Personal Hygiene: Germs and Hand Washing

First grade students should have an understanding of what a germ is and how germs are spread. They should understand the importance of keeping their body and clothing clean. They should learn the proper way to wash their hands. These things are generally covered in everyday life, but these resources can help insure students have a clear understanding of germs and practice good personal hygiene.

Games

• Find the Germs! - Use your mouse to look for germs with the super powerful magnifying glass.
• My Family & Germs - Find the words by clicking on their letters in the puzzle.
• Design your own germs - Choose a picture and use your mouse to select a color and paint the picture.

Lessons

• Children and Hand-Washing - This video clip teaches children how to wash and dry their hands to reduce to spread of disease.
• Why do I Need to Wash My Hands? - Washing your hands is the best way to stop germs from spreading
• Wash Your Hands - A comic about washing your hands properly.

Projects

• Germs Experiment - Observe the growth of germs.
• Germs Experiment 2 - See how easily germs can spread and learn the importance of washing your hands.
• Glittering Germs - A bit messy, but gets the point across.
• Handwashing - Streaming video demonstrating how to properly wash your hands. (Scroll down and click on the video link.)

Worksheets

• Wash Away Germs - Coloring page.