3 Ways to Teach Kids About Washing Hands & Germs

There is no better time to teach your little ones about germs! Hand washing is especially crucial in this time, and not all children understand the importance of it. These 3 activities not only help young ones understand the spreading of germs and the importance of soap, but also give you 3 activities to entertain them with in these long quarantine hours!

Glitter Germs
This is probably one of the most popular hand washing activities for preschoolers on Pinterest, and for good reason. It’s a simple, fun, and effective way to visually demonstrate to small kids that rinsing our hands with water will not remove germs. We need to use soap too! To demonstrate this, add some glitter to a bowl of water, let your kids play around with the water, and then tell them to imagine the pieces of glitter that are stuck to their hands when they are finished playing are germs. Next, ask them to wash their hands only with water to see if the glitter comes off. When it doesn’t, ask them to wash their hands a second time using soap and ask them to count to 20 while they lather their hands before rinsing and drying off. The difference will be quite remarkable and will help them realize the importance of proper hand washing!

Flour Germs
If you’re not a fan of glitter (no judgment here!), flour offers another way to teach kids about germs. Spread ¼ of a cup of flour on a plate and ask your students/children to place their hands firmly overtop of the flour while telling them to imagine the flour is actually germs. Next, provide them with a couple of easy-to-wash plastic or wooden toys (LEGO pieces, building blocks, etc.) for a few minutes, and then ask them to stop what they are doing and examine how much of the flour has transferred from their hands to the toys they are playing with. This is a great activity to visually demonstrate how easy it is for us to spread germs when we sneeze and cough into our hands and don’t wash them afterwards.

Black Pepper Activity
This ‘experiment’ is another great way to teach kids about germs and the importance of using SOAP when washing our hands. Grab a large bowl and fill it ¾ of the way full with water and add a couple sprinkles of black pepper. You want a sufficient amount of pepper to be visible along the top of the water, but not so much that you can’t see the water. Next, add a couple drops of dish soap to the water using a dropper, and watch as the germs ‘run away’ from the soap and cling to the side of the bowl. Kids will find this REALLY cool, and the visual it provides will help them remember the importance of using soap to get rid of germs while washing their hands. I believe hand sanitizer will also work for this activity (I haven’t tried it yet), which may be helpful with kids who resist hand sanitizer while out and about!