This week we have been learning all about good hygiene. As the weather has become colder, the children have been coughing, and we have been learning about germs. First, we wanted to find out some information and watched a video clip all about germs through songs. The children learnt how germs travel through the air by coughing and sneezing. Some children said to try and catch your cough and sneezes to stop germs spreading to their friends. As a class, we talked about when and how to keep our hands clean and shared our ideas on a spider diagram. The children sang the wash hands song and then followed the instruction cards to help them wash their hands before eating their snack. The children then started talking about their teeth and how brushing their teeth will help keep their teeth clean from germs. The children explored these questions with their friends through their play activities, when learning about good hygiene.

The children watched a video clip showing when to wash their hands after playing in the mud, after using the toilet and before eating food. We then shared our ideas for why and when we should wash our hands.   

Mrs Harris-Griffiths froze water in a glove to create a hand. The children had a lot of fun using the soapy water to wash the germs from the hands using brushes, sponges and spray bottles. They then made amazing germs in the play dough, painting and used the scissors to stick germs on a hand.

We talked about germs and how they are very small and we couldn't see them. We found out there are good germs and bad germs and sometimes bad germs can make you feel sick. Together we did a germ experiment to find out what happens when germs are on your hands and what we need to keep our hands clean.

We used pepper in water as our pretend germ and asked a child to dip their finger in the bowl to find out what happened. The germ stays on their finger and when our finger is put in the soapy water, the germs are washed away. So we found out that washing our hands with soap helps keep our hands clean.

The children had fun joining in with the actions when singing the toothbrush song. They then explored their activities during their play, learning about how to keep their teeth nice and clean. They brushed their teeth, sorted healthy and not healthy food and shared with their friends what food would keep the germs away from their teeth to help keep them clean. In the play dough they used the shaving foam toothpaste to brush the plaque off the teeth.