There are gross germs everywhere! Let’s wash our hands to stay healthy.
QUESTIONS:
- Why do we wash our hands?
- What are germs?
- How do we wash our hands?
LEARN:
What are germs? Germs are tiny organisms that can cause us to be sick. They’re so small they can’t be seen without a microscope. To prevent them from sneaking inside our bodies and making us sick, we must wash our hands!
READ:
Read any book you may have that mentions hygiene! Or you can request a physical or digital book from the library, such as Germs Are Not For Sharing by Elizabeth Verdick.
SING:
Having kids wash their hands for 20 seconds is hard! The best way to do it is with a song. If you sing Happy Birthday twice, you’ve got it! Practice doing that with your child.
You can also sing the following hand washing song to the tune of Are You Sleeping.
Top and bottom, top and bottom,
In between, in between.
Scrub them all together,
Scrub them all together,
Now they’re clean,
Squeaky clean!
WATCH:
Baby Shark, along with his Nick Jr. friends, made a special Wash Your Hands Song video! Sing along, and learn the dance!
CREATE:
Make a germ splatter! Pour some paint onto a plate or bowl. Have your child dip a paintbrush into the paint, and instead of painting onto a piece of paper, hold the paintbrush horizontal over the paper. Then, with their other hand, tap the paintbrush so paint splatters onto the paper. That’s how germs spread – one sneeze can produce that many germ spots! Do it repeatedly with different colors, or the same, to make a germy mess.
MAKE YOUR OWN HAND WASHING BOOK:
- Staple papers together and have each page represent a different step.
- Write (or have your child write) the hand washing steps:
- Water
- Soap
- Scrub
- Rise
- Dry
- Illustrate! Draw or cut out pictures for each page.
