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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

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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.

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:

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Nature Painting, bringing the outdoors inside

June 23, 2012 in Creative Adventures

 Children love the outdoors and I believe boys especially do. This is a project that will integrate four of the senses and bring the outdoor elements and the child together. Collecting the earthy items with your child is great fun and a wonderful learning opportunity. But this craft project exposes the child who is unable to spend long periods of time outdoors as well. Hands on activities are a great way to have your child feel more part and enjoy the elements of nature.

Start by collecting an assortment of items from the great outdoors.

1. Smooth and round rocks (wash the rocks off before using them)

2. Grass

3. Pine needles and pine cones

4. Assortment of leaves

5. Flowers

6. Twigs

Other supplies you may need: tape, paints, paper towels or wipes, white paper, markers

 Lay out your paints, I placed a mound of different color paints on a large mirror. Let your child see you drip the paint on your paint pallet or mirror; this is a visual treat for them. 

Let your child see and feel the texture of each item you are going to use as this integrates his sense of sight, smell and touch. Rub rocks together to stimulate his sense of hearing to help your child realize that these elements are hard. Point out the veins in the leaves, the colors of the flowers and their soft pedals. Bring to his attention the points of the pine needles. 

If he was unable to go collect the items, describe where you got them and if they came from a tree, a bush or the ground. Take a picture if you can, it says a thousand words. I love my digital camera and the instantaneous visual function it has. I will often take a picture of something happening outside to show my little friend. It is hard to see something close or near the ground if your child is in a wheelchair or bed. A mirror is also a helpful tool to help your child see.

Most children have the experience of exploring and the opportunity of rock throwing, feeling the grass under their feet and picking flowers. We can help the wheelchair or bed bound child experience these activities that we so often take for granted.

We taped the grass in a bundle to make it like a paintbrush. 

Take one item at a time and press it into the paint and then press it onto the paper. Let your child help press and rub the paint onto the paper. Use hand over hand for the child who has limited use of their hands.  Use a different color for each item in your picture to help differentiate each nature item.

Kian loves being outside, enjoys looking around and seeing animals and feeling the sun on his face.

Next time we will show you what we did to convert a simple photo album into a beautiful personalized Grandma’s Brag book. We used a similar process with a few tweaks. Sign up to our email subscription to make sure you don’t miss a post.

For Healthy, Creative, Wonder filled kids,

Ms. Dawn

Tell us what projects you have created by using some natural elements from the great outdoors.

Other posts you may like:

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