Here’s an activity you can try at home.
Hygiene is always important when there are children around. Teaching them to wash their hands properly has become even more important since the arrival of COVID-19 in our lives.
We like to put a special focus on making learning fun. So we’ve used this simple activity to teach our children how to wash their hands properly, and why it’s important to take the time to do it right.
Here’s what you’ll need.
Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, we recommend getting the children involved from the start. Telling a story about what you’re doing can bring the activity for life and ensures they learn more as the activity progresses.
Don’t forget to ask them lots of questions before and after each step. What’s going to happen next? What could we do with this ingredient? What do you see? You can share their observations with us in your comments below.
Sprinkle the pepper over the surface of the water.
The pepper will float and form a film over the water in the bowl.
Ask your child to dip their fingers into the water and then remove them. As they pull their fingers out of the water the pepper will coat their skin. Explain to them that the pepper granules are the germs, and now they’re going to learn how to keep the germs away.
You can ask:
Now you’re going to give your children the chance to discover how soap can get rid of germs. Bringing ideas to life with experiments is such an exciting way for children to learn.
Wash the pepper off the children’s hands. Ask them to cover their hands with soap.
Now’s the fun part.
Ask them to touch the surface of the water with their soapy hands. The germs (pepper grains) are repelled by the soap and move away across the surface of the water. What does this teach the children about germs and soap? Why is handwashing so important?
What do you see? What has the soap done to the germs?
This is such a fun activity for everyone, with an important lesson to learn at the same time. Try and let all the children experiment with using soap to chase away the germs.
How did you find this activity? Do you have feedback or suggestions for ways to make it even more fun? Don’t forget to send us an email at admin@littlemagpies.co.nz.