Activities to Help Teach Your Toddler About Hygiene

When it comes to developing a child’s understanding of hygiene it’s worth making the activity fun and engaging for them. It’s both easier and more memorable for your child if you make a learning experience fun, and hygiene is incredibly important.

Here are some activities you can use to help your child learn about hygiene, as recommended by this independent school in Hertfordshire.

Teach your child about routine

A good routine will remind your child of how to behave and what to do each morning, afternoon and evening. From brushing your teeth to telling your child that they should be washing their hands multiple times a day will help them understand the importance of hygiene. The more opportunities your child has to pick up hygienic ways of working in a routine, the greater the likelihood your child will naturally learn to do these things on a regular basis.

Use songs

Songs are a good way to get involved in different hygiene-related activities. You can now get visual aids or talking toothbrushes to help children sing and dance along to the tune as they brush their teeth. Songs can also help your child wash their hands in time to the beat of the song, or to remind themselves that they should wash their hands a certain amount of seconds each time.

Create a sensory bin

The feeling of soap and water together will help your child get used to the texture and reaction that soap will make on their hands. You can fill any empty container and fill with warm water and soap, then let your child have fun. It’s a little bit like using water play to help your child understand the feeling and reaction of water, but it will also work wonders here when your child is getting used to washing their hands.

Washing toys with brushes

To get used to the feeling of holding onto a toothbrush, and knowing how to move the brush when it’s in your hand, give them the opportunity to clean up their toys. This works both ways, in that your child is becoming aware of how dirty their toys can get if they’re not kept clean often, and also helps your child with the feeling of tooth brushing.

Use glitter to show how germs can spread

Germs can’t be seen by the human eye, so using something more visual like sand or glitter can help your child to visualise how germs can spread around. This also reminds your child that they should thoroughly wash those hands and give them a good scrub. Germs can appear anywhere around the body so it’s a great way to help your child with their management of their cleaning habits.

Making cleaning fun will help your child feel much more motivated to do better with their hygiene. It helps your child learn about the risks of germs, as well as arming your child with the tools to be hygienic throughout their lifetime.

Give your child the realisation that keeping clean is fun, important and healthy. Trying out different activities and keeping the learning fun will help your child in their enjoyment of picking up these new skills, and it’s a great way to connect with your child!

Thank you to St Hilda’s independent school in Hertfordshire for providing us with ‘Activities to Help Teach Your Toddler About Hygiene’. New to Club Hub? Check out our directory to locate kids activities across the UK now!