How to Educate on Germ Prevention

Frequent hand washing is one of the best ways to kill germs, and schools are ideal locations for hand washing campaigns since about 20 percent of people in the United States work at or attend schools, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children, who can have up to 10 colds each year, miss 22 million school days annually due to this common respiratory illness.

Things You'll Need

• Soap
• Water
• Paper towels
• Ball
• Stickers
• Tissues
• Apron or Smock
• Blindfold
• Washable paint
• Old newspaper
• Sink
• Lesson plans

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Instructions

Hand Washing Basics for Preschool through Second Grade

• 1

  Teaching correct hand washing techniques in schools helps decrease absences.

  Talk briefly about how germs make you sick even though you can't see them. Ask the children how germs spread around a classroom. Ask when is a good time to wash your hands.

• 2

  Colds can sometimes develop into bacterial sinus or ear infections.

  Put several stickers on one side of a ball. Keep that side away from the kids. Pretend to sneeze, without covering your mouth, onto the ball. Turn the ball so the class can see the stickers. Make the correlation between the stickers and the invisible germs spread by sneezing or coughing.

• 3

  Toss the ball to a student. Say that you are not just sharing the ball, you are sharing germs, too. Take a few stickers from the ball and put on his hands. Repeat with a few other students.

• 4

  Students should be encouraged to use tissues and wash hands often.

  Hand out tissues and encourage students to practice sneezing or coughing into it or into the crook of their arm. Emphasize hand washing before eating and after using the toilet, playing with an animal or coughing into their hands.

• 5

  Practice hand washing. First, pretend with the children as you talk about wetting your hands with warm water, using soap and washing while you sing the "Happy Birthday Song" twice. The second time let the children actually wash their hands while you supervise.

Hand washing Science for Older Elementary Students

• 6

  Use same discussion cues from Section 1, but include more detail. Verbally quiz your students about why soap is important and how germs enter our bodies (eyes, nose, mouth).

• 7

  Draw four sections on a sheet of paper with a hand outline in each section. Color and label the hands from most to least dirty. Title it "Water Only." Make an identical sheet, but title it "Soap and Water." These are your scoring guides.

• 8

  Use hands-on experiments to teach germ-prevention techniques to older kids.

  Use old newspapers to cover a table or counter. Choose a hand washer and put a teaspoon of paint into her palm. Instruct her to rub it all over her hands, including her nails. Allow a few minutes to dry.

• 9

  Blindfold the hand washer at the sink. Ask her to wash her hands under plain water for one second. Have another student lightly blot (no rubbing) the hand washer's hands. Record the cleanliness of her hands on the scoring guide from Step 1. Wash again with plain water for four seconds, blot and record the cleanliness. Repeat once more, adding 15 seconds of washing time. Refrain from any comments that tell the hand washer how clean or dirty her hands are. Remove the blindfold and allow her to clean her hands thoroughly.

• 10

  Regular soap is as effective as antibacterial soap for hand washing.

  Choose another student and repeat Steps 3 and 4, but use soap and water for the three assessments (remember, the first assessment is the unwashed, painted (dirty) hand).

• 11

  Show results by making two graphs--one water only and the other soap and water--that illustrate the cleanliness at each step. Display the time horizontally and the cleanliness scores vertically. Discuss the benefits of soap and how germs stick to it and are then washed away.