GERMS!! Teaching kids about hand washing and how germs spread.

I love working with preschoolers, they are becoming their own person and absorbing all the information that's around them.  Along with taking in all the info they are also learning about sharing, which is sweet, until you are trying to teach them things they shouldn't share and why, like their cups and the toy that was just in their mouth...why toys are still going into mouths when they are transitioning into kindergarten, and beyond I'm not sure but yes that's something we deal with.  Any one around preschoolers and elementary age children can tell you that the staff is crossing their fingers in high hopes of not catching every "bug" that spreads like wildfire through their classroom or school.  There have been plenty of times when half the class is out sick.  Or a whole two weeks of passing the stomach flu from one kid to the next at the center.

Before we go on and talk more about germs and how to reduce the sick days for everyone, let's take a minute to give a round a applause, and say Thank You! to all the teachers in day care centers, preschools, bus drivers, aids, and any other staff that I might be forgetting at the moment because these teachers (and staff) are getting sneezed on, cleaning up vomit, wiping noses, and are so tired of saying wash your hands that I'm surprised they don't have that on a CD on repeat going off every 5 minutes.  LOL.  They are submerged in germs of all sorts of kids who are not their own offspring!  Thank you for providing an education to these kids who are oblivious to why you're gagging a bit about the green snot running down their nose...and yup into their mouth..."Why blow my nose?"  We've all seen that, and don't shake your head, you probably did it as a tot yourself.

Oh kids are so cute.

One of my favorite lessons to present is about germs and hand washing. Last year I shared with you my favorite gross germy book SICK SIMON.  It's still my favorite book that I am always sure to read to each class because of the illustrations and it's just the perfect book to go with this lesson.  This year I did some searching and came up with a full story time and more books that are also wonderful to go along with Sick Simon and some fun songs.

Bear Feels Sick
Written by Karma Wilson
Illustrated by Jan Chapman


This is a cute book to open with.

I love that Karma Wilson keeps the same characters throughout her Bear series and the same cadence and flow of words.  We know what we will meet Crow, Wren, Badger, Hare, and Mouse.  We expect a rhyme on each page, and the repetition of the title throughout the book that we associate with the this lovely series.

In Bear Feels Sick we find bear has a stuffy nose, and sneezing, and feeling sick.  I love the emotion you can put into these first couple pages really getting across how crumby Bear is feeling, and show the empathy for bear because we've all felt that way.  When Bear's friends come over and discover that he's sick they work together to take care of him.  They make him tea, put cool cloths on his head, and tuck him into bed while talking in whispers and being quiet so Bear can rest.  Finally Bear wakes up and feels better, but oh no, his friends are now sick.

As she always does Wilson includes many wonderful vocab words for the hungry minds of her readers.  I love how she finds so many unique words that fit so smoothly into her rhythm of writing.
Grumbles, coax, smidgen, quivers, fret, and frolic are all words we don't hear often in everyday language and having them in the book with context kids learn what they mean and they are added to their mental word bank.

Jan Chapman has done beautiful illustrations that capture the cozy feel of the den and all the animals.

There are so many talking points you can bring up with your kids:
What do the friends do to help Bear?  What do your parents do to help you feel better? The friends get sick, how do you think they got sick?  This leads into the question of "What makes us sick?"

I found that many kids around the age of four or five can answer this with "Germs!" Most of the kids know that you can't see germs but not really how they spread.  I usually read Sick Simon next so the kids see how Simon spreads germs to all his friends and get grossed out by the illustrations.  Then I'll go into the book Germs! Germs! Germs!


Written by Bobbi Katz
Illustrated by Steve Bjorkman

This is a reader book (Level 3) aimed for first and second grades, but younger kids will listen to this and it is a fun book to read aloud.

What I like most about this book is that it's written from the perspective of the germs and it's more scientific than the other books.  Katz goes into how you can see germs with a microscope, where they are found and how they spread.  Bobbi goes into how germs have friends who help them grow along with enemies who prevent the germs from making others sick.

The first paragraph is repeated throughout the book and brings home the point that germs are everywhere!  I like that with this book you learn that it's more than just one sick kid spreading germs, Katz mentions how germs grow in food and that it's important to put left overs away.  Then there's a kid who scrapes his knee and that germs can cause an infection.  At this point I always ask what does your mom or the nurse do when you get a scratch?  They wash it out to make sure it's clean, then they put a band aid on to make sure dirt and germs don't get in.   I also pause at the food part and ask if it's ok to eat a left over hot dog from last night that's been left out on the counter.  Most kids are grossed out by that and yell "NO!"

