Germs Are Not For Sharing

Today we had a very special guest visit our classroom.  Her name is Lynn Freeman and she works at Minneapolis Children's Hospital.  She came today to give us a presentation titled "Germs Are Not For Sharing".  

Mrs. Freeman talked to all of us about staying healthy.  She told us that we all have germs on our bodies and there are ways that we can be healthy, especially during the upcoming cold and flu season.  She talked with us about washing our hands.  She told us that we should get our two pumps of soap at the sink and then we should step back so we don't try to rinse them too quickly.  She reminded us to wash the palms of our hands and the backs of our hands.

   

She even told us that it is important to wash between our fingers like doctors do.  Don't forget to wash under your nails, too.  And of course, remember to wash your wrists!

Next, Mrs. Freeman put this special lotion on our hands.  We rubbed it in.  Then she read us a really cool story called "Germs Are Not For Sharing".

   

 Now came the really cool part.  Remember that lotion we put on our hands?  Well, next we got to put our hands under a special type of light.  The light could show us if there were any germs on our hands. The germs showed up a bright white color under this special light.  And guess what?  We did find some germs!!  Now, there was only one thing left to do...WASH OUR HANDS!!

We all headed out to the big sink.  We got our two pumps of soap and stepped back.  Then we sang the ABC song in our thinking bubbles, because we can't be too noisy in the hallway.  We washed just like Mrs. Freeman told us to.  We dried our hands and then went back to our classroom for the next big test...the special light.

   

It was back to the special light to check and see how we did and if those germs were gone.  And guess what?  Mrs. Freeman said we did a pretty good job!

We also discussed other things we can do to stay healthy.  We talked about and practiced how to catch our coughs and sneezes in our sleeves.  We also learned that even if we want to, we should not share food or drinks.  She even loved that we have disinfectant wipes right on our tables in our classroom in case we ever need them!

We know that it is almost impossible to get rid of  every germ.  But we now know that we can try to do our best not to spread germs by washing our hands properly, catching our coughs and sneezes and not sharing food or drinks.  Tomorrow in our Friday Folders, we each get to bring home a copy of the book she read us and an activity packet to work on at home.

Many thanks to Lynn Freeman, Minneapolis Children's Hospital and Kohl's Department Store for sponsoring this wonderful presentation.  It was really a great experience for the students.