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Earth Day & More, Who started this?

April 17, 2013 in Creative Adventures, God - Faith - Hope - Love

I have been searching the Internet today for post and videos that are great resources for you on Earth Day. We have been given such a glorious place to live. The earth is so diverse. We have deserts, mountains, oceans, lakes, plush places and dry places. We have such an array of animals and creatures I am sure we have not discovered them all. The plants that cover our earth generously shade us and feed us. We have so much to thank God for. We also have a great responsibility to be good care takers of all He’s given us.

This little song is great for your littlest ones, I love the little picture book this mother created. It looks pretty easy too.

Days of Creation Song

Days of Creation Collage-really cute idea, good for all kids

God of Wonders Song-great Chris Tomlin song with words sung by kids

Indescribable song by Chris Tomlin-some awesome pictures of creation as He proclaims God is indescribable

In the Beginning is the song I want you to check out. It is the first one in unit 1. It is lively and teaches the days of creation, all kids will love it. The Donut Man has been around for awhile but I love his songs. He has loads of DVD’s too so you can see all the hand motions. The link I have included below is a curriculum with 52 songs and lessons. It is very reasonably priced at 39.95.

 The Donut Man Website 

The Miracle in Seeds–arts and crafts using seeds, looks fun.

Some Earthy Post you may like:

♥  Take care of the Beach
♥ Painting with Plants
♥ Creating book cover with plants
♥ Shells and Rocks craft
♥ Picture poem about a Spring walk 
Have a Wonderful Spring Celebration on Earth Day, Remember who made it all…
For Life and Healthy Living,
Ms.Dawn

 

 

 

 

 

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Plant Painting, creating cards

April 9, 2013 in Creative Adventures, Uncategorized


First gather your plants. Gathering and handling plants is a great sensory activity for kids. It will give them tactile intake, sunshine, fresh air and a time to move about. Not only will your kids get a chance to explore the outdoors, they will be choosing what tools they will use in their plant painting project. Giving choices fosters independence in young children. Give them little hints as you go, to get those little imaginations working and curiosity stirred.

 

 

Say things like:

I wonder what it would look like if we painted these plants and printed them on paper?

I wonder what shape this plant will make?

What would it look like to print different textures and size plants?

We painted different leaves in different colors and pressed them in different directions.

We also painted and pressed flower type plants.

I worked hand over hand while my young patient’s arm was in a sling.

We finished our picture, cut around the edges and tried an assortment of background colors. 

You can paste your painting to the paper or you can take different pictures like I have done here and use those pictures for creating different cards etc.

This one has the corners ripped from one of the background colors. You can add your greeting over top of picture.

Print, cut and paste process below that comes out really cool. I used this process with my grandchildren to create an anniversary card for mom and dad. Each one printed different flowers and objects on his own paper. I painted the “Happy Anniversary” words and cut them out. After the pictures dried I cut around the shapes of the prints. We arranged and glued it all together(don’t press it too flat) which gave it a sort of 3D look. I trimmed it a bit, made a page with some crisscross edges and glued the trimmed picture to the crisscrossed edged picture which made it appear framed .     

I love encouraging creativity and the kids are always so proud of their final creations.

I am so thankful for the warmer weather that allows everyone to enjoy the awesome outdoors. I love seeing all the little emerging critters and plants. All of nature is blooming, makes you feel so alive. Make the most of every teachable moment.

For Happy Healthy Kids,

Ms. Dawn

Subscribe to our posts for more Music, Art, Inspirational and Healthy living posts.

Other posts you may like:

♥ Brag book cover

♥ Post sampling

Healthy living posts you may like:

♥ Hand washing game

♥ Lyme disease prevention for kids

All blog categories: here

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Singing Nurse, Singing Nurse, Where Did You Go?

April 2, 2013 in Creative Adventures, God - Faith - Hope - Love

Happy Spring to you all!

Singing Nurse, Singing Nurse, Where did you go?

Dawn Ginese, May 29, 2011

Singing nurse, singing nurse, where did you go?

I went for a walk, on a country road

So I threw on my sneakers, I had to get it moving

Gail said you go, I’ll go too, so I grabbed my camera, and off I flew

 Singing nurse, singing nurse, what did you see?

I saw an old brown bull, looking at me

His hair was really shaggy, he was quite cute

He really didn’t mind, my photo shoot

Singing nurse, singing nurse, what did you hear?

The birds were a chirping, the lambs were a baaing

The frogs were a croaking, the bees were a buzzing

The cows were a mooing, need I say more

I’d highly recommend it, going outdoors

             

Singing nurse, singing nurse, what did you feel?

