How to Teach Handwashing to Kids
Hand washing is an important part of everyday life. Not only does make our hands look clean, but it washes away germs and bacteria, helping to prevent the spread of illness. Teaching children how to wash their hands appropriately at an early age will help them make it a life-long routine. To teach children how to wash their hands, employ the use of songs and fun foam soaps.
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Instructions
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Discuss the importance of hand washing with your children. Ask a child why he thinks we wash our hands and invite different ideas and opinions from the other children. Explain that we wash our hands to make them clean and to avoid getting sick.
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Explain when it's important to wash your hands. Ask a child when she thinks it's important to wash their hands. Provide a list of times that it's important to wash hands. Display a hand washing chart that shows pictures of times when hands should be washed -- place a picture of a toilet, a plate, someone coughing and other pertinent pictures on the chart.
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Set up sinks for child-friendly hand washing. Place a stool at the sink that children can use to climb up on to reach the sink. Set easy-to-operate, soap bottles at the sink, such as foaming push pump soaps in fruity scents. Set out towels with colorful prints next to the hand washing area.
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Model how to wash hands. Show the children how to operate the water and set it to a comfortable temperature, wet their hands, pump the soap, lather, rinse and dry.
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Teach the children a song to sing while washing their hands. The ideal hand-washing time is 15 to 20 seconds. An example of a song is "This is the Way We Wash Our Hands," sung to the tune of "Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush."
"This is the way we wash our hands,
Wash our hands,
Wash our hands
This is the way we wash our hands
To get them nice and clean"
After singing the song three or four times, it's time to rinse the soap off.
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References
- Photo Credit washing hands image by Julia Britvich from Fotolia.com
