Getting Real About Learning

Posted on: 18 September 2015

Sometimes children have a difficult time wrapping their brains around things they cannot see but adults tell them that these things exist. Germs, for example, are something kids completely ignore, no matter how often you tell them to wash their hands because of germs and bacteria. If you want to really hit a lesson home about germs and improve your elementary school's health overall, here is how to accomplish this child education and keep kids safe while learning.

Slideshows and Microscopes

Even kids in kindergarten can understand that some types of germs or bacteria can cause them to get very sick. When you show them a slideshow on white board in your classroom of the more dangerous germs, viruses and bacteria and explain how they get these bacteria on their hands, kids connect what they have seen to what could happen if they do not wash their hands. Older children can peer at less dangerous germs under a microscope in science class and you can tie what they have seen and learned into proper handwashing and sanitation techniques.

Blacklights and Glow Germ Applications

If you want a really cool science project for the kids in your school, assign a unit in every classroom on the spread of germs and use blacklights and glow germ products. Most of these glow germ products go by different company brand names, but what they do is the same. All of the students apply the product, either in spray or gel form, to their hands. The teachers then turn off the lights and use the blacklights to show the kids where all of the germs on their hands are.

If you really want to make this experiment a huge success, do it during cold and flu season, and then apply the glow germ product to every surface kids touch during the day. At the end of the day, kids can see where a lot of the germs are hanging out and why they need to be very good at cleaning the room and themselves. Then wash and scrub hands and surfaces completely before using the blacklights again to show the children the difference between clean and clouded up with germs.

Field Trips to Laboratories

While most kids quickly learn from the above experiences how important it is to wash and sanitize their hands and keep their environments clean, some may miss these lessons or not comprehend them completely. Fifth graders, middle schoolers and high schoolers may have the opportunity to visit a working lab, either in the community or in a veterinary office, where they can learn more and see more about germs, viruses and bacteria. Field trips are useful experiences in really driving home important information, and some kids are more apt to remember what they have learned away from school then at school.