Hand washing with little ones

Mess goes hand in hand with mischief. But now more than ever it’s important to keep those little hands clean while they explore. The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne says that washing your hands and your child’s hands is the best thing you can do to stop the spread of germs.

Help your child develop good hygiene practices and talk about why it is important to wash our hands throughout the day, especially before we eat or after we use the bathroom.

Try turning hand washing into a game. Using soap, ask your child to rub and scrub to see how many bubbles they can make. Hands should be scrubbed for at least 20 seconds so you might like to sing a song to time yourself and make it fun:

Wash Your Dirty Hands (sung to The Farmer in the Dell)

Wash your dirty hands
Wash your dirty hands
Rub and scrub and wash your dirty hands (repeat)

If You’re Happy and You Know It

If you’re happy and you know it,
Wash your hands!
If you’re happy and you know it,
Wash your hands!
If you’re happy and you know it,
then your face will surely show it,
If you’re happy and you know it,
Wash your hands!

Daily routines like washing your hands are a great opportunity to talk, sing and play with your little one.