Hand Washing Tips For Kids To Beat Post- Holiday Sniffles and Flu.

The Holiday Season is done and we had fun visiting with family and friends. Now that we have shared our germs for two weeks, we are back to school and work to share the germs we picked up along the way.  My girl woke up with a fever and sniffles today so I am reminding her to cover her cough in her elbow if she doesn't have a tissue in hand and wash her hands really well after coughing and blowing her nose. The following post has excerpts from a post I did for LYSOL in 2012.  She was a busy Toddler then and just learning to wash her hands independently. With the flu season in full swing I wanted to share some ways I get my kid and the kids in my childcare classroom to wash up and curb the spread of germs.

No Touch Hand Soap sensors even work for little hands.

Children learn by exploring the world and their environment.  So I'm sure my Princess has learned a lot about fine motor control and artistic expression when she finger paints my kitchen wall with soft, stinky, cat food.  Did you know that hand washing is one of the single most effective ways to prevent the spread of germs*?  I have a few fun tricks to get my preschool students and my own Princess Destructo washing their hands after messy activities and as part of a healthy routine through out the day.

Hand Washing tip # 1: Let them wash a toy in the sink, rubber duckies work well.  This will get their hands soapy and while they're having fun, they will also be scrubbing away grime and germs. 

Scrub a dub dub, one ducky in the tub

Hand Washing tip # 2: Sing the Alphabet Song at least once while hand washing. This will help give a time frame for scrubbing since children might not know how long 20-30 seconds really is.

LungAssociation_Handwashing_Poster_EN.eps

Hand Washing tip #3: Take pictures of the different hand washing stages and post them near the sink.  We have done this at the child care center where I work and laminated the photos to keep them from getting soggy.  This will give children a visual reminder of what to do while hand washing. Or you can find free download and printable posters to post. Some children have difficulty with multi-step routines so could use a visual reminder.

I'd love to hear tips for getting your family to scrub up!