The warmth on my face, blood moving through my veins

I was a bit distracted, by all created things

Cuz winged bugs in flowers, were looking up at me

On my way back, a little turtle seemed stuck

I gave a little nudge, so he wouldn’t be mush

Yes, all in all, my walk was a treat

With all the signs of spring, blooming at my feet


Gotcha!

Have a great Spring and Summer, remember to drink fluids, wear sunscreen(not too much sun) and check for ticks!

Ms. Dawn, The Singing Nurse

A few more signs of spring….


…………………………..My church in spring…                                                      Awesome flowers enjoying the bloom…


A view from my deck….zoomed of course…

To hear some songs about critters and being healthy click here.

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How to Make Music Fun 4 Kids-Part 1

March 6, 2013 in Creative Adventures, Music with Kids

Creating music and keeping it simple is fun and stress free. Making a joyful noise and being a little silly is a great way of expressing ourselves. We hope you join us as we are starting a new series I know you will enjoy called, “How to Make Music Fun 4 Kids”. This is for those of you who may feel you are not necessarily musically inclined and would appreciate a little encouragement. We know you can do it, there is no wrong way as long as it brings some joy and pleasure to the participants. The proverbs say, “A merry heart does good like a medicine”.

We will explore:

*Simple ways to create songs for kids

*Writing songs with kids-lyrics and melody

*How to save and remember song ideas

*Easy ways to pep up your old familiar songs

*Using simple keyboards: beats, patterns and chord progressions

*Creating simple percussion instruments

*Review of the Casio SA 76 keyboard

*Review of fun music apps for smart phones

*Review of good children’s music CDs/Sing-a-long books/DVDs

*Review websites that promote music expression

*How to perk the interest of music in kids

Hang on to your hats, let’s get started.

 Below is a song I shared for Valentine’s Day but of course it can be used all throughout the year as it talks of love.

I used my Casio SA 76 to perk up an old familiar song. I share it first with a simple beat and then bump it up a notch with a peppier beat still.  This is an example of pepping up a song at circle time using just voices and rhythm instead of just singing.  I will review some of the buttons and how to use them on the Casio SA 76.

Press the pattern button then press #0 & 9= 9 then press the start button. This is a simple beat.

            

Press the tempo button and move it to #4 

Press the start/stop button to change to pattern #27-press #2 & 7=27

Press the start button=peppier beat

        

Next time we will take familiar nursery rhyme, add a pre-programmed chord progression and add a simple chorus so the kids will be able to sing and do motions. Lots of fun, see you then. Subscribe so you won’t miss a post.

Make a joyful noise,

Ms. Dawn

 Click here to check out other blog post. Glad you stopped by

What are some creative ways you keep your music time fun and engaging? Share with us.

New: Amazon link for the Casio SA-76

“The Singing Nurse website is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazonsupply.com, or myhabit.com.”

TSN website will strive to make available only products that we have tried and love and feel you would love too. 

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What do you collect at the Beach?

March 5, 2013 in Children's Health Education, Creative Adventures

I was away this winter catching some sunshine, strolling the beach and collecting my shells and rocks and I met Leah. She was doing her own collecting and I was curious.  She had a huge bucket, and my pockets were getting so full I had to keep pulling up my sagging pants. I was thinking I might need a huge bucket like hers next time I walked the Florida coast.

Finally, our paths crossed and I inquisitively asked what she was collecting. With her contagious smile she stated she was collecting garbage. Wow, impressed, I quizzed her further.  She was visiting her family in Florida and practicing what she preached (my words). She was on break from West Virginia University majoring in Environment Studies.

Leah was collecting our careless littering. So I said let me take a picture so you can add it to your portfolio and she agreed.  I was getting a little annoyed with the sun because it was difficult to maneuver my iphone because of the brightness.  How trite of me, we both shared a laughing aha moment, after all, the beautiful beach and wonderful warm sun were the major reasons we were both there.

 Leah inspired me, so on my next walk I carried a bucket to collect some garbage too. It is amazing when you change your mind set to be aware of your environment.  So now I will look with different eyes to collect shells, rocks and garbage.

This is one of the creatures giving us the reason to remove the harmful effects of plastic bags, fork, spoons, soda bottle lids and cigarette butts etc. 

Remember of course to wash your hands after picking up garbage.

Be Helpful, Be Healthy, Be a Good Steward,

Ms. Dawn

Other post you may enjoy:

♥ Oceans   ♥ Shell & Rock Art   ♥ Washing Hands

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Happy Valentines Parents and Kids!

