Teach Children Proper Hand Washing to Avoid Swine Flu and Other Illnesses

The most important thing you can do to fight againt getting the Swine Flu is to teach your family, and all children you come in contact with,  proper hand washing.  Many kids have already been doing this as a regular part of normal hygiene but there are many who do not, primarily because they haven't been taught or have no good parental example.

I'm sorry to say that I know plenty of adults that don't take the time to do good hand washing, on a regular basis. Yes, they swish a little water onto their hands and that's it.  But with proper instruction, we can do something positive about spreading germs this flu season. It's a proven fact that we all touch our faces all during the day ... rub our eyes, scratch our nose, touch our lip. And hand-to-face contact is one of the ways we contract illnesses.  Germs can enter the body through breaks in the skin or through membranes of the eyes, mouth and nose.

So ... How should we Teach Children to Wash Hands ?

• Wet Hands.  Soap Hands. And wash for 10 seconds.  You can tell them to count to 20 or say the alphabet to figure out if they have washed long enough.
• Rinse Hands well.
• Dry Hands well, using a paper towel if one is available.
• Use the paper towel to turn off the faucet.
• Throw paper towel in trash.

Give kids a good demonstration so they truly understand.  Explain that we get colds and coughs from other people, and other kids, when we don't wash our hands thoroughly.  Let them know that this is one way that germs get spread.

This would be a good time to also instruct kids to cough and sneeze into the crook of their elbow, to avoid spraying germs into the air that people breathe.  Also let children know that the alcohol-based Sanitizers are effective in killing flu germs and other germs and that they can use this at other times during the day.