continued from front page
Good hygiene is the first
step to good health
and their parents need to be
aware of the risks associated
with gardening and farm care
and work to manage those
risks.
Managing the risks for
children is different from
managing them for adults.
If you live on a farm, or have
farm animals at your home
teach your kids to wash their
hands after handling or
cleaning up after all farm
animals including pets, and to
avoid kissing or sharing food
with the animals.
This may sound obvious, but
we all know how hard it is to
keep children’s hands clean,
and to make sure they wash
them long enough, and well
enough.
Using soap and a constant
stream of water, scrubbing for
a minimum of 20 seconds.
Have your kids sing a wash
hands song or even recite the
alphabet during the scrubbing
time.
Always wash hands after all
farm or garden work, collect
eggs often to avoid eggs
becoming dirty or breaking;
throw away cracked eggs. Dirt
and debris clinging to egg
shells can be removed with
fine sandpaper, a brush, or
cloth. Do not wash eggs as
cold water can pull bacteria
into the egg. Refrigerate eggs
after collecting them. Cook
eggs thoroughly to destroy
Salmonella, which could be
present in eggs.
Always ensure kids wash their
hands before eating, after
touching animals, cleaning
litter boxes, after removing
dirty clothing, after contact
with dirt, and after using the
bathroom. Hand sanitizer i s
good at reducing the number
of bacteria, but is inadequate
for removing organic debris,
which is where bacteria,
viruses, fungi, or parasites
can hide. Only use sanitizer
when washing your hands with
soap and water cannot be
done.
If we take time to make a
significant contribution to
teaching our kids/students
personal hygiene practices.
They will learn good hand
washing or sanitizing when
time for hand washing before
meals and snacks is structured
into the day, and supplies are
provided at all hand sinks for
hand washing. Therefore, it is
essential that the entire
community embrace the
practices of proper hand
washing and support the
c h i l d ’s p r a c t i c e t h r o u g h
observation and repetition.
Learning
objective:
To demonstrate how
germs are easily
spread
Learning activity: Glitter
works well to represent how
germs are spread from one
person to the next because
it sticks to the hands.
1. Allow child to rub in a
small amount of hand
lotion and sprinkle a
generous amount of
glitter on the hands
using a container to
catch the excess.
2. Use different colours of
glitter on others in the
home or classroom to
represent different
types of germs.
3. Allow everyone to
mingle and shake hands
with others for a few
minutes. Discuss why
they now have several
different colours of
glitter on their hands.
Activity
1. Discuss with your
child when we
should wash our
hands
2. Discuss what
items they will
need to wash
their hands
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