We know we need to properly wash our hands to ward off infectious diseases…and we tell our children the same, “Wash your hands so that you don’t get sick!”

But are we doing it correctly?  And are we teaching our children proper hand washing techniques? It’s a simple task, yet one that can be easily done incorrectly.

I’ve broken down hand washing into five easy steps that are easy to relay to your children.  I’ve worded it as you might share it with them:

• Use warm water (not too hot!) and wet your hands before applying soap.  Rub your hands together to make a nice, frothy bubbles.
• Make sure all parts of your hands are covered with this soap…don’t forget in between fingers, under fingernails, and the backs of your hands.
• You’re not done yet!  Now is the time for the important work; it takes a good twenty seconds to get those hands nice and clean.  A nice rule of thumb is to sing “Happy Birthday” TWICE while rubbing your hands together.
• Rinse off your hands under a stream of warm water.  Make sure you rinse off very well…if you don’t, you can leave behind not only those very germs you were trying to clean off but also soap  which will make your hands itchy!  If you can, turn off the faucet with a paper towel.
• Now it’s time to dry your hands (if you are in a public bathroom with an air dryer, turn it on with your elbow if you can).  If there are only paper or cloth towels, pick one that looks clean.  Make sure you dry your hands off well!

Several times each day we wash our hands.  Let’s help our kids make the most of them!  If you have any tips you’d like to share, I’d love to hear them.

Image courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu