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Date: 1-17-00"Those Mean & Nasty Downright Disgusting, but Invisible Germs" book is a hit that drives the point home to my preschoolers. I use a glob of paint in the palm of my hand after reading the book to show where the germs go even if I cover my mouth when I've coughed. I then offer to hold someone's hand, and of course they don't want to ... I pick up a pair of scissors, a book, any number of (washable) things to show how the paint (germs) are spreading even as I put the object down. I then encourage them to cough/sneeze into their elbow or shoulders. I read the book at least once a month to review, and also for any new ones who've joined our group. Once in a while after potty when someone doesn't want to wash their hands, I put on the 'germ' voice from the story and say, "Ohhh... yess... I'm hiding out on Tommy's hand..." Then when they wash I mimic the germ from the story again, by whining, "Oh, no! Foiled again! I'm going down the drain, but I'll ... be ... bbaacckk!" Date: 1-17-00It's unfortunate that anyone has to miss our field trips and/or guest speakers but such is the nature of scheduling. We have three little boys who are particularly 'difficult' and who only come in the afternoons. This month we are having fire/police/highway patrol... all scheduled for the morning. However, especially for their sakes, we've scheduled one for them in the afternoon after naptime. The sheriff and his canine officer are coming to the classroom and addressing safety issues especially those of gangs and gun safety. One of these little boys was mad at a teacher and threatened to come back and blow up the school (!), and another was playing with others on the playground about "you can be in my 'gang' and you can't"! These are 4 year olds!!! So even though the officers will be coming out for a small group of 10, we feel for the health and safety of us all, these three need it! Date: 1-17-00Luckily I work at a Catholic preschool, with a wonderful director who pretty much lets me direct my class as I see fit. One thing I don't hesitate to do is to bring in a real life article if I think there is a point to drive home even if they are only 4. A recent article was about a young father who was killed in a scuffle with police as they tried to arrest him. His children attend the school that shares the building with us. I pointed out how sad that was for his children, and his family, but that unfortunately it was because he made two bad choices that night. I feel like they need to know at a young age that they do too have choices and that there are consequences that follow good choices as well as bad choices. I feel that they need to have that balance, that yes, they are fearfully & wonderfully made, and Jesus/God loves them no matter what, BUT also there's accountability and responsibility even at their age. They pay rapt attention and seem to grasp the concept too :) ideaFire Safety Song to promote STOP, DROP & ROLL THREE SIMPLE STEPS by Mahi Akau Sung to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star What do you do when your clothes catches fire? Three simple steps to put out the fire. STOP where you are, Don't run, Don't run DROP to the ground, and ROLL all around. What do you do when your clothes catches fire? Three simple steps to put out the fire. I hope it's helpful when you teach the STOP,DROP & ROLL technique. Date: 11-6-99ideaFor an easy first aid kit that is portable, try a fanny pack (waist pouch) filled with Band-Aids, tissues, Neosporin, etc. Whenever you are ready to go outside or on a field trip, grab the fanny pack first aid kit and you are ready to go. Hands-free and very convenient. Date: 10-31-99ideaHere are a few ideas to practice with Fire Safety. *Holding a blanket a the height of your knees, let the children crawl under it to pretend it is smoke. This is a great way to practice evacuating a building that already has smoke. *Practice Stop, Drop, and Roll. *Get the parents to practice with their children evacuation routes out of their homes, and get them to send them into school to discuss with the children. *Practice 911. Three year olds are not to young. One of ours actually used it when he saw the neighbors house on fire! Date: 10-31-99ideaEdible Art: I brought in several kinds of vegetables that are commonly eaten raw. Of course they were pre-washed. I also brought in toothpicks, the round kind, pointed at both ends. The children put together creations from sliced cucumbers, carrots (sliced large or whole baby), broccoli florets, cauliflower tops. Then, of course, we ate our creations. I was surprised at how many of my kids that normally refuse veggies at lunch really chowed down on their art! Date: 9-29-99ideaThis idea was given to me by a classmate in a CDA class. Sprinkle a small amount of craft glitter on your hands and shake the hand of a student. Have student shake another's hand and so on. Use the activity to explain the way germs are spread. 9-12-99 ideaAfter reading the book, Those Mean, Nasty, Dirty, Downright Disgusting but....Invisible Germs, by Judith Ann Rice, I reinforce good hand-washing techniques with margarine and coffee grounds. I have each child rub a little margarine on their hands, then they each place their hands into a tub of used coffee grounds. I have them try to rub the "germs" off over a large plastic tub. We then go to the sink and use soap and water to scrub the "germs" off. Date: 8-27-99ideaI know this sounds simple but it has helped my class tremendously. I made t-shirts for all of my students to wear on field trips. They're red with our school's name done in fabric paint. It's amazing how much easier it is to keep track of the kids and gather them up when needed. Even my parents like to idea. We keep the shirts at school and use them year after year. Date: 8-27-99Date: 8-13-99Dental health activity: The effects of liquids on teeth can be demonstrated by using the different liquids children/parents use. In a classroom lesson I used egg shells(represents calcium for teeth), and then four containers: water, milk, apple juice, and Coke, placing half an egg shell into each liquid. The next class day I removed the egg shell and showed the results of what these liquids do to our "teeth". The children passed around each egg shell and touched and observed the effect of each liquid with that eggshell. Then use a toothbrush and toothpaste on the shell and see if that removes the stain. Date: 6-28-99Please remind preschool teachers in North Carolina that preschoolers aged 3 and up are eligible to be screened by their county Exceptional Children's program free of charge to the parents. Our preschool has used this and we now have 3 children receiving speech therapy and 2 receiving occupational and physical therapies. Thanks for all the hard work that the preschool teachers do! Date: 1-20-99I used a catalog to help the children understand what a stranger was during our discussion about safety. The children were better able to understand what a stranger was when I used pictures of attractive models. I would ask, "Is this a stranger?" Since the person was attractive, they immediately said, "NO!" I was able to explain to them that because they did not know who this person was; what their name was, who they were - this person was a stranger. Date: 1-20-99Another way to 'show' the children how germs are spread, is to pretend to cough or sneeze into your hand. Have a little bit of yellow and/or green paint (I know, yuck) on your hands. Then ask the kids if they want to shake your hand. They don't, but then you can touch something like a chair or another object and they can see how the germs are spread, and then how another child could touch their germs and get them too. It is very effective to let them see this. Date: 1-19-99I teach my staff to have the children cough or sneeze into their elbows. This helps to cut down on the germs spread hand to hand or hand to mouth. Date: 1-10-99Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light Shining on the corner bright Red means stop Green means go Yellow in the middle means you better go slow Twinkle Twinkle traffic light Shining on the corner bright Date: 11-19-98An idea to help children understand how germs can spread when we don't cover our mouths is to fill a balloon with confetti, blow the balloon up then let the air out, the 'germs' will go everywhere. Next put your hand by the mouth of the balloon and the 'germs' go into your hand. 10-7-98 Name: Amber 8-9-98 Daylene Find The Matches Materials: Box of Q-tips, red food coloring To make pretend matches: Break Q-tips in half and dip the cotton part in the food coloring or dye. Let dry. Scatter and hides the "matches" throughout the classroom when children are not present. Explain to the children what matches are and who should use them (adults only!). Tell the children that whenever a match is found, the child should take it to an adult right away. Show the children a pretend match and tell them that pretend matches are hidden all over the room. Whenever a child finds a match, he/she should give it to an adult right away. Each time a child gives an