John Myers
Hand hygiene is essential to reduce the risk of infection through the transmission of pathogens. Here you can find out how to motivate children to wash their hands and how to involve the whole family in a playful way.
As protection against “Corozilla” and Co.: Washing hands properly explained to children
What is a virus? Will this make me sick? Why do I have to wash my hands? From a certain age, children question almost everything. A healthy curiosity that adults quickly lose. However, it becomes challenging for parents when the kids want to enforce their will and simply do not follow the rules – because they do not understand them or they are forced on them. It is all the more important to convey everything to the youngsters in an age-appropriate and playful way. This is easier said than done when washing hands, after all, viruses, bacteria, and other germs cannot be seen with the naked eye and are very abstract dangers for children.
So illustrate the need for hand hygiene with a story that you may remember from your own childhood: The story of Karius and Baktus, the two toothy devils who use pickaxes and jackhammers to work on little Max’s teeth, which of course causes severe pain and then regretted never having brushed his teeth. Apply this story to washing your hands and give the disease-causing viruses and bacteria a fantasy name such as “Corozilla”, “V-Rex” or simply “little dirt monster”. Explain that the only way to prevent these disease monsters is to wash your hands thoroughly.
Washing hands: motivating children to practice hand hygiene
Once you have gained the attention and understanding of the little ones, it is now a matter of getting the children enthusiastic about daily hand hygiene. Four ways to motivate yourself to make washing your hands a breeze.
It’s more fun together: Children often don’t see the need to follow rules that adults don’t follow. So set a good example and wash your hands together with your kids. Also, include your partner in the washing ritual. This makes it clear to the little ones that hand hygiene is not a matter for children, but important for everyone.
Tip: Each family member should use their own towel to dry their hands.
Sing 30 seconds: To prevent infection, hands should be washed thoroughly for 20 to 30 seconds. During this time, sing “Happy Birthday” twice with the children or a song of a similar length that you have composed yourself. Not only does this make hand hygiene more entertaining for the children, it also gives them a better sense of how long it takes to wash their hands.
Wash your favorite toy with you: If the children are ready to wash their hands independently and without parental supervision, a waterproof toy will help to motivate the kids to practice hand hygiene. Let the child wash the doll, teddy, and Co. so that it doesn’t feel all alone.
Soaps for all the senses: Provide a little more variety in hand hygiene by using soaps with different colors and smells – they make children’s eyes big and stimulate the little senses. Glitter soaps, foam soaps or kneading soaps are well suited for children.
The hand hygiene challenge
Of course, when washing hands with children, fun should not be neglected – on the contrary, joy is the greatest motivator. Here’s an idea of how to get the whole family excited about washing hands with a competition.
Draw a virus face on your child’s hand every morning. The mission: During the day the children should wash their hands so often that by the evening the painted virus will have disappeared. The only rule: washing must not take longer than 30 seconds.
If the children have found joy in the game, they can of course also draw motifs on their hands with skin-friendly felt-tip pens or tattoo pens, which they have to wash off during the day. And to increase the spirit of competition, parents can also join in and present their results at the end of the day. Together against the Corona monsters. So get out your pencils and start painting!
