Having your kids wash their hands on a regular basis not only helps prevent sticky handprints from getting on furniture, it also prevents illness. This is why getting children into the habit at a young age is so important. But, often children are resistant and find hand washing to be a chore that intrudes on their playtime. Making hand washing a fun activity helps teach kids how and when to wash their hands, and makes it a habit.
Ideas to Make Hand Washing Fun
Which game or activity you use to make hand washing fun will depend on your child’s age and interests. With babies and toddlers, you can “fly” them to the sink making airplane noises. Older kids can sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice to time how long to wash their hands. Other ideas include setting a timer, using a kid’s soap that changes colors and putting toys in the sink for your child to soap up and rinse.
What Kids Need to Learn About Hand Washing
The ultimate goal is to get children to wash for at least 20 seconds and wash thoroughly. Children should learn to use soap and warm water and dry their hands after with a towel. That seems like a lot of steps for a child in a rush to be done with hand washing. This is why children are tempted to skip steps. If your child is skipping steps, find ways to make each step more fun. For example your child may be more likely to dry his hands if he gets to pick out a special hand towel.
When to Teach Hand Washing
It is never too early, or too late to start teaching hand washing. Babies and toddlers will enjoy fun games. With older children, you can slip some fun facts into hand washing time by asking questions. One question to discuss is how many kids your child thinks do not wash their hands after using the restroom.
Proper Set Up
Give children as young as three easy access to the sink. For younger children this means keeping a stool in the bathroom and towels within easy reach. Kids of any age find hand washing more fun if they can do it by themselves.
The Kids Health website reports that in a study of middle school aged children, 42 percent of girls and 52 percent of boys did not wash their hands after using the bathroom. If hand washing is not fun or important to your child, they can easily become one of the 40 to 50 percent that do not wash his hands when out of his parent’s sight. Start early using fun games to help make hand washing a habit that lasts into adulthood.
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Clean Hands Saves Lives
cdc.gov/cleanhands/
Kidshealth.org: Defensive Hand Washing
kidshealth.org/teen/your_body/skin_stuff/handwashing.html#
By Debbi Miller Gutierrez
A recent study conducted by Ohio State-Temple University researchers found that 20% of America’s four-year olds are not only overweight, but obese. Though a great deal of this can be laid at the feet of poor diets, lack of exercise is also a prime culprit. Over the past few decades, more and more U.S. children and teens are drifting toward weight gain through a sedentary lifestyle. With many schools either reducing or eliminating their physical education programs due to impossibly tight budgets, parents are beginning to ask themselves: What can I do to get my child to exercise? Below are five simple suggestions:
1. Nifty Fifties’ Fad: The Hula Hoop
This inexpensive toy can get your children up and moving. Watch them wiggle and wriggle their hips trying to keep the hula hoop spinning. Set up daily or weekly goals as to the number of times they can spin the hoop without stopping or how many hula hoops they can spin at once. Reward them with gold stars, trips to the library, or one hour of TV a day. Better yet, challenge them to a contest. Children love to outdo their parents and will work hard to show you up.
2. Try a Trampoline
Investing in a child-safe trampoline can be well worth the money when you see your child rushing outside to fling themselves willy-nilly on their own trampoline. In no time at all, they’ll be bouncing back to health!
See our personalized children’s books about sports where your child becomes the star of the story.
3. Dance, Dance, Dance!
With the success of TV shows like “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Dancing with the Stars”, children can see first-hand what fun dancing can be. You don’t need to fly your kids all over the country for auditions. Just put on a CD and have them put on a dancing show for you. Or buy an inexpensive dance exercise video, or rent one from Netflix or On Demand, and away they go!
4. The Wonderful World of Wii
If your child is a video game addict, a Wii Fit might be just the ticket. With activities from snowboarding to cheerleading, your kids can be running, jumping, swinging bats, kicking, and punching their way to fitness. Even Jillian Michaels, the exercise guru from TV’s “The Biggest Loser”, has a Wii exercise game out that the whole family can use together.
5. Good Old Walking!
Walking is one of the best ways to get your child exercising. It’s free, natural, and helps families bond. Add your dog into the mix and everybody benefits.
Getting your children to exercise can have even more health benefits than weight management, stress reduction, good muscle development, and mental stimulation; it just might get their parents off the couch too!
Tips for Make Children’s Bath Time Fun
Bath time can be the least favorite time for both kids and mothers. Almost every child goes through a stage where they don’t want anything to do with baths and will fight till the bitter end just to not go in the water. There are some tricks though to help get them on board and actually make it an activity that they look forward to.
Change Children’s Shampoo
Sometimes, the reason that children don’t like having a bath is because they don’t like the shampoo in their eyes and really, who can blame them. There are lots of children’s shampoos out there that don’t sting when they get in kids eyes. Try and find one that they like, even if it means buying one with their favorite cartoon character on the bottle. If your kids are excited about the shampoo you are going to use, they will be more willing to have a bath.
Click here to see the School Is Fun book