adult a pretend match, they get a hug. Continue hiding matches as they are found. Repeat this activity several times a year. 7-20-98 Name: Carrol E-Mail: lstockton@terraworld.net Sick Kid Kit When children miss daycare for an illness that will take them away from for a few days, I like to provide the children with a Sick Kid Kit to help them feel still connected to us. I like to have a picture or a card from all of the kids, a simple puzzle, construction paper, paper crafts, hidden picture puzzles, letters of the alphabet to color----some of them things we are doing on the days they are absent that do not require much help, such as the pages weare coloring (alphabet, numbers, etc). I make up several basic kits to have ready and add in a card from all the kids. 5-22-98 Name: Carol E-Mail: NrmaRae@AOL.com FIRE SAFETY SONGS "Learn Not to Burn..Fire Safety Songs" by..JIM POST This tape also comes with a great activity book, words to the fun songs, letters to parents, and pictures to color that correspond to the songs. We use this resource everytime we teach our children about fire safety. Our children love it!!! 4-14-98 Name: Cathy E-mail: CMelo41558 Preparation: I drew 2 large heads on bristle board and cut them out. I cut out their mouth area. One had a happy face. One had a sad face. I cut out pictures of different foods. Some were healthy food, some were junky food. At circle time, each child had a chance to choose a picture, and put it in the " mouth that eats good food" or the"mouth that eats bad food". 4-10-98 Name: Diane E-Mail: tlldsl@bright.net A really neat way to show children how germs are spread when you cough or sneeze is to take a balloon and lots of paper punch circle. Put the circles into the balloon and blow it up, then let the air out of it by releasing the balloon. The dots or "germs" fly all over the room and the children. Then fill the balloon with more dots and blow it up again, only this time cover the mouth of the balloon with your hand, no "germs" escape into the air. The children love this! 4-10-98 Name: Janice E-Mail: safehome@buffnet.net S.A.F.E. Home Children age 5 and under represent 9% of the population, yet they comprise nearly 22% of all residential fire-related deaths. They are more than twice as likely to die in a fire than the rest of the population, according to the National Safe Kids Campaign. Approximately 25,000 children age 4 and under are injured in residential fires each year. Tragically, a working smoke alarm is not present in 2/3 of the residential fires in which a child is injured or killed. These injuries and deaths may have been prevented. Fire safety educators now recommend that there should be a smoke alarm in every child's bedroom. Children who play with matches often do so in their bedroom with the door closed, so a smoke alarm in the bedroom is a necessity. There are also many more electrical appliances in the bedroom than there were in the past. Be sure to review fire safety practices with your children and practice E.D.I.T.H. (Exit Drills in the Home). The National S.A.F.E. Home Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity dedicated to reducing the high number of injuries and deaths due to residential fires. We have partnered many life-saving programs with hospitals, pre-schools, elementary schools, and community centers across the country, where children receive fire safety education and a smoke alarm for their bedrooms. These programs generate excellent media involvement and goodwill in the community. Please help us protect young lives by your involvement with a S.A.F.E. Home Program. Contact the National S.A.F.E. Home Foundation at 1-800-877-1250, e-mail us at safehome@buffnet.net or write to us at 1333 Strad Avenue, North Tonawanda, NY 14120. 3-1-98 Name: deborah E-Mail: cherub890@aol.com TO TEACH CHILDREN TO BE SAFE WHEN CROSSING THE STREET OR WALKING, GO TO A LOCAL GROCERY STORE ASK FOR ABOUT 10 LARGE BOXES THAT STUDENTS CAN STAND IN. CUT OFF THE BOTTOM FLAPS. HAVE THEM PAINT IT EITHER AS A CAR, AMBULANCE ETC. HAVE ANOTHER STUDENT ACT AS A CROSSING GUARD HOLDING A STOP SIGN WHICH ALSO HAS GO ON THE OTHER SIDE. THE OTHER STUDENTS CAN ACT AS PEDESTRIANS. Healthy Child Care Magazine- If you're like most early childhood professionals, there's nothing you won't do to maintain a healthy classroom. Nothing is more important than a healthy child...because healthy children learn. And because they do, there's Healthy Childcare. Everything you need to keep young children healthy can be found in Healthy Childcare: Health & Safety Ideas for the Young Child, a new