Teaching Children About Hygiene Can Be Fun

Good hygiene is fundamental for our health. Here’s a short guide on how we can make teaching hygiene more fun for kids.

Hands can be one of the biggest carriers of germs, especially little hands that are busy playing and exploring. Washing your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap is one of the best ways to help protect you and your family against illness causing bacteria.

Here are some important tips.

Make a hand washing chart

Set up a hand washing chart with the key moments your children should be washing their hands at home with soap and warm water. Your children will enjoy ticking off their own hand washing chart as a visual reward for their accomplishment.

Sing a song

For effective hand washing, we should be washing our hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water. A good way to form this habit is to teach them how to wash their hands to the tune of their favourite song – the tune should be 20 seconds or slightly longer. When they’ve finished singing, they will know they’ve washed their hands for the right amount of time.

Have a child-friendly hand washing station

Set up a personalized washing station for your child at home with a stool and hand wash like Dettol Handwash. The easier it is for your children to wash their hands, the less of a chore it will seem.

Play a game

If getting your children to wash their hands feels like a bit of a battle or chore, turn it into a game. One idea is to play “Whose hands smell the cleanest?”. This should make sure those hands get a good, thorough scrub.

Routine and repetition

Our final tip is to be lead by example. Be a good hand wash role model for your children and show them how it fits into a routine. When you come home from work, shopping, or being outdoors, make the point of washing your hands with soap and water before doing anything else.

Build hygienic practices into your family’s routine, and soon enough a good hand washing technique will become a habit, helping to keep your little ones protected from harmful pathogens.

To find more tips on what products you can use to help keep your children safe from bacteria and viruses, click here.