Children’s handwashing hygiene

Stay safe with these handwashing tips

Proper handwashing technique is vital in childcare centres, from teaching children the appropriate technique to ensuring educators also abide by high standards of hygiene. 

In light of the current coronavirus pandemic, having the right handwashing procedure is now more important than ever before. Here’s how to encourage the right handwashing technique in children, as well as maintain the hygiene standards of staff. 

Proper handwashing technique

Washing your hands with warm water and soap kills viruses that may be living on your hands and could be introduced into the body via your mouth, nose or eyes when you next touch your face.  Here are 5 steps to hand hygiene that should be followed: 

Educating children about proper handwashing

To help children remember all the different areas of the hand they need to wash, it may be helpful to provide them with imagery of each handwashing technique. For example, ‘pray’ might refer to rubbing the palms together, while ‘petting the dog’ could refer to rubbing the surface of the hand. Other movements include ‘butterfly’, ‘milk the cow’, ‘church steeple’, ‘rock, paper, scissors’ and ‘spiders’. 

It’s also helpful to give children a song to sing as they wash their hands. This ensures they have washed their hands for at least 20 seconds, and also makes the chore somewhat fun to complete. Singing ‘Happy Birthday’ twice is a popular option, as is ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’. You could even make a game out of it, or create your own song together to make it even more fun.

Children should be prompted to wash their hands:

Soap and water are preferable for washing the hands, but sanitiser can also be used in a pinch. By following these proper handwashing steps, you can ensure that the transmission of germs is greatly reduced while keeping the children around you healthy and happy.

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