easy-to-read magazine filled with information on childhood diseases, safety in the classroom, nutrition, hands-on health education activities, where to find the latest resources, answers to your questions...even posters and newsletters to display in the classroom and send home to parents. Visit Healthy Child Care Magazine's Web Site for more info on how to subscribe. Name: Cheryl E-Mail: Tugboat63@aol.com My idea has to do with fire drills. I made a fire drill log sheet to be posted near the fire extinguisher. It contains the date, children present, type of drill either announced, surprise, smoke alarm, etc. I also do a fire drill each Monday to refresh the little memories and then again during the week. I do this with my a.m. group and p.m. group. My groups are great at fire drills. we also have rules... no toys, no pushing, no screaming., older ones help smaller ones, listen to adult give directions, form a line and meet in designated are , form a circle with children under age 3 in the middle. I am proud to say my boys and girls deserve medals each drill! Name: Kathryn E-Mail: kbrei@freeway.net URL: http://www.healthychild.net/ Germs, Germs everywhere! Fill a flat baking pan or large plastic bag with flour or corn starch. Ask a child to dip their hand in the mixture. Then ask him/her to shake hands with the child next to him/her and have each child continue to shake hands. The flour continues to move through the hand shakes and the children can "see" the germs! Follow the activity with dipping the hand into the flour and then washng the hand before shaking hands to show how hand washing stops the germs. Submitted by: Daylene E-mail: aactchrday@aol.com Consumer Product Safety Commission- Call with any safety concerns you have about unsafe toys (800) 638-CPSC. Submitted by: Daylene E-mail: aactchrday@aol.com Small Parts Cylinder (or "Choke Tube") Discovery Toys (800) 484-7617 Ext. 0328 Name: Cindy E-Mail: arolla@geocities.com Brush An Egg Take a hard boiled egg, soak it in a cup of coke-a-cola overnight. The egg shell will turn brown, can use a toothbrush to "brush away" the color. Works great as an intro to toothbrushing. Submitted by: Daylene E-mail: aactchrday@aol.com Toothbrush Painting Old toothbrushes Tooth shapes cut from white construction paper Tempera paint Have the children dip their toothbrush into the tempera paint. Show the children how to "brush" their paper teeth with the paint. This is a great activity to teach children how to brush their teeth properly. However, please stress that these toothbrushes don't belong in their mouths :) Submitted by: Daylene E-mail: aactchrday@aol.com My favorite book to teach handwashing to young children is called "Those Mean Nasty Dirty Downright Disgusting but. . .INVISIBLE Germs" by Judith Rice. This book is a great way to teach about germs and handwashing. Submitted by: Daylene E-mail: aactchrday@aol.com I have a great parent hand-out dealing with head lice. The hand-out is too long to post here. If you would like a copy, e-mail me at: aactchrday@aol.com. Submitted by: Daylene E-mail: aactchrday@aol.com I just found a neato-keen product that will help us ECE'ers stay healthy. It is a waterless hand sanitizer. The solution is a gel that comes in a small squeeze bottle. All you so is squeeze a little bit on your hands, rub it in, and let dry. This is GREAT for times that you are on the playground and little Johnny sneezes on your hand, etc. Be sure to keep it out of the children's reach. You can find this product at Walmart or Target in their health/drugs section. Submitted by: Daylene E-mail: aactchrday@aol.com Lesson on Germs Warning Will Robinson! This activity is not for the squeamish. Materials A clear plastic gallon size jar with a lid Tissues--- 1 per child A spray bottle filled with water Duct tape During circle time, talk about germs. Give each child a tissue and ask them to blow their nose. Pass around the plastic jar and tell the kids to drop their tissues into it. Squirt water all over the used tissues. Screw the lid onto the jar and secure with duct tape (you do not want any one getting into this yummy mixture :)). Put the jar into a dark, out of the way place. In two weeks, bring out the jar and see what happened. Submitted by: Diana E-Mail: BOOBear128@aol.com Healthy Bodies for Preschoolers Large motor: Do some exercises such as running in place, hopping, etc. Have the children feel their beating hearts with their hands before and after exercising. Have your kids think of their own exercises. Let each child who wants to lead the group in exercise. Fine motor: Make