4. A Healthy Habit: Handwashing.

Have students wash hands with soap and water, after modeling how it’s done properly:

• Wet your hands with clean, running water.
• Apply soap and rub into a lather, covering both hands and in between fingers.
• Keep scrubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds (you can hum the “Happy Birthday” song twice).
• Rinse your hands with clean, running water.
• Dry your hands.

Go over the health implications and risks of washing or not washing hands. Explain that washing their hands after using the bathroom, after playing, before eating, and touching their face, will keep them healthy. By washing their hands they will keep germs (or “cooties”) away

5. Reflect.

When all hands are clean, you can serve a healthy snack or hand out a prize as a reward. Look at everyone’s drawings on the “Healthy Habits Tree.” Have students name the healthy habit each drawing illustrates. Add a label to each drawing as children identify the habit. The class can add new healthy habits as they think of them.

6. Extend the Lesson.

Share an apple snack with students—making sure they wash hands first! Talk about the health benefits of apples and other fruits and vegetables (such as energy, vitamins, nutrients—things that give our bodies what we need to play, grow, and feel our best).

See how many different words the class can come up with to describe the taste, look, feel, smell, and sound of apples. Feature a new fruit or vegetable each week and repeat the exercise to practice vocabulary while building healthy habits.