14 Nov How to Teach Proper Handwashing

We have been studying the classic children’s book, Madeline, which served as an introduction to a series I wanted to do with the children on Health and Wellness.

As a nurse, I am constantly teaching my patients about the importance of handwashing as a first line of defense against disease and dirt.  Of course this is also something that I taught my children as they were being potty-trained.  They began with perfect form – I was so proud of them!  But as the novelty of being allowed to “play” in the water wears off, so did the perfect form.  So I decided to do a “Back to Basics” with Clark and Luci to reinforce the importance of proper handwashing.

A Fun Experiment

We made this learning activity into a fun experiment.  Kids love anything involving glue and glitter, so we started off by covering our hands with white glue.  I added a little water to help it spread.  I had the kids rub their hands together, getting the glue everywhere.  Then I added glitter. Clark and Luci were laughing and giggling the entire time.

Once again, they rubbed their hands together, getting glitter on the front and backs of their hands, between their fingers and even in their nails.  As we waited for the glue to dry a little, we talked about how the glitter represents germs.  We talked about germs and how they are so tiny that we can’t even see them, and about where we can find germs and how they can make us sick.

Try Handwashing Without Soap First

We started washing our hands without soap.  I had noticed that the children would try to do this as a short cut when using the bathroom.  It was surprising and enlightening to them that although this removed a few “germs,” a LOT were left on!  GROSS!

So we added soap.  We love our Thieves Foaming Hand Soap!  It is luxurious and smells wonderful and we know with Thieves Essential Oil in it, it is safe and effective!

I stopped again at this point to point out the soap container.  The top of the container was covered in green glitter.  So, I asked them, what do you think would happen if you ran out of the bathroom and played with your toys without washing your hands carefully?  What would happen if you ran out of the bathroom and sat down at the table without washing your hands?  They got the point.

Washing our hands until all of the glitter and glue off took quite a while.  I emphasized this to them – even though you can’t see the germs, it still takes a long time to wash them off!

Clark and Luci loved this lesson!  And it serves as a great memory trigger!  I have referred to this lesson many times since we’ve done this exercise.  In fact, I think it is something we will end up doing at least once a year to remind us of the importance of handwashing!

Don’t miss the rest of our Five in a Row study of Madeline! We had the best time!