After reading Sick Simon and Germs! Germs! Germs! I also ask "What is the number one way to keep from getting sick and spreading our germs to our friends?"

HAND WASHING!

Thank you Pinterest for leading me to Loons and Quines @ Librarytime and the fun finger play, felt board, song they did that is all about germs on your hands and washing them away.  I found that the kids quickly caught onto the song and started singing along.  For the full song be sure to check out their post here.

I wanted to use the book Do No Lick this Book* *It's Full of Germs by Idan Ben-Barak and Julian Frost because of the title.  At first I thought the book would be fantastic and funny, and drive home the point of not putting things in your mouth including your hands, but I did not get that from the book.  The first couple pages were interesting and informative showing how many microbes can fit on a tiny dot and that they are found everywhere but page 13 turned my stomach and turned me off the book.  I did not use this book in my story time because of the interactive touching the book to pick up the main microbe, Min, and then telling the kids to touch their teeth!😨  Then touch your teeth again to take not only Min but another germ friend along for a trip, and on it goes to touching your shirt, skin, and then the book again!  I'm sorry, but that is the opposite of what I was trying to teach, if your fingers go in your mouth they should be clean before that, then washed again after.

Is everything in the book bad?  No, I like that there are close up images of the book fibers, teeth, and skin.  The last page of the book is the one I like best.  Throughout the book you meet a couple odd shaped germs that are collected and have names "Min, Dennis, Rae, and Jake"  on this last page there is information on each of them and what their real name is and what it actually looks like and where they are found and live.  The book isn't about how they make you sick.  E. coli reside in your intestines and do work there, the problem with E. coli is that if you don't wash your hands after using the bathroom (or for adults don't wash your fruit and veggies that have fertilizer on them) E.coli will make you sick and spreads fast.

To show just how quick germs spread, and what happens when we don't wash our hands I recommend getting Glo Germs and doing a fun science activity.
I turned my back on the kids while putting some glo germs in my hand and fake sneezed into my hand, then went and gave everyone a high five.  You can also use props to show germs on surfaces like pens, and toys.  After my high fives, and touching toys I used a black light to show all my germs.  Then I washed my hands the "speedy" way which I'm sure many of you have seen: pump soap onto hands, run under water, and fast dry...all done!  And I let the kids see me do this and say, "OK my hands are alllll clean, I washed them right? Let's see." The black light reveals that, yikes! I didn't do so good at getting rid of my germs.  This leads into the next song I found that helps kids wash their hands well.  There are many songs you can find on Pinterest about hand washing, I found that I like "Tops and Bottoms" the most because it has the kids wash tops, bottoms, in between the fingers, and all around.  The goal is to be washing your hands for 20 seconds.  Other songs that take about that long to sing are: Mary Had a Little Lamb, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and the ABCs.

Did you know that drying your hands is just as important as washing them?

"...the dryer the hands, the fewer transmissible germs...."

I didn't know that either until I read Germ Proof Your Kids The Complete Guide to Protecting (Without Overprotecting) Your Family from Infections.  This was a interesting and good read.  Not a kids book but great resource for adults.  Germs are everywhere, we know that, and can you really Germ Proof you Kids? No, you can't put your kids in a bubble, they will catch colds, and occasionally the flu, or eat something bad, just like all of us. Harley A. Rotbart, M.D. has written a very well researched book about the multitude of viruses, bacteria, fungus, and everything in between.  He tells what each of them cause, how they spread, signs of having one.  Now this book is 11 years old now so I'm sure more studies have been done and I'd love to see a second edition of this book.  Regardless of the age of the book, much can be learned from Harley's findings.  He shares how to do your own research, trust your gut moms, and explores myths, and how to prevent your family from catching everything they come across, and relieve some worries.  He shares how kids immune systems are built and strengthened because of their exposure to all the germs.


Fun fact to leave you with...

"Viral genes are only smart enough to allow the virus' survival and reproduction within [a human]. Viruses cannot survive for more than a short time, and cannot reproduce at all, outside of the living host."

I should mention that in my lesson with germs and hand washing I also am sure to bring up how to cover coughs and sneezes into elbows if you have long sleeves or into your shirt with kids.

 

I hope that you have found these books helpful and the lesson to be fun.  Remember to wash and dry your hands often, stay home if you have a fever, vomited, or are contagious so as to not spread whatever "bug" you have to your co-workers, friends, and classmates.