February 11, 2013 in Creative Adventures, News - Updates

Hello friends,

I received this salt dough heart from my grand sons for Valentines. It looks like an easy enough project for young children. My daughter in-law is a Special Ed teacher and does all sorts of fun and easy projects with the boys. I’m sure they enjoyed mushing the flour and water, pressing the cookie cutter just right, painting it bright red and adding the sticky glue and glitter (don’t forget to add a hole probably made with a straw). And add a red ribbon and wow a sweet thoughtful Valentines for Grandma or mom or whoever needs a little sweetness in their life. 

My next Valentines nugget is for those who are in love or need some romantic reminding of all the reasons you fell in love in the first place. I was up late last night and Micheal O’Brien came on TV in a special. It was a live concert with a string quartet, guitars, you know all those instruments that make great love songs. The Song writing of Michael O’Brien is great and catchy. I love all the creative chord changes, you are not sure where you are going but you like being led there. The lyrics are heart felt and encourage you to be grateful for your love. I downloaded the album, “Something About Us” in the am. Check it out and listen here.

 

 

 Have a wonderful Valentines Day, from our home to yours.

Ms. Dawn

Other Valentine craft: Candy wrapper Valentines craft

 

 

 

 

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Poster Board Duct Tape Christmas Tree Card

December 3, 2012 in Creative Adventures, TSN outreach Projects, Uncategorized

Poster Board Duct Tape Christmas Tree Card

Each year as a church we prepare practical modest gifts to give when we go Christmas caroling at Green Briar. Green Briar is an assisted living group home of lovely folks who love anything we do for them. They are so thankful for our visits and appreciate it when we bring gifts, dessert and the kids. I wanted our presentation to be fun and to last throughout the Christmas season.

Items you will need:

name tags, clear tape, packaging tape, fancy duct tape, ribbon, assortment of stickers, hole punch, scissors, box cutting knife, markers, lip gloss, 2 large pieces of green poster board, large piece of cardboard

Determine the size tree you want, I wanted ours to be big because originally I was going to attach 53 name tag ornaments to it. Tape 2 poster board ends together with packaging tape creating 1 large piece; overlap the edges about 2 inches so it is secure. Draw a Christmas tree shape on the poster board; I used a green marker, this works well just in case you mess up. Place the poster board on top of the same sized cardboard piece and place small pieces of tape about 12 inches apart to secure the cardboard and poster board together while you cut out the Christmas tree with the box cutting knife.

Tape the cardboard and poster board tree together along all the edges with your fancy Duct tape. Allow about ½ the tape size to show on the front of your project. This is a little tricky at inside edges; you will have to do some angle cuts to allow the tape to lay flat. When you do the outside tips of the tree it is easier to let the tape adhere to each other and trim it after.

I added re-enforcement to the back of the tree by taping another smaller piece of cardboard to it. I also did this for the trunk of the tree.

We presented the Christmas Tree Card to the kids at church and told them what it was for. This was a transition time just before they were heading to their Sunday school classes so I cut up clusters of stickers in advance so each child had about 5 stickers.

I placed the Christmas tree card on the rug as the kids gathered around and placed their sticker on it. It was amazing how they placed them so evenly.

The older children later weaved little messages and scriptures in between the sticker that pertained to Christmas and drew candy canes and designs. The church family signed the card.

          

 I picked up the name tags at Michael’s, they were pretty reasonable at 2.99 for 16, punched a hole at the side with a hole-punch and tied a tube of lip gloss to it with ribbon. We attached Avery address stickers to create multiple cards since we were putting together 53 of them.  Thanks to Anna for helping with all the prep.

I was going to cover the whole tree with the name tag ornaments, and when the residents removed them, they would see the messages. I decided against that and scotch taped some of the ornaments along the edges and put the remainder in a small basket. I didn’t have the heart to cover up the stickers and sweet messages everyone had placed on the tree.

Optional objects to be tied to the name tags: pencil, candy Have fun with the Christmas Tree Card craft.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

For Healthy Kids, Ms. Dawn

Other craft posts you may like:  ♥  Making greeting cards    ♥  Back to School Sampler

Health post for winter:  ♥   ♥  Healthy living and Hand washing  favorites

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Happy Thanksgiving!

November 22, 2012 in Creative Adventures, God - Faith - Hope - Love

Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours!

Gobble Gobble!

Appreciate you stopping by…Ms. Dawn

You may like this thanksfulness poem: Pumpkin Family Gives Thanks

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Art, Music, Education & Inspiration for a Healthy School Year!

September 3, 2012 in Children's Health Education, Creative Adventures, The Singing Nurse Music

Below is a post I recently shared at PreK&KSharing, Thanks Debbie Clement for the invite.

