|  | Public Health Safety | Public Health

Games for Teaching Children About Germs

Cold and flu season means hearing the sounds of coughing and sneezing from your youngsters. Games for teaching children about germs help to stop the spread of coughs and sneezes by showing children how germs spread, and how to cover up their mouth and nose to keep the germs contained. The games are not difficult and are mainly about repetition and practice to help form lifelong hygiene habits.

  1. Singing

    • Most children love to sing songs such as "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" or their ABC's. Teach children that when they wash their hands, they need to scrub their hands with soap while singing songs such as these. Children will enjoy the freedom of being able to make noise and will associate hand washing as a fun game.

    Look at My Germs

    • Show kids the relationship between where they put their hands and the germs that are on their hands. Wet their hands and have them touch various surfaces of white paper. Have other children touch the same spot and see if they still feel the wetness. Explain how the water represents germs and when you touch a surface you leave behind germs. Associate this with touching their mouth or their nose and then wiping their hand on a counter where someone else might touch the same spot.

    A Chu

    • Fill a spray bottle with water. Spray the bottle onto the hands of a child or into the air. Have the students pay attention to how the spray goes in many different directions. Allow them to spray the bottle. Talk about how the spray is like a sneeze, and when you sneeze, the particles go into the air just as the water does. Have the students practice covering up their mouth and nose while you spray the bottle.

    Sparkle Ball

    • Use a sparkly ball, one that you can find at your local drugstore, that has glitter on the outside of it. Have the class sit in a circle and pass the ball around. As the ball is passed, have the students look at their hands and observe the glitter that is left behind. Explain to students that this glitter is representative of the germs that are on their hands that get passed from one person to another.

Public Health - Related Articles