Teaching your children about hygiene and cleanliness can be a difficult task, especially since they can’t see germs and bacteria.
While your kids can be forgiven for not grasping this abstract concept of staying healthy by washing your hands, it can have some serious repercussions like contracting Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD).
That’s why a teacher made some creative illustrations that reflect the importance of hand washing!
Teacher shows the importance of hand washing through some yucky displays
Image source: Facebook
Jaralee Annice Metcalf posted on Facebook the results of an experiment as part of a science project.
“We did a science project in class this last month as flu season was starting. We took fresh bread and touched it. We did one slice untouched. One with unwashed hands. One with hand sanitizer. One with washed hands with warm water and soap. Then we decided to rub a piece on all our classroom Chromebooks.”
The results are surprising, informative, and gross all at once!
The slices of bread were touched and left in zip lock bags for 3-4 weeks (mainly because of preservatives in the bread).
It comes as no surprise that the bread touched by hands that just applied hand sanitizer were completely unaffected.
But what might surprise you is the state of the bread from hands that touched a Chromebook.
After the four week incubation period, it was completely covered in green mold. It made the bread that was touched with dirty hands look pretty reasonable!
Unexpectedly, the bread touched by hands with hand sanitiser had an area of mold.
The clear winner is the slice touched by hands that were washed with water and soap, as it was intact and completely clear.
Washing hands make the difference between falling sick and staying healthy
Image source: iStock
This little experiment was an eye-opener, indeed! The teacher who ran it said she wanted to show just how dirty things can get when people neglect to wash their hands.
“As somebody who is sick and tired of being sick and tired of being sick and tired. Wash your hands! Remind your kids to wash their hands! And hand sanitizer is not an alternative to washing hands!! At all!”
They helpfully provided a link if you want to try this experiment for yourself.
Many people don’t make hygiene a priority, with 3 in 10 people not washing their hands before eating. That’s even grosser when you consider how often we play with our gadgets like laptops and phones, which are actually dirtier than your toilet bowl!
Take into consideration if you have a very young child, not washing your hands when holding your baby can cause him/her to fall seriously ill!
5 tips to thoroughly clean your hands
Image source: iStock
Parents are role models for children, even when you don’t realise it. Your kids watch and observe your every move and deduce that if you do, or don’t, do something, it’s acceptable.
That’s why ensuring proper hand-washing etiquette and frequency is important to keep your child safe and healthy.
Here are five steps to make sure your children’s hands are thoroughly clean.
1. Roll up sleeves
To make sure you can wash properly, it’ll mean getting a bit wet. Rolling up your sleeves ensures that you or your child don’t have to worry about wet clothes.
Roll the sleeves up to the elbow. This should provide enough space between the tap and any splashes that’ll happen.
2. Use warm water
Running warm water helps with lathering the soap. Make sure to get a good squirt and massage it until the soap makes a decent lather (think bubble bath for hands!)
Make sure the arms are held below elbow height slanting downwards so water doesn’t run onto the forearms.
3. Rub hands together
Begin rubbing your hands together and focus on cleaning the fingers, thumbs, nails, and finger tips.
You can focus on each digit to ensure it’s cleaned properly.
4. Rinse all the soap off
Make sure you hold your hands long enough under the water so all the soap is rinsed off.
It’s tempting to give it a quick rinse for a couple of seconds and be on your way. But residue soap can linger if you do this.
5. Throw paper towels into the bin
Make sure not to touch the bin when you do this, or you’ll have dirty hands again!
Alternatively, consider using the hand dryer if there is one available.
Many parents aren’t aware of just how dirty hands can get. This teacher’s experiment shows just how filthy your little one’s hands are if not washed properly through the display of bread touched by hands contaminated by different surfaces!