Activities to Teach About Germs During Cold/Flu Season In The Preschool Classroom
Posted: Friday, November 27, 2009
by Stephany Springer
If you have not already experienced, I am sure you will before the Chrismas break. It is those days when you come into teach and half your class is missing.
All those great lesson plans on sharing have come back to haunt you. Your class has shared their germs and sickness to one another as well. I have to admit, I was never more germ phobic then when I started teaching.
Art time
Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze. There are many art activities to teach this concept to preschoolers. One of my favorites is to allow kids to draw themselves on a paper plate. You can include yarn for hair, colors, markers, googly eyes, etc. Then trace each child's hand on construction paper. Allow the kids to use practice cutting by cutting out their hands. Then place a dallop of glue on each paper plate where the mouth and nose are. Allow the kids to glue a tissue down and then their hand on top of the tissue. This can also make a great bulletin board with the heading, "We Cover Our Mouth When We Sneeze!"
Teaching About Germs-A fun activity is to let the kids make a germ. This can be done two ways. Collect lint from your dryer. Allow the kids to roll in a blob and glue to a plate. Allow them to add yarn and glitter to the blob, the glue googly eyes in it. You can also allow the kids to see pictures of germs and let them draw their own germs. Another idea is to use a dry erase board and let the kids draw a germ. Fill an empty hand sanitizer bottle with water for this project. Let the kids squirt the germ and wipe it clean with a tissue.
Visit from nurse
Contact a local doctor's office or hospital about having a nurse come speak. You might even have a parent who works in the medical field. One year, our nuse came with a squirt bottle and when she pretended to sneeze, she squirted the kids. The kids loved it and it taught them how far germs can go when we sneeze and why we need to cover our mouths. If I can not get a nurse, I sometimes do this illustration myself during circle time.
Sensory
Move your sensory table to the sink this week and teach preschoolers the proper way to wash hands. Parents will love you for this and the kids love playing in the water. Teach the kids to sing their ABCs while they clean or this song works as well:
Twinkle Twinkle little star; See how clean my two hands are; Soap and water wash and scrub; Get those germs off rub a dub; Twinkle Twinkle Little star; See how clean my two hands are.
Storytime
There are some great books out there for preschoolers about germs. My favorite is "Those Mean Nasty Dirty Downright Disgusting but...Invisible Germs" by Judith Anne Rice. There is also "Wash Your Hands" by Tony Ross. If you have had a lot of kids out already for being sick, I usually read, "How Do Dinosaurs Get Well," too.
These are just a few activities. Doctors make great resources during this unit, so I really encourage calling a local pediatrician as well. Feel free to leave your own ideas in the comment section below.
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