How to Teach Basic Hygiene Skills to Preschoolers

Every parent in this world wants their children to be healthy and strong. Children are stubborn in nature and they don’t always make the best decisions for their health. A child’s health is of great concern because it impacts his mental and physical growth.

Hygiene is one of the most important things that must be taught in childhood to inculcate good habits in the future. Don’t forget that “old habits die hard”.

It is possible to teach children basic hygiene through games which focus on the importance of healthy practices. These can be taught at school and at home as well.

Some innovative ways to teach hygiene to preschoolers are:

Glitter Hands

It is a game which will teach children the importance of cleaning their hands. Children will love this game as they tend to like a challenge. You can sprinkle glitter on your child's hand and challenge him/her to wash it off with soap and water within 30 seconds. Since glitters stick to the hands and your child will take at least 30 seconds to scrub it off.

Germ Transfer

This game will show them how germs come to them when they touch something. You can show it to them by touching things and then pretend to sneeze. This way they will understand that they should not touch anything unfamiliar. You can also make use of micro-lenses to show them micro organisms.

Imitation

Children are fond of copying or imitating others. Ask them to copy you while brushing your teeth, washing your face and combing your hair. Very soon, they will develop these daily practices as their routine habits.

Hygiene Charades

Ask one child to demonstrate an action such as brushing teeth, taking a shower and coughing into a sleeve. The other children will guess what is being portrayed. Afterwards, explain each action and the right way to stay hygienic.

Books and Stories

Read books on hygiene or tell your children stories about characters getting sick when they don’t wash their hands or clean themselves properly. Your children will likely try to imitate those characters and be more open to be more hygienic.

Create a Routine

Create and implement a routine with instructions on how your children can keep themselves clean and hygienic. Routines are highly beneficial to children and can be useful when trying to teach them new skills. Slowly but surely, they will adapt to the routine.

Use Drawings and Posters

Draw images and posters illustrating proper hygiene that they can see and incorporate in their daily lives.

It is very important for a child to follow good hygiene practices at an early age. It will make the child healthy, strong and disciplined. Preschoolers get these hygiene lessons in the school but only parents can help them with at-home practices to instill basic hygiene habits into their lifestyle to last for life.

First School is a leading preschool in California. Our goal is to make your child strong and healthy. We teach them the best hygiene practices as a part of our activities. For more information about our services, please call us at (760) 799-2910.