Our Approach to Staying Healthy

As the fall is winding down we all know that colder months and flu season are on their way. Now, more than ever, we need to make sure we are taking really good care of ourselves. Before the winter sets in, we are stepping up our already amped up hygiene routine at school and at home. How about you?  

Taking care of our bodies by eating foods that are high in vibrational energy, (think green and colorful clean foods) getting lots of vitamins especially from juicing (yummy!), daily exercise and time in the sun are all some of the ways we boost our immune system around our home. You can read Kayla’s article, “Immune Boosting Eating” here and learn about how she keeps her family healthy with immunity boosting foods. And of course, we can’t forget the importance of hand washing, social distancing and wearing masks when around others besides your own families at home.

Regular hand washing is a great way to help combat illnesses so we feel it’s important to devote time to teaching proper hand washing to our young children. We try to make hand washing fun at school and in our homes by using our hand washing cards and having a child sized hand washing station set up and ready for use. You can find our free hand washing sequence cards and hand washing song for FREE here.

Singing our “Hand washing song” is a favorite way to get the littlest of our students and babes at home to enjoy their time at the hand washing station. Download the printable, laminate, cut apart the various materials and post near your bathrooms or hand washing stations. Sing the little song included with the printable to the tune of Frere Jacques and watch your littles wash the germs away! We have also included a set of sequencing cards so you can work with your child on the sequential steps included in the hand washing process.

Prepare a Handwashing Station

Preparing a hand washing and self care station is pretty easy. Here are a few things that you will need:

• Hand washing Basin and Pitcher. We love this one from Montessoriservices.com. Or you can use a large bowl and pitcher that you have around the house. I found a perfect pitcher at Homegoods for $3 and put it together with a deep ceramic bowl.
• Gather together a hand drying towel, small soap bottle, an apron, a towel to clean up spills on the floor, a sponge for spills on the table and a bucket.
• You can also add a nail brush and a little dish for keeping jewelry in while washing hands if you want.

After setting up this area, present this material to your child through a Montessori Lesson in hand washing. You can find a great video here on how to show the steps of hand washing to your child.

This lesson from Maria Montessori was developed at a time when it was pretty common to use a wash basin. We still like to use them today because it is a great way to teach steps and sequencing, it gives opportunity for independence (what all preschool age children crave) and honestly, is just a really fun way to wash your hands.

You can, of course, use the sink instead and adjust how you present the lesson slightly. Either is totally fine! The goal is to just get our kids to wash their hands!

Here are the steps: Show your child first, then have him or her do it after you finish.

1. Fill the pitcher with warm water and pour it into the bowl.

2. Put your hands in the bowl and cover them with water.

3. Lift hands and let the excess water drip into the bowl.

4. Place one pump of soap on your hands. We use the traditional Montessori method of a small bar of soap but with all the illnesses it might be wise to use a squirt bottle filled with liquid soap or a pump bottle.

5. Rub your hands together to make some soapy bubbles. Sing the hand washing song from our free handout while you massage and wash each of your fingers and thumbs, rubbing the palms and the backs of your hands. This should take at least 20 seconds but if you’re giving a lesson to a child older than 2.5, you can stretch it out. Sing the song twice!

6. Follow up the wash with a dip back in the water and rinse your hands.

7. Reach for the hand towel and dry your hands completely.

8. Put everything back where it goes.

9. Carefully dump the water in the bucket. Dry the bucket, then use the sponge to clean up any spills on the table and use the large towel to clean up any spills on the floor. Put the used towels in the dirty clothes basket, reset everything and let your child give it a try.

It might seem like a lot of work to prepare, but once this is set up and your child has been given a lesson or two on how to use the hand washing table, he/she will begin to look forward to doing this work everyday, several times a day! Another win for promoting healthy living!

Oh and feel free to download our free fruit and veggie matching cards here and use them to promote colorful, healthy foods!

Wishing you health and happiness!!

-Barbara