But let’s get serious here; frequent washing is important when it comes to steering clear from colds, flu and other viruses that might get your child sick. Oh and washing will prevent those gooey little fingers from getting chocolate fudge and finger paint on your pristine furniture.
So let’s get down and dirty…erm…get clean, we mean.
Handwashing is a simple and effective way of staying clean. Image courtesy: Pixabay
Trick your child into staying clean
1. Make hand washing a habit – no ifs or buts. Children who get into a habit of washing their hands several times a day will feel uncomfortable if they forget and will seek to do it themselves. Be patient for training can take months or weeks if you are lucky.
2. Show a good example and your kid will look up to you as a role model. Practice what you preach. If you flee from the toilet without washing, your kid will feel that he/she can do the same.
3. Allow your kid to wash their hands as much as possible and you should be in charge of the final wipe.
4. Buy a step stool for your child and let him/her carry it to the sink to start the process. Then you can make a big fuss and show him/her of how proud you are of their “accomplishment”.
5. Keep portable wipes or a hand sanitizer for all the times you are not at home, for you will never know what dirty situation you might encounter.
6. Make the whole washing-up experience a fun waterplay activity. Take it up a notch by using cups, bowls, turkey basters or even bath toys.
7. Draw a funny face or a cute picture on your kid’s hand with a washable marker—just so they have a visible thing to scrub and rub off when cleaning. Let’s “wash away the dirty monster” works, almost all the time.
8. Turn it up, play a song that your kid loves and tell him/her that you wonder if the hand-washing task can be completed before the song ends.
9. Animal shaped washrags can spice things up. Then “washing up” becomes a puppet show. Can you refuse to be washed by Quacky Wacky Duck? Well, maybe you can but your kid will eat it up, no complaints.
10. If they figure out that you’re actually tricking them all this time so that they can be germ free, then turn it up several notches. Teach them the germ theory. Tell them kids that germs are crawling over everything they touch but the germs are invisible to the naked eye—and these monstrous looking germs will make them sick. Make sure they comprehend how “eeeky” and “yucky” unclean hands can be.