As students begin to learn the importance of washing their hands, they also need to learn proper handwashing techniques! While learning about how to stop the spread of germs, students can improve their handwashing hygiene skills through practice. Whether using a bar soap, liquid soap, or even a soap dispenser, the activities listed below are all beneficial. While nothing takes the place of actually washing your hands with soap, these 35 activities sure can help!
1. Glitter Hands
Glitter is fun to use; especially when you get to put it on your hands! Students can dash some glitter on their hands and use the handwashing steps to really clean their hands well. This activity is great because it is difficult to get glitter off your skin, so it will be easy for children to see when they have not gotten their hands clean and need to keep working on their skills.
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2. Bread Experiment
By using this process to see the effects of dirty hands, children will be able to really understand the effects that poor handwashing can have. Let students handle slices of bread with clean hands and dirty hands. Put the bread in bags and watch the changes as the bread gets older.
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3. Sequence Activity
Sometimes it is good to take a step back and review what you already know by using a traditional paper activity. This printable is great for helping students learn the basic handwashing steps. Just print, cut, and paste. Students can even color it in if they want!
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4. Activity Tray or Practice Center
Create an activity tray with a pretend washing station. You can include things you already have and prepare a place for little ones to practice and pretend while they are reviewing proper handwashing skills. This is great for letting them speak through the steps included in handwashing as they do it.
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5. Read Alouds
Using picture book read-alouds with young learners is a great way to help them connect with new learning. Introduce them to characters who are doing what you want them to do. Many of these picture books have a catchy jingle about them and use poems and rhyme to engage the learner.
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6. Hand Painting Experiment
Handwashing is an important skill that students need a lot of practice at, in order to improve. Let students wear some clear, disposable gloves and get them super dirty with mud, paint, and anything they want to wash off. Then, set up stations and have them wash their gloves.
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7. Food Coloring Experiment
This is a fun experiment that provides a great visual that depicts what it takes to really get things clean. Pour some soapy, colored water onto disposable gloves; this will help students see where their hands are dirty. If they are not properly washing and scrubbing their hands with soap, they will not be able to rid their gloves of the color.
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8. Sensory Bins
Sensory bins are a great way to cover learning while promoting fun! Use a sensory bin with different types of soap bars and liquid soaps. Be sure to include foam soap too! Students can practice washing their hands or the hands of dolls or action figures.
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9. Songs
Short songs are super fun! Catchy tunes and rhymes help students remember things. Teaching young children how to wash their hands while singing “Happy Birthday” is a great way to help them ensure that they are washing their hands for a decent amount of time.
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10. Microscope Fun
If you don’t have a microscope, you need one! They can be useful in so many ways, but with teaching handwashing skills, this activity is a must-do! This exact image displays the germs collected from a child’s unwashed hands. This up-close view is a great way to show students that even when they think their hands may be clean, there may be germs lurking.
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11. Elmo Printable
For the little ones who love Sesame Street, these printable Elmo cards are a winner! You can pair this activity with watching a fun Elmo video that includes songs about handwashing.
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12. Visual Reminders and Posters
Keeping visual reminders and posters near the sink is an easy way to remind students of the handwashing process. Having a poster with photos or illustrations is a plus too. You can even have students make their own!
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13. Cinnamon Hands
Cinnamon hands is another great visual experiment to see handwashing in action. Apply cinnamon to damp hands and have students rub their hands together. Remind them of the proper handwashing steps and encourage them to go ahead and wash their hands to remove all cinnamon.
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14. Germy Hands Activity
Print out this handout and let students get creative. As you discuss handwashing, let them decorate their paper hands with crayons, paint, and even cutouts of other images.
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15. Water Beads Sensory Bin
Fill a bin with water beads and add some laminated hand cutouts as well as hand sanitizer to enhance the sensory experience for students. Add some colorful step-by-step handwashing posters nearby to give students a visual reminder of the process.
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16. Water Play
For very young learners, allow water play time for them to explore the feel of water and soap. Let them experience rubbing their hands together to form more suds and bubbles and encourage them to dip their hands in and out of the water to remove it.
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17. Glove Washing
Add food coloring droplets to a blown-up disposable glove. Place it in a bin with water and provide tools for students to use to wash off the droplets. They will need to take care not to pop the glove whilst applying enough pressure to clean the coloring off thoroughly.
