Practice Preschool - Healthy Habits Week 2 (Germs)

Week 2: Germs (FYI, future weeks will be exercise/sleep, eating healthy, teeth/overall body hygiene--subject to change)

**Prep for Week 2: Prior to this week, place a slice of bread in three different Ziploc bags, using tongs. Label the first bag: Control, the second bag: Dirty, and the third bag: Clean. Leave the first bag/slice untouched. With the second slice, have child(ren) touch the bread--even wipe it on a few surfaces. Finally, have the child(ren) wash hands really well, then touch the slice in the third bag. This lends itself to a great lesson on germs and why it's important to wash our hands, even when they don't "look" dirty.

Day 1

• Sunbeam Lesson 7 "The Holy Ghost Helps Me" (5 min)

Sing "The Holy Ghost" in the LDS primary Children's songbook. Briefly describe the Holy Ghost and how he comforts us, and brings us light to help us know what is right. Compare the Holy Ghost to a blanket and use one to wrap your child in, if possible. Also use a flashlight to compare to the Holy Ghost.

•  Handwashing (5 min)

Follow up: Bring out the Ziploc bags with the prepared slices of bread and take note of the changes. Discuss how important it is to wash our hands. Talk about the steps of washing your hands, draw corresponding pictures if desired. 

Hands-on activity: Put glitter on child's hands and then have them wash their hands to get all the glitter off. Teach them to sing a song while they wash their hands. Talk about when they should especially wash their hands (bathroom, pets, tissues, outside, sore/cut, playing outside, etc.) 

• Sing: "The Handwashing Song" (2 min)

I've mentioned "Jbrary" before as a great resource for songs. They have a wonderful Handwashing Song that includes actions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJhWl1LLz5Q

It's to the tune of "Frere Jacques":

Tops and bottoms, tops and bottoms, in between, in between.

Scrub them all together, scrub them all together, now we're clean, squeaky clean. 

Repeat

• Snack (5 min) 

Today's tip: Now that they've washed their hands, they're ready for any finger food!!

• Free Play (20 min)

Use a sensory bin and wash water-proof items (plastic dishes, inflated plastic gloves, toys, etc.) Dish soap in bowl with pepper experiment. Show pictures of viruses magnified. Put colored water in a spray bottle and spray it on a piece of paper to demonstrate a sneeze and how germs are spread--discuss proper ways to cover mouth. Practice using hand sanitizer. 

Day 2

• STEAM Lesson (Engineering) "Billy Goat Bridge" (10+ min)

This month's theme is healthy bodies--science based. Because there are only four weeks, I will skip the "S", science and won't have an explicit science lesson but will incorporate it in. Fortunately, there's also a lot of overlap in many STEAM lessons/activities. 

Read The Three Billy Goats Gruff (Printable version of story: https://www.yonkerspublicschools.org/cms/lib/NY01814060/Centricity/Domain/939/Three-Billy-Goats-Gruff.pdf)

Talk about what you might be afraid of if crossing a bridge. Build a bridge out of Legos, blocks, or recyclable materials. Idea from: http://momgineer.blogspot.com/2017/06/stem-tale-three-billy-goats-gruff-fairy.html

•  Germ Craft (5 min)

Design your own germ models out of Play-doh, paper, fabric, etc. An idea I especially liked was: Draw a hand on a white piece of paper, use a dropper to put some liquid watercolor on the hand, blow with a straw.

• Snack (5 min)

Today's Tip: Use marshmallows and toothpicks to build sweet-snack-structures. 

• Free Play (20 min)

See "Day 1" of this week for any ideas you may have missed. Talk about wearing face masks (thanks COVID?). Add in some role play for what to do if you're sick. Incorporate fine motor activities--pom, poms could be the "germs". Have a guest speaker such as a doctor, cleaner, etc. Create your own!