Healthy Habits At-Home Curriculum

Explore our featured articles and learn just how many ways there are to combat the cold and flu season.

Healthy Habits - Online Version

If you prefer not to print out the lesson, most of our Healthy Habits lessons and activities can be found below. But before we get to the children’s curriculum, here are a few healthy habits for parents:

Routines to Follow for Parents

To help protect against germ-spread follow these tips as part of your at-home routine.

1. Kill germs by washing clothes at a high temperature (140°F or higher). If you need to wash at a lower temperature, add a laundry sanitizer such as Lysol Laundry Sanitizer.

2. Make sure your children practice frequent and proper hand washing, using soap and water for at least 20 seconds (See Clean Hands are Cool Poster further down the page).

3. Practice proper cough and sneeze etiquette.

4. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

5. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Tips to Eliminate Germs in Your Bathroom

Make sure to regularly disinfect key bathroom hotspots:

faucets
handles
toilet flush
shower heads

Mold can be a problem in damp bathrooms, so make sure the room is well-ventilated and regularly disinfect mold-prone areas like shower seals. Encourage your family to put the toilet seat down before flushing. This will reduce bacteria being spread around the bathroom by the force of the flush.

1. The Bathroom Quiz

There can be many germs in the bathroom but what object has the most?

Lysol Desktop Tips to Help Fight The Flu

Faucets

Handles

Toilet Flush

Shower Heads

Toilet Seats

Toothbrush Holders

Soap Dispensers

Floor

And remember, put the toilet seat down before you flush. That way, you won't spread as many germs.

2. Germ Detective

Before we can go looking for germs, we need to know what they are.

Germs are tiny living things that are all around us all the time

Not all germs are harmful, but some can make us sick

Germs can live anywhere like inside our bodies, on our hands, and on surfaces like tables, floors, and toilets

Germs can get inside your body through our mouths, eyes, and noses

Keeping hands and surfaces clean helps prevent bad germs from spreading

Step 1

Place toy in the plastic bag and cover with "germ power" (cornstarch or flower). Prepare 1 bag per child.

Step 2

Ask child to pull the toy from the bag and hold it just for a few seconds. Place the block on the tray.

Step 3

Open their hand to show their palm.

Step 4

Explain that like the powder, germs can live on surfaces and stick to tables and floors as well as blocks, toys, and faucets.

Step 5

Demonstrate this spread by dropping the toy on the table

Step 6

Clean up with soap and water & disinfectant surfaces

Congratulations on becoming a Germ Detective!

Now it's time to think about which things in your home are germier than others.

1. https://www.nsf.org/newsroom_pdf/2011_NSF_Household_Germ_Study_exec-summary.pdf

3. Healthy Habits Test

a. Choose the images that show unhealthy habits:

Kissing a small pet

Washing hands at sink with soap & water

Sneezing into your elbow

Rubbing your eyes

Sneezing into your hands

Licking fingers

And remember, put the toilet seat down before you flush. That way, you won't spread as many germs.

b. Handwashing Experts

The sentence below explains WHEN to wash your hands. Each sentence is missing either the word BEFORE or AFTER. Complete each sentence by choosing one of those words.

eating food.

using the toilet.

and after treating a cut or wound.

blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.

touching an animal, animal food, or animal waste.

handling pet food or pet treats.

touching garbage.