Washing your hands with soap and water is one of the best ways to keep yourself from getting sick. Germs are tiny living things you cannot see, and they can make you sick if they get inside your body. Good hygiene means keeping your body clean.
Practice proper handwashing technique together: wet, lather with soap, scrub for 20 seconds (sing "Happy Birthday" twice), rinse, dry. Use glitter on hands to show how germs spread when you touch things. Discuss when to wash hands: before eating, after using the bathroom, after playing outside.
Children often think that if their hands look clean, they are clean. They do not realize germs are invisible. Some children think a quick rinse with water (no soap) is enough, or that hand sanitizer always works as well as soap and water.
Germs are tiny living things so small you cannot see them — not even if you squint really hard. They live on surfaces you touch every day: doorknobs, toys, tables, phones, and even other people's hands. Most germs are harmless, but some can make you sick if they get inside your body through your mouth, nose, or eyes. The single best way to stop germs from getting in? Wash your hands.
Here is how to do it right: wet your hands with clean water, put soap on them, and rub your hands together for about 20 seconds. That is about as long as singing "Happy Birthday" twice. Make sure to scrub the fronts and backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your fingernails — germs love to hide in those spots. Then rinse all the soap off with water and dry your hands with a clean towel. The soap is the hero here: it breaks up the sticky oils on your skin where germs hold on, so the water can carry them away.
When should you wash your hands? Before eating or preparing food — you do not want germs going from your hands into your mouth. After using the bathroom — always. After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing — to keep from spreading germs to others. After playing outside or touching animals. It might seem like a lot, but once it becomes a habit, you do it without even thinking. Hand washing is one of the simplest and most powerful things you can do to stay healthy and keep the people around you healthy too.