We always knew handwashing was an important “hidden curriculum” skill we needed to teach our young students. We didn’t know that it would become something that is a HUGELY important skill. Read on to see how I teach handwashing and download some FREEBIES!
Teachers have always hoped that students come to them with good handwashing skills. It has been something that I’ve needed to remind my students to do, but I felt comfortable that they could do it on their own.
Insert a global pandemic…
Proper handwashing is now hugely important. Students need to properly lather up and scrub for 20 seconds.
Can kindergarten, first grade, and second grade students complete this independently?
With some help they can…
The first thing I did to teach my students is create visuals.
I created a step by step visual, and I created visuals with songs for them to sing while scrubbing.
I hung this low on the mirror so that they could easily see them.
I then taught them this fun lesson using glitter! (sorry custodians!)
Combining these two things has helped a lot! I also taught them how to properly use “hanitizer.” 😉
Last but not least, I needed to create a little fun for the teaching staff. So, I created a few posters for them that you can also download for free!
How do you teach handwashing? I would love to hear some more ideas!
Be well!
