Learning about germs and the transferal of infectious diseases is a serious topic but that doesn’t mean we can’t still have fun. Here are some exciting and interactive methods that Cahoots uses to teach our participants about the importance of hand washing!
1. The Pepper Experiment
This is a truly fun and kind of mind-blowing activity that we use at Cahoots to show our participants the power of not just washing your hands but washing them with soap! This is a great activity because you probably already have all the items you need at home to make it work! Simply add water and pepper to a shallow plate and prepare you hand wash. Get your kids to dip their finger in the water with the pepper and watch as the pepper (representing germs), sticks to their fingers! Then wash you hand with lots of soapy water and try it again – like magic – the pepper disperses!
2. A Sing-Along
If you don’t already know, washing your hands properly takes just about as long as singing ‘Happy Birthday’. If you are tired of Happy Birthday though here’s an awesome tool you can use to create your own lyrics. https://washyourlyrics.com/
Here’s a quick one we put together for Cahoots camps!
3. Glitter Germs
Here’s one that is great for little kids! Get them to trace their hand on a blank piece of paper and then get your glitter glue ready. Cover your kid’s hand in glitter glue and then get them to stick their hand to the hand they traced on their page. See how easily those glitter germs transferred? Time to wash your hands thoroughly and get rid of all those glitter germs!
4. Stick A Germ
This is a simple craft activity where kid’s create their own germy characters! Once they have created them and cut them out, have a go at sticking them on places where you think germs go!
5. The Bread Experiment
This experiment takes a bit of time but it is definitely worth the wait. You will need three pieces of bread. Using gloves, remove the first piece of bread from the bag and place in a zip lock bag labelled “control”. Now take another piece of bread out the bag without gloves. Pass it around so that everyone can touch it. Now place it in a bag labelled “dirty hands”. Lastly, makes sure everyone washes their hands. Take the third piece of bread out of the bag and pass it around. Please it in a bag labelled “clean hands”. Now you wait – which do you think will get moldy first!?
References:
https://www.education.com/
http://thenerdswife.com/
https://www.iflscience.com/
