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School is out and it’s time to play, but good handwashing habits don’t take a vacation. Summer break means more playgrounds, pools, and fun activities where germs are surely lurking.
“We’re teaching the students about how to wash their hands properly. Just trying to spread good community health practices,” said Elizabeth Watkins, a clinical instructor with the Bellarmine University School of Nursing.
Louisville Water partners with Bellarmine’s nursing program to share our Clean Hands Up! lesson. The students take what they learn and teach it in local classrooms. Watkins and her students recently visited a class of preschoolers at KinderCare.
“It’s my first handwashing lesson,” shared post-graduate student, Ishmail Qadir. “I really like it; it’s pretty fun actually.”
The little ones excitedly yelled out when they washed their hands, like after going potty!
Qadir and his fellow nursing students brought out “germ” plushies to talk about where they can come from.
“What do you think the germs look like? Do you think you can see them?” asked one future nurse.
“Nooo!” shouted one child.
Qadir said, “It looks like a lot of them know how to wash their hands which is awesome, but maybe just thinking about trying to wash their hands more often and do it the right way.”
Which brings us to when the magic happened. The students lathered up the children’s hands with “germs”, a glow-in-the-dark lotion. The kids saw the germs light up their hands before they lined up at the sink to wash them away.
“I got my germs off!” one student said proudly.
“You got all your germs? Look at that! Nice, clean hands,” Qadir praised.
Watkins said, “The biggest thing to remember is to wash your hands after coughing, sneezing, and reducing the spread of germs to your friends.”
It’s a lesson these kids will hopefully practice for the rest of their lives.
