a pregnant woman has her hospital bag ready when her big day arrives unexpectedly? Let’s make sure we are ready with our bag too.

The early childhood center I previously worked for had such a bag for each classroom. The Emergency Bag was brought on field trips and visits to the playground. A family Emergency Bag will help your family be ready too. I will walk you through and explain why I include each item.

Items #1 & 2-bring sanitizing wipes & hand sanitizer. I observed one person carrying a bucket at one point, I assumed in case he needed to vomit, yuck! There are lots of germs lurking around the ER waiting room. I started to wonder how often the tables and chairs were wiped down. In the 4 hours we were there I saw no cleaning going on. A little preparation goes a long way, so bring these items just in case the hospital hand sanitizer dispenser is empty. Wipe down the seat and arms of your chair to insure your area is clean.

Item #3-zip lock bag with a few masks just in case you are near someone coughing, sneezing, blowing their nose or vomiting. While I did notice masks on the wall in a dispenser, you can assume they were for the workers, but what about us well folks waiting in the ER. Prevention goes a long way.

Items #4 & 5-bottled water and healthy snacks. Include a couple bottles of water to keep everyone hydrated; soda from a machine is not as quenching as water. Snacks like prepackaged health bars and almonds are satisfying during a long wait and can be stored in your bag and changed periodically.

Item #6-important information sheets or small notebook. I would include: important ph #’s like your family physician, work and family #’s, you know the ones that are really important. Include a copy-of your Insurance card- both sides, because each includes lots of phone numbers. Keep a health history/summary and allergies for each family member in your bag. You ask in this day and age why bring anything in a hard copy? How many of you have all your important numbers and health histories memorized? And for those of you who store your info on your smart phones, what if your cell phone goes dead or you have no reception?

Item #7-quiet activities for the you and the kids (coloring books, crayons, small books, a mini-etch-a-sketch, small hand held games)

Item #8-change & money (for the snack machines and cafeteria)

Item #9-simple first aid kit (band aids, surgical tape, 2×2’s tissues, surgical glove etc.) these can be placed in a small Ziploc bag.

Item #10**Item Reminder, your Cell phone and charge cord: I always carry my charge cord with me, I think most people do, just a reminder in case your phone goes dead.

While doing some research for this post I came across lots of interesting info like germ zapping robots in hospitals and the creepy truth about the different antibiotic resistant bacteria around us, especially where really sick people hang out. One thing is for sure; if you have a life threatening health issue by all means go to the emergency room where they are equipped to treat you.

If you are in need of medical care for minor situations, it might be better to try your local urgent care facility. Call 911 and they will direct you.

Check out KidsDoc symptom checkers app by healthychildren.org from the American Academy of Pediatrics. It is also available in Spanish. This app has loads of really helpful information, from everyday childhood illnesses with symptom descriptions and easy to follow first aid for injuries. Its easy to search the app by body part, by alphabetical index or by keyword search.

Fun activity for your family or parent group

Emergency Bag contents

Make an Emergency Room Bag

Items you will need:

1. Pre-made washable cloth bags from your favorite craft store.

2. Cloth paints or permanent markers

3. Ziploc bags

All your bag content:

1. Hand sanitizing wipes.

2. Hand sanitizer

3. Face masks

4. Bottled water

5. Healthy snacks

6. Important Information sheets, copy of both sides of Insurance card.

7. Quiet activities

8. Change & money

9. Small First Aid Kit

     a. Band aids

     b. 2×2’s

     c. Surgical tape

     d. Tissues

     e. Surgical gloves

10. Cell phone and charge cord

Decorate your bags with cloth paints or markers, make it fun and display your healthy life style. I feel using a cloth bag is a good choice so it can be washed after your ER visit. Let’s hope you won’t ever need it, but, it probably is inevitable that one day you will pay a visit to the ER.

It would really be fun if you would take a picture of your bags and send them to TheSingingNurse@gmail.com and we will display them. Have fun, be healthy and be ready!

For Life and Healthy Living,

Ms. Dawn

How did your emergency room visit go? What would you have done differently? Everyone can benefit from you experience, please comment below. Comments by Nurses and emergency room personnel also welcome.

Another germ related post you may enjoy about health promotion, hand washing with PDF’s about germs etc..

Free Hand Washing Activity eBook.