Hand Washing For Kids Why Its So Important
                     Hand Washing For Kids: Why It's So Important
Hand washing for kids is the first thing to be considered when it comes to preventing the spread of 
viruses & germs among them. Hand hygiene can minimize their visits to doctors by helping protect 
them from several diseases caused by not washing hands, including even the serious ones like 
hepatitis A.
Importance of Washing Hands For Kids
There are 2 types of germs - resident microorganisms and transient microorganisms. When it comes 
to the resident microorganisms, they are always present in our hands and can’t be removed. These 
germs don’t cause any kind of disease. But on the other hand, transient microorganisms keep 
coming and going. They can be transferred from one surface to another. For example, by sneezing, 
coughing, touching contaminated substances, contaminated food, etc, you can easily invite these 
transient germs onto your hands. 
And, the hands contaminated with these harmful germs can easily cause infections. The easiest and 
best way to make your hands free from these germs is to make use of soap + water and wash your 
hands so that they can be decontaminated.
The hands of your kid have more interaction with microscopic germs as they are the most exposed 
part of his body. Many dangerous diseases are caused by these germs, so it is critical to protect him 
against them. Keeping this in mind, hand washing for kids is important and it is considered to be the 
first step towards establishing a layer of protection for them.
In addition, learning the hand washing skills and developing it as a habit in childhood help children to
be active in hand hygiene.
When should your kid wash his hands?
You should ensure that your kid washes his hands in the following common situations:
 Before having meal
 After having meal
 After playing an outdoor game
 Before he goes to bed
 After coming from the toilet
 After waking up
What is the proper way of washing hands?
Below given are the 7 steps of hand hygiene that you should teach your kids to help them wash their
hands in a proper way:
1. First, turn on your water faucet.
2. Wet your hands completely with water.
3. Apply soap to one of the two palms.
4. Strongly rub both the palms together and then scrub all the remaining surfacing of the hands
including even the spaces between your fingers. Continue the scrubbing for at least twenty 
seconds.
5. Next, position your hands under water to rinse them.
6. Now it’s time to dry both the hands. Make use of a paper towel to accomplish this task.
7. Discard the used paper towel and then turn off the faucet with the use of a clean and 
unused paper towel.
How To Motivate Your Kid To Wash His Hands? 
Washing hands might seem to be a strict rule to your child, so he would not easily adopt this habit. 
But you can try implementing the following tips to make him easily wash his hands when needed.
 You should develop excitement in your kid about Hand hygiene by giving this activity the 
form of a game.
 A rewarding system can also be implemented to promote Hand Washing for kids. You should
set a target about how many times your kid has to wash his hands in a day and in which 
situations this has to be done. If the target is successfully achieved, you should reward him 
in some way so that he can be motivated to make Hand hygiene a habit.
 Another thing that you can do to motivate your child about handwashing is to make him sing
a song while washing his hands, thus making this activity more interesting and funny.
 Many cartoons or videos might be available online, which teach kids on what is the proper 
way of washing hands, why wash hands for 20 seconds, etc. Make your kids watch such 
videos to easily understand the concept in an entertaining way.
Things that you shouldn’t do while promoting hand hygiene 
in kids:
 You shouldn’t wash your kids’ hands, rather let them wash by themselves.
 If they don’t wash, don’t shout at them.
 Don’t lose patience while teaching them.
Final Words
As mentioned even above in this article, proper washing of hands help in protecting your kids against
several unexpected diseases. Since the kids have a tendency to easily get their hands dirty while 
playing, there is a serious need for teaching preschoolers and guidance from you as a parent to 
them. So you should make them learn “what is the proper way of washing hands”, how important it 
is, and in which situations the hands should be washed.