Art, Music, Education & Inspiration for a Healthy School Year!

by Dawn Ginese, RN aka The Singing Nurse

Wow, great to be with you and to gather with some of the most creative motivated folks in education.  Miss Debbie has given me the opportunity and awesome privilege to post today. You can click here to read a bit more about my background as a Head Start nurse and beyond.

I will write a fairly short post but include several links so you can become familiar with my website resources and posting style. Below are some of my favorite subjects to share about that really get me churning.

Doing what is takes to teach the point!

 Back to School might have already begun for some of you so here are some helpful tools and ideas I can offer to make your school year fun, educational, musical, creativity and healthy of course. Please contact me if you get stuck on a subject that you need a little creative flare or a song to drive home the educational point. I would love the challenge and always welcome new ideas.

Presently I care for a home-bound disabled boy and work long 12 hr shifts and need to occupy this typical 6 yr old with interesting things to do and learn. So, I often post the projects we work on, like fun ideas using elements from the outdoors.

We often paint with earthy items from the outdoors to create cards and book covers.

I love looking around and seeing what is at hand to recycle and make it into something fabulous. I know what you are thinking….you do the same right? I call myself a preschool teacher with a nurses hat.

I write post to help you teach the family and little ones how to be healthy. We Post about germ games, hand washing, Lyme disease, brushing teeth, an occasional pictorial poem and more.

And of course we always have something in the musical cooker. The most recent project I am excited about is “Alligator in My Soup”, a song about eating our veggies and of course the alligator thinks they are yummy because they are good for you. (My dental lesson also includes fun activities with veggies and other healthy things that make our teeth happy.) We created an alligator with shoe boxes that was inspired by recycling and reading books with alligator themes, then from there the song sprang. The veggie eating characteristic of our alligator was inspired by my daughter in-law’s dilemma. She was having difficulty getting the grand-kids to eat their veggies. I hope to make the finished project available by 2013 including a song video.

If anyone is interested in being part of this project please contact me. It would include pictures of your children with certain veggies and possible short movie clips. I will post more details later.

The greatest resource I can offer you are my songs and that is what comes from the deepest part of me. I have also written health lessons for kids that go along with my health songs. The lessons include crafts and more to make your school year easier, happier and healthier. New “Individual TSN Health Lessons” now available! Health Lesson Overview

I would love to connect with you to help in anyway I can. My goal is keeping our greatest treasures, our kids, excited about learning and creating, caring about creatures, caring about their neighbors, discovering and caring about our awesome world, and of course, keeping them, their classmates and their awesome teachers happy and healthy.

Thanks again Miss Debbie for sharing so much with us and letting me share with your friends today.

For Life and Healthy living, 

 Ms. Dawn, The Singing Nurse

TheSingingNurse.com

 

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A little Sunny Diversion!

July 20, 2012 in Creative Adventures, God - Faith - Hope - Love

Well I suppose it is not all talk about healthy living like washing hands, brushing teeth, not spreading germs and such because I am taking a little sunny diversion. Many of my connections via the web are talking about back to school, eating healthy and exploring creativity, which are all important, but sometime it is good to stop the train.

Vacations are great times to detach from our norms and all the thinking. Getting away allows us to free our minds of all the planning which I know is difficult for the creative teacher sort of soul because everything we see and take in is a lesson in the making. Who of you can attest to that?  So… vacations are wonderful times of doing mindless activities like walking on the beach, collecting shells and rocks and having someone else do the cooking.

My husband and I enjoyed some time away on the shell and pebbled shores of Florida and caught some breathtaking sunrises, sunsets and moon rises. The pictures below are some of those moments shared with family and my beloved. I hope you enjoy God’s magnificent handiwork here.

The pictures were taken with my Canon PowerShot SX210 is. It has 14x Optical Zoom but goes as high as 56x. I love this small easy to use camera. My pictures have only been re-sized. 

 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1

                                                                                                                              Sunset

                                                                                         Moon rise

     

                                                                               

Looks like a painting…                                                      

                                                                                     In His hand…

                                                                                        Come sit…

                                                                                          The Sun Peeks...

                     We did eat healthy …                                             and we did do a little mindless eating…
       
 
                   I thought this tree was really cool, my husband is not to bad either…so I included them today. 
Have a great rest of the summer, remember it is only half over so get some R & R. I would love it if you stopped back by to get prepared for your school year. We can all use a little help getting prepared to ward off those pesky germs and such.              
For Life and Healthy Living, Dawn                                                                                                                                
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