Clever Ways for Teaching Kids About Germs and Hand-Washing

This is a sponsored conversation on behalf of The Pfizer Pediatric Platform. However, all opinions are authentic and my own. Please see my disclosure policy.

Have your kids gotten their “back to school colds” yet?  It never fails; within a month of being back to school, the colds and illnesses start circulating through my kids and family.  

And it’s no surprise since according to a recent “Ew-dentification” survey of nearly 500 school nurses nationwide, commissioned by pediatric brands of the Pfizer Consumer Healthcare:

“…more than half of all school nurses (55%) reported that sick begins to spread somewhere between two and four weeks into the school year, while 19% see it as early as one week.”

I try to make sure my kids wash their hands as soon as they get home from school, but I know there’s more I can do to encourage them to have better hygiene and prevent colds and illnesses.

But Teaching Kids About Germs Can Be FUN!

So I thought I’d go to my blogging mama friends to see how they are teaching kids about germs and personal hygiene.  Let’s take a look…

Ideas for Teaching Kids About Germs & Hand Washing

Use Glitter to Show How Germs Spread – Jenae of I Can Teach My Child shows how she used glitter to teach her kids about how germs spread from hands to surfaces and other people.

Grow Some Germs – This simple science experiment shared over at Playdough to Plato allows kids to actually see how germs grow more on apples that are handled with dirty hands versus clean hands.

Make Little Germ Puff Balls – Make these little germ puff balls, from Sugar Aunts, to give kids a tangible example of how germs spread with a sneeze or cough.

Use Sequencing Cards for Learning Proper Hygiene – My friend Renae, of Every Star Is Different, shares an entire Montessori-inspired preschool unit based on learning about the body, the immune system, and germs.  She includes links to download free sequencing cards for teaching proper nose blowing, hand washing, and more!

Give the Kids Coloring Pages About Germs – Let the kids learn about germs and hygiene while coloring with these free kids coloring pages from Crystal and Co.

Teach Hand Washing with a SONG! – My friend Amanda, of The Educators’ Spin On It, shares how she makes hand-washing fun for her kids with a cute little song to the tune of “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush”.  She even has different verses to teach kids all of the times that hand washing is necessary!

Pfizer Has You Covered When the Germs Get Through…

No matter how much your kids know about germs and proper hygiene, those pesky germs are bound to get through sometimes, especially during back to school season.  In fact, according to the “Ew-dentification” survey…

“More than half of school nurses (59%) ranked the classroom as the easiest place to come in contact with germs, followed by the bathroom, school buses, handrails in hallways, and the cafeteria.”

And…

“Colds were seen as the number one illness in kids during the first month back, according to 41% of school nurses surveyed.”

And when sick gets real, the pediatric brands of Pfizer Consumer Healthcare are there with three solutions – Children’s Advil^®, Children’s Robitussin®, and Children’s Dimetapp® – to help ease the symptoms and make your kiddo comfortable.  I always have them on hand to relieve the fevers, coughs, and colds that develop from all those pesky germs.

More Ideas for Moms from B-Inspired Mama:

This is a sponsored conversation on behalf of The Pfizer Pediatric Platform. However, all opinions are authentic and my own. Please see my disclosure policy.