Germs and Hand Washing Activities for Kindergarten

You know you’re a teacher when these are your best friends:

It feels like the germs and sickness are never-ending! That’s why, when it gets really bad, I pull out this tried and true activity.

We start by reading about what a germ is. I love the book “Germs Make Me Sick.” Students need some background knowledge on why they should avoid these unseen things.

I have all of my students sit in a circle. Then, I tell them I am going to pretend to sneeze and the green glitter is going to be the germs on my hand. I make a big deal about trying to rub them off, but if you know glitter, that’s impossible!

Then, I shake hands with each student in the circle. They quickly see how the germs spread to their own hands! They try to wipe them off, but the germs stick. By this point, they are sufficiently grossed out.

That’s when I explain how the only way to get these germs off is to properly wash our hands. We talk through the steps and I tell my students that they need to count to 20 slowly to really get rid of all those little germs. I know 20 might seem short, but it takes kindergartners a while! I love that I can hear them counting for the rest of the year. A few will really latch on and try to count even longer as they scrub.

We also complete this How To Wash Your Hands activity pack to really get to know the steps! You can grab this as a freebie here.

After we use the poster to talk about the steps, I hang it up in our bathroom:

You can grab these activities below.

You can also pin this post for later: