And we all know the best way to keep our families healthy is to wash our hands.
If only we could keep our kiddos inside the nice, clean bubble in our homes. The sacred place where we are teaching and demonstrating proper hand washing each and every time we wash our hands. That pristine place we all long for when the flu has made its way through each and every member in our home.
I recently read a new survey by Wakefield Research for the American Cleaning Institute. Findings noted that 65% of U.S. parents of children ages 5 and under don’t always wash their hands for at least 20 seconds.
That seems a pretty high percentage.
The American Cleaning Institute would like parents of children 5 and younger to begin to learn good hand hygiene from the start. According to ACI, “learning hand hygiene begins long before children can read and write.”
ACI offers tips for parents to teach their kids good hand hygiene in and out of the home as well as encourage parents to demonstrate good behaviors, as well as follow safe practices when using and storing cleaning products where and when children are present.
Five Finger Tips
ACI offers parents five Finger Tips to help prevent their young ones from getting sick, spreading illness and missing school.
- Set a good example by washing your own hands often and properly.
- Teach kids to soap up for at least 20 seconds, rinsing and drying completely.
- Explain to kids the reasons they should wash up, to keep from getting sick and spreading germs.
- Tell kids when to wash, such as after using the bathroom, while cooking and after touching animals, blowing your nose, coughing and sneezing.
- Keep alcohol-based hand sanitizers or gels or antibacterial wipes on hand for when soap and water are unavailable.
Find more Free Clean Hands Resources here
ACI’s website is full of resources for clean living, science to increase awareness and safety, and they are committed to sustainability.
Connect with ACI
Twitter:Â @cleaninstitute
We wash our hands hand often, I keep disinfecting wipes in the bathrooms and kitchen, and I like to use just your basic alcohol to wipe down bathroom counters. jslbrown2009 at aol dot com
Everyday, upon getting home from preschool, the first thing we do is wash hands! No eating anything without washing our sticky, germy hands first!
In our house in order to stay healthy and help to prevent the spread of illness we teach our preschooler the importance of washing hands regularly and staying home when we’re sick!
Non-toxic cleaning products so kids can clean the house, too.
YES to the (constant) hand washing. We also spray and diffuse thieves all flu season long.
We try to sing a short song while we wash hands to help make sure it’s done long enough. Singing the ABCs with my 3yo has double benefits 🙂
The biggest issue we face is chapped hands in the winter after washing. We keep GroVia Magic Sticks everywhere so the girls can moisture up after washing. Keeps them in the habit of washing when we don’t worry about dry, red hands.
We wash our hands as soon as we get home from playdates, church, the store etc. I also have taught my children to sing the ABC’s while they wash so they do it long enough.
We do lots of handwashing! So important!
We keep hand sanitizer in our car, backpacks and my purse. We use it often when we’re out. Before kids go into the cart at the store we wipe down the cart before placing them in. The kids are so used to us washing it down that if we forget my daughter will remind me.
We sing the ABC song while washing our hands to make the washing last longer. I also love theives hand sanitizer for when we are on the go.
We get our yearly flu shots and try to stay home from work, public places, other events when sick to stop the spread of germs!
Washing hands & lots of water.
We wash our hands a lot! Especially when we come home from school or church. We try to use non-toxic cleaning materials and diffuse essential oils in sick “seasons”
Cleaning without toxic products is very important in our home. I use cleaning products and soaps that are plant enzyme based, as well as natural products like white vinegar which has antibacterial and antiviral properties. Baking soda is a great non-toxic scouring agent and lemons are great for water stains and shine! We have always stressed hand washing and covering mouths with elbow when coughing or sneezing.
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YEAH!!! I emailed you! Thanks Sarah!!
We stick with non-toxic cleaning supplies such as Mrs. Meyers and Method products. No eating or playing after eating until after hands are washed. Most times hand washing is supervised too so there’s no slacking! Oh and we stick to a schedule of baths every other day and trim nails every week. Oh and shoes come off upon entering the home!