I have to do a presentation to 60 4th graders about hygiene. As we all know, this is when they start to get stinky and many don't know it. It is at a public school. I just can't get any really creative ideas to hold their interest for 30 minutes. Can anyone help?

Kristy

Here is one link that might help:http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/teachers_tools/

I tried Google for different approaches........didn't get a whole lot. One idea, remember those red little pills we took after we brushed our teeth? They showed the tartar that we had missed, this might be effective and fun for the kids.........just an idea.

Good luck!

Cheryl Moore

Oh Man, I remember those little red pills, they were awesome!!!

I would say do an internet search for "Health Education". There are a lot of Teacher and education sites out there that have lesson plans, activities, etc.

I kept trying hygiene searches, but I will try Health Ed. Thanks!!! I was thinking about swabbing their arms and then they can culture them in the petri dish. Once they smell themselves, they will shower for sure. Anyone know correct procedure for this?

soap and water

Smart ass!!! I'm talking about the culture.....:)

Swabbing is a cool idea. I would venture to guess that the proper way to swab would be:

Get a sterile cotton swab and put a little distilled water on it then have them swab an area of their body, put the sample on the pitri dish then incubate for a week at 35 deg. celcius.

That should turn up some nice growth and certianly smell pretty bad when they open the dish up.

I remember once in Bio. we just stuck our fingers in the dish and you should have seen the nasties that were growing. Ulch!

Contact the infection control office at your hospital- ours has this really neat infrared-wand thing that would be good for this presentation. They told us to wash our hands after rubbing a special solution on them. Then they took this infrared thing and waved it over our hands and it showed where we missed- under our nails, etc. The kids would probably think it is really neat. Have hygeine-related prizes for games or answering questions- yummy flavored toothpaste, mouthwash, neat toothbrushes, fun looking soaps, small bottles of bubble bath, etc.etc. Bring in some really gross pictures of bad hygeine- like yellow teeth, etc. (gee...why do we all think of teeth when we suggest things like this? lol) An idea I found on the internet suggested that you bring a big bucket, enough glitter to go around, some hand lotion, paper towels. Have the kids put lotion on their hands, then sprinkle glitter on their hands (over the bucket to catch stray glitter) and tell them to rub it in really good. Then give each of them a paper towel and ask them to try to get it off. (they can't get it all off...) Then tell them to rinse in just plain water (some comes off but not all) and finally have them rinse in soap and water (pretty much all of it should come off). You can do this with all of them, or just a few as examples. The glitter=germs on their hands. I thought it was a cute idea. You could show them a picture of a bathroom on an overhead projector and ask them where they think the dirtiest place is (ie, the toilet, the floor, etc.) and then tell them where germs can be (ie, the door handles, faucet handles, etc.) or have them take turns guessing where germs could be found. You can ask them how germs get passed from one person to another (coughing, sneezing, touching, etc.) and maybe make up some rhymes to remind them how this happens. Put the rhymes on a coloring page (you could make this on your computer) and print them out to give out during the class. I also found this:

BEFORE setting the table

BEFORE emptying the dishwasher

AFTER using the toilet

AFTER sneezing, coughing and/or blowing your nose

AFTER touching garbage

AFTER touching your pet

AFTER touching blood

AFTER playing in the backyard

AFTER shaking someone's hand

AFTER visiting someone who is sick

AFTER riding on the school bus

AFTER getting a scrape on your knee or a cut on your hands

AFTER cleaning up spills

BEFORE AND AFTER changing the litter box

BEFORE AND AFTER eating food

BEFORE AND AFTER playing with your younger brother or sister

to help you remind them when they should wash up.

I found a whole bunch of crap on here and I'm really tired so forgive me if it's jumbled. ;>P

Germ-spreading: Get a water mister that has a fine mist setting and fill it with water. Tell them that germs are invisible and we can't see or feel them, but that the water drops represent the germs- ask them how many germs can fit in one little drop of water...tell them millions of germs can fit in one tiny drop. When we sneeze or cough, little germs fly out of our mouths. Ask them how far germs can fly. Then take the water bottle, and tell them that it's like a sneeze (you could even look up how fast germs travel in a sneeze; i know I've seen this in mph somewhere on the internet before...useless facts or something). spray the bottle at them and ask who got touched by the water to demonstrate how they spread germs when they dont' cover their mouths to cough or sneeze.

Talk about lice- who can get them (anyone), tell them you had them (even if you never did, surely some kids in the class can relate), how thry spread, how to not get them (don't wear other peoples hats, use their combs, etc.) blahblah.

Talk about sunscreen and maybe show photos of skin lesions to gross them out and show them what happens if they don't use it. Tell them if they don't have sunscreen at home, and can't get any, to wear hata, light colored clothes, long sleeves, etc.

Hope these help! Let us know how it goes! ;>)

I found out the red tabs are called 'disclosing tablets'. Butler GUM makes them (12 for 3 bucks) and you can find them at the pharmacy (drugstore.com had them and it was just the first place I looked...surely a drugstore near you wouldhave them).

Thanks for all of the great ideas! If anyone has any more, please let me know!

Can you get your hands on that soap that highlights the germs and the black light that shows them on their hands?

renerian

One of my instructors has the black light, but I didn't think you needed to put special soap on??? What do you think?

Rats I wish I knew for sure about the soap? Does anyone else know. Try it quick with regular soap......

renerian