Materials:

• Digital Recorder or audiocassette recorder
• Small, finger-sized rubber toy

1. Before the lesson, the teacher makes short recordings of different sounds made by water use around the house: washing dishes, a bathtub draining, a toilet flushing, a water sprinkler… Make sure the sound of washing hands comes in last.
   
   
2. Sitting in a circle, the children close their eyes and listen to each recording.  They raise their hands when they can recognize the sound.  Make sure to choose different children each time.
   
   
3. Talk about what each activity is for and part of the house we do it in.  Then, ask students to imagine what people would do if there wasn’t water to perform these tasks, or if there were no water taps in the house.

Application:

1. Ask how many children have been sick before.  Explain that sickness comes from germs that we often get from people’s hands, and that washing gets rid of these germs. 
   
   
2. Show the rubber toy and ask the class to pretend that it is a germ.  In this game, one child steps out of the circle and closes his/her eyes.  The teacher then gives the germ to another child to hold.  The student at the front now has to guess who has the germ, i.e. who has not washed their hands.  In the same way, we don’t usually see where we get our germs from.      
   
   
3. Find an area with enough room to move around in, such as the gym or the hallway outside of class.  To sing the following song, the class needs to line up in two rows facing each other.  The two children at the end of the line are the germs. 
   
   

   If you’re healthy and you know it, wash your hands (sliding clap)
   If you’re healthy and you know it, wash your hands
   First the soap, and then the water (left, then right palm up)
   Then you rub your hands together
   When you wash your hands the germs go down the drain.

   (The two children at the end of the line join hands, shout something like “wheee!” and run “down the drain,” taking their place at the other end.  Repeat the song for the next pair of germs, and on down the line).

Assessment:

1. The teacher will listen for the children’s use of prior knowledge in talking about the uses of water in their home, as well as observe their participation in the role-playing and sing-along.  As an additional evaluation of their understanding of hygiene, the teacher can observe each student washing their hands before and after the lesson.

Download a Pdf version of this lesson plan.