1-2-3 Come Do Some Hand Washing Activities With Me

Are you looking for something to easily explain hand washing to your students/children?

Then I think you'll find my fun-filled "Hand Washing" packet helpful, and it's FREE!

I've included a poster of the CDC's, 5-step recommendations for correct hand washing, it comes in both color for teachers, as well as black & white for students to color & take home.

There are also two posters which list important times when you should wash your hands.

Before you share the list with your students, see how many they can come up with, during your discussion.

As a fun way to further reinforce the lesson, I've also included a 5-piece puzzle for these hygiene rules.

Teachers can print, laminate & trim the colorful puzzle to use for a center activity.

I've also included a #5 base for the puzzle, which will help preschoolers assemble the pieces..

Keep each of your puzzles in a large ZipLock Baggie.  

As always, there are black & white patterns, so that students can color and cut apart, to create their own puzzle. 

Demonstrate how to cut out the number 5 and then snip each section off.

When everyone has completed their puzzle, reinforce the rules as a whole group. 

Hang the base #5 pattern on your white board.  Stick magnetic dots on the back of your 5 puzzle pieces and hold them in numerical order.

You show the #1 puzzle piece and read it, then stick it to the matching #1 section on the base. 

Children follow your "monkey-see, monkey-do" directions & do the same with their puzzle piece. 

After everyone has placed that piece down, read the rule again, then have children "read" it with you.

For added fun, and more reinforcement, have children pick a partner & take turns rolling a dice. 

If they roll a 1 they place the matching #1 puzzle piece on the puzzle base, and so on.

If they roll a 6 you can decide if they lose a turn, or if the 6 is wild & they can choose any numbered puzzle piece that they need. The first one to complete their puzzle is the winner.

Because children love to sing, I've also included a song in the packet.

The CDC recommends 20 seconds, as the minimum amount of time for effective hand washing. They say that humming the “Happy Birthday” song twice will do the 20-second job.

However, I wanted children to have a more appropriate song to specifically go along with hand washing.

So I took the tune from the nursery rhyme/song “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush”, ( public domain) and changed the words to “This is the way we wash our hands”.

When I was a little girl we also sang “This is the way we wash our clothes” to that same tune, as we pretended to scrub away on grama’s old washboard.  

As you sing the song, with my “wash your hands” lyrics, demonstrate lathering the hands with pretend soap, showing how you rub over & under the hands, as well as in-between the fingers, plus scrubbing the nails. Singing, while “washing”, will take the desired 20 seconds.

You can practice with this online timer: LINK

To show you the correct hand washing technique, check out this  video, (46-seconds) then do those movements as you sing the two verses.

I for one, discovered via this video that I was missing the “nails” step. I think that many others will find room for improvement too. Hopefully, the entire world will now do a better job of hand washing.

I’ve made a poster-poem of the “This Is The Way We Wash Our Hands” words, which you can share with your students.

Children may wonder, “What’s the big deal about hand washing?”, so it’s a good idea to introduce your lesson with WHY hand washing is so important.

I like this 3-minute video entitled "Germs, Germs, Germs" because my students also say, “…but my hands don’t look dirty.” 

Finally, I've also included a little certificate of praise your kiddos can color.

There are two, on-a-one-page pattern, for quick printing.

One template features a colorful frame, the other one has a black & white one. 

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

Stay tuned for more "Germ Fighting" FREEBIES, that you can do with your own children or with your students. 

Wishing you a safe & virus free day.

"Did you sneeze? Did you cough? Be sure and wash those nasty germs off!" -Unknown