cartoon blue hand with green germ characters and text
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Explaining hand washing and germs for young students

Here are a couple of fun videos and activities to explain what hand washing does to germs - perfect for young kids!

Here are two videos to help young children learn about handwashing.

Wash Your Hands Song by Baby First:

Designed for elementary students, this rocking video teaches kids Why, When, and How to wash their hands. Use the SuperStar Hand Washer song to learn how long to wash your hands!

Hand washing & Germ Activity

Are you looking for a way to explain why washing hands stops germs? Here is a fun hands-on activity that helps explain.

In the video below, a bowl of water is in front of a young boy who is sitting. A woman is shaking pepper (the germs) into the bowl. Floating on top of the water, the pepper eventually covers the surface of the water. The boy puts his finger into the bowl and when he removes his finger, his finger is covered in pepper (germs). Next, a very small bowl with liquid soap is placed in front of the boy. The boy drags finger on his other hand through the liquid soap. He then places his soap covered finger into the bowl of pepper – and then pepper is dramatically repelled away from his soap covered finger. When he removes his finger for the bowl, it is clean – no germs!

By Diane Brauner

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