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18. Pepper and Soap Experiment
This is a great experiment to demonstrate how soap works. You can demonstrate this first and then give students a chance to try it on their own. Add water and pepper to a paper plate and then place your finger into soap and add your own finger to the plate with pepper. Watch as the pepper repels from the soapy finger.
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19. Handwashing Art
Q-tip art is tons of fun for little ones! Decorate a piece of paper by dotting on blue paint using a q-tip; so as to resemble water. Then, have students glue a handprint underneath the tap. This fun craft is perfect to ring home the importance of handwashing.
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20. Focus on Germs
You can pair this graphic organizer with other content about germs. Add a picture book or handwashing activity to this lesson and have students respond through writing. They will have a chance to draw and write what they have learned about germs.
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21. Felt Hands
Use felt to cut out a hand template and a few little germs. Add the germs to the felt hands and use it to show students how to wash their hands to get rid of the germs. Explain the importance of why we want to rid ourselves of germs as you go about explaining.
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22. Poems and Chants
Many students like learning with multisensory strategies. A great way to stimulate these learners is by adding in some poems and chants. You can use premade or make your own, and encourage learners to sing as they scrub their hands.
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23. Painting Craft
Get little hands dirty by completing this painting craft, and then let them wash their hands! This adorable craft provides a sweet reminder of the importance of washing your hands. Students can hang these up in the classroom or at home.
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24. When to Wash?
One really important thing to know is when to wash your hands. This poster is a great visual to help children know when they should do so! Hanging this in a place near the sink is a good idea or alternatively, allow students to make their own posters to hang up!
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25. Handwashing Book
Small and simple printable books are a great idea for young ones! Students can color the germs in the book to help draw attention to the germs on their hands. The simple sentences are great because emergent readers can get through some of this text on their own.
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26. Hand and Germ Craft
A great activity for a simple role-play is this one! Print the templates, and cut out the hand and the germs. Color and laminate them for long-term use. Add a paper brush tip to a toothpick and move it around the hands; simulating a handwashing routine to rid the hand of germs.
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27. Play Center
Let students create their own play center. Ask them what they will need when they wash their hands. Let them choose the soap, and the bin, and add the water and anything else they would like to be able to complete their handwashing practice.
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28. Pom Pom Bags
Fill a plastic bag with soapy water and colorful pom poms to make fun practice bags. Use a permanent marker to add a drawing of hands to the outside of the bag and tape the top to a sturdy surface. Let students practice getting the pom poms off the hands and making them “clean”.
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29. How Germs Spread
Cover your child’s hands in glitter and have them walk around a specified space; touching and picking up items. The glitter will transfer- creating a trail of sparkles and allowing students to see how easily germs are spread. This is a great intro to your handwashing unit.
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30. Dramatic Play
Dramatic play bins are similar to sensory bins. With a handwashing unit, you could fill the bin with dolls or action figures and have students practice handwashing. You could also include brushes and clothes to give them more options. Remember to include many types of soaps as well!
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31. All About Germs and How to Stop Them
Germs and handwashing go hand in hand! When teaching about proper handwashing processes, remember to include why they are important. Teach students about germs and how they spread. This fun germ activity is a great supplement to a handwashing unit.
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32. Glove Balloons and Soapy Suds
Another way to simulate handwashing would be with latex gloves and soapy bins. Let students use latex gloves to practice cleaning. Remind students to get the palms and the tops of the hands, but also wash in between the fingers.
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33. Flip Books
Creating flipbooks is a great way to reinforce learning. You can add your own content to each page, but be sure to include a section about germs and handwashing. Having the correct information on how to prevent the spread of germs is key.
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34. Blow Paint Germs on Hands Craft
Food coloring droplets and a big breath of blowing the colors across the page, make it easy to see how incredibly fast the spread of germs can be. They can then wash their laminated hands with soap and water.
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35. Paper Practice
Before flu season hits, you can introduce this paper activity to students to help them improve their hand-washing habits. Students can trace their own hands and create a paper replica of a soap bar. Include small green paper scraps to represent germs. Children can practice with these paper pieces and then move over to real soap and water.
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