Activity 1: (25 minutes) ANCHOR CHART REVIEW

Review the Pyramid of Happiness poster. Review the lowest level of the pyramid and perform that action (rubbing tummy and pretending to drink). Make the connection that staying clean is also a basic need, like eating and drinking. Another word for staying clean is “hygiene.” When we stay clean, we can be healthier, and being healthy can help us feel happier. Check for understanding:

• What have we already learned about taking care of our bodies?
• What is hygiene? (staying clean)
• What are germs? (super small things that are on dirty surfaces and can make you sick)
• How can we help our bodies by practicing good hygiene?

Learning to take care of our bodies is an important skill, and it is something we can do all by ourselves. We can be healthy by:

• Building our immune systems by eating healthy foods, moving our bodies and getting enough sleep.
• Washing our hands regularly.
• Coughing or sneezing into our elbow or tissue (then throw it out and wash hands immediately).
• Staying home when we are sick so we can get well quickly, and so we don’t spread our sick germs to others.

Have each child complete a Healthy Me Booklet.

Activity 2: (10 minutes) WASHING HANDS

Now that we know how important it is to wash our hands, it’s important to know HOW to wash our hands. Washing hands takes 5 steps: water, bubbles, scrub, rinse, dry. Repeat this as a chant over and over until the children can repeat it on their own.

Place the basin of water in front of you and ask the children to tell you if you are doing a good job at washing your hands.

• Dip your hand into the water then shake them off and wipe them on your clothes.
• Dip hands into the water, swish them around and then use the hand towel to dry them.
• Rub hands on dry soap, then use the hand towel.
• Wet hands, use soap, but don’t rinse or dry.

After each attempt, have the children tell you what steps you might have missed. Repeat the chant—water, bubbles, scrub, rinse, dry—after each attempt. In the end, demonstrate the correct way to wash hands while repeating the chant: water, bubbles, scrub, rinse, dry. Suggest that the children wash their hands long enough—scrubbing all the fingers, fingernails, palms, backs of hands, etc.—while repeating this chant 10 times (one for each finger). Encourage the children to use this system each time they wash their hands. Encourage them to teach this skill to their adults, siblings, or others that they live with.

Activity 3: (10 minutes) GERMS

We share lots of things. Germs, however, should NOT be shared! What are germs? Let children share what they know about germs.

Germs are everywhere! Have students look at their hands as closely as possible. Any germs? They are too tiny to see, but they are everywhere! List everything students have touched since waking up this morning on the board. After writing 10–15 things, affirm that germs exist in all those places.

It’s important to wash our hands after touching dirty things. Sometimes, you can see dirt. Germs are too small to see, but they are there! Washing our hands after using the bathroom, after we cough or sneeze into our hands, and before we eat or prepare food, will help us wash away the germs and stay healthy.

Read the book, I Don’t Want to Wash My Hands, by Tony Ross or watch the read-aloud video, “I Don’t Want to Wash My Hands” by Starlight Learning. Have the children relate all the different things that the little princess touched with her hands that required washing afterwards.

Activity 4: (10 minutes) GROWING GERMS

We can’t see germs when they are on our hands or other surfaces, but we can see what germs look like when they grow.

1. Using a pair of tongs, give the child a piece of bread and have them wipe their hands on the bread, and touch it all over. Using the tongs, place the bread into a sealable sandwich bag. Secure the seal with tape and write the child’s name on the bag.
2. Have the child wash their hands using the steps in the hand-washing activity above, and then repeat the activity with a new piece of bread.
3. Ask the children what they think might happen to the two pieces of bread.
4. Hang the two bags side by side on a window or bulletin board and watch the bread that was touched with dirty hands start to grow mold. Check them every day and take a photo of the progress.
5. Once the mold has started to grow, have the children compare and contrast the differences between the bread that was touched with dirty hands, and the bread that was touched with clean hands.

Ask the children if any of them want to eat the sandwiches now? Note that these kinds of germs grow inside our bodies when germs get inside and make us sick. They can also grow on the outside of our bodies and make us stinky (like what our shoes smell like when we wear them without socks). Reiterate how important it is to wash our hands and take a bath to wash away the germs.

Activity 5: (10 minutes) BRUSHING TEETH

Just like the outsides of our bodies need to be cleaned daily, our mouths and teeth need to be cleaned each morning and evening.

Read “Brush the Germs Away” by Joy Ray or watch the read-aloud video. If possible, use a tooth model and toothbrush to practice brush strokes on teeth. Have the children pretend to brush their teeth while singing and dancing along to one of the following teeth brushing songs. Make a brushing motion every time the word “brush” is sung. Add on other movement activities like jumping, twirling, and marching as you sing along:

• Brush Your Teeth, Raffi
• Brush Your Teeth, Kids TV 123