I just wanted to let you guys know that we (finally!) did my little hand-washing/germ viewing experiment today. It was messy but I think it might have helped. I actually recruited everyone in the house but Justice to participate. I covered the table with a trashbag and had everyone hold one hand over it while I sprayed their hand lightly with cooking spray. Then I dusted (more like dumped in a couple of cases) that hand with "germs" (which happened to be black embossing powder in this case [at least it's getting used for good?!?]). Then we took turns shaking each others 'clean' hands. I had Evan go wash his hands with warm water and soap 1st. When he was done, I examined his hands with him. There was still quite a bit of black scattered in the cracks and crevices. I told him that since that was how he normally washed his hands he was still leaving quite a few germs. He washed them again and dried thoroughly. Clean this time! The guys and I repeated this and both guys had traces left after the 1st washing...tsk tsk. Being a former scrub tech, I almost scrub skin off normally when washing, and not to boast, but my hands were clean the 1st time!! ;)
So-I hope that this helped Evan 'see' what happens with germs and how much they transfer and how important it REALLY is to wash your hands thoroughly ALL the time.
Give it a try in your house (glitter, pepper, or cinnamon would work too) and let me know how it goes!
Thinking clean thoughts-
Mo
This sounds like a great way to teach kids about germs. I believe I will use it with my kids and possibly my preschool classes as well. Thanks for sharing!
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