Handwashing
How many times have you walked into your child’s room and have seen the children at the sink washing their hands? At BBLC we teach the children the importance of handwashing to help prevent the spread of germs, for themselves as well as for others. This entails teaching the WHEN and HOW to properly wash.
You will see the handwashing procedures posted in every classroom both in pictures and words. This can help guide the children in teaching them, and helping when offering the many reminders needed throughout the learning experience. It is also important to remember ourselves as adults that learning how to wash our hands is not something children learn overnight, it is not something they learn in a week, or a month, this process can take years. Children will need to be reminded and practice these steps and times over and over and over again before it becomes ”second nature” to them.
It might seem like it is recommended to be constantly washing your hands, however it is important because these are the times when the spread of germs is the highest. We teach children to wash hands at the following times;
- Entering the classroom at the start of the day
- After playing and exploring outside
- Before and after handling food
- After toileting or getting their diaper changed
- After coughing, sneezing or blowing their nose
- After handling the classroom pet
-Whenever they may look or feel dirty
Thinking about these same times at home and helping to model proper hand washing procedures can will help children better remember these important times both at school and at home. Eventually you will hear children reminding adults when it is time to wash hands.
Below is the step by step hand washing procedures we use here at BBLC, again that you will find in all the classrooms in a picture and word visual:
1. Get hands wet
2. Get soap
3. Go around and around; make bubbles
4. Rinse hands
5. Get paper towel
6. Dry hands
8. Turn off water WITH the paper towel. This is the most important step and often can be missed or over looked; this is where cross-contamination can occur if the dirty faucet is touched again.
