• Introduce the words cruddy, ditty, infection, and protection.

• Why is it important to wash your hands? What do you need to wash your hands? When is the best time to wash your hands? (Ideas: before eating or touching food, after using the bathroom, after blowing your nose or coughing, after touching pets or other animals, after playing outside, after visiting a sick relative or friend.)

• Talk with children about the steps involved in hand-washing.

  1. Use running water and liquid soap.
  2. Scrub with soap and work up some lather on both sides of your hands, your wrists, and in between your fingers. Don't forget to wash around and under your nails. This is one place germs like to hide. Wash for about 10 to 15 seconds (about how long it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song).
  3. Rinse and dry well with a clean towel.
  4. Use the towel to turn off the faucet.

• The guitar is the predominant instrument in this arrangement. Children will enjoy pretending to play the guitar. At the end of the song the last instrument that you hear is the piano.
• Children can pretend to wash their hands each time they sing the words “wash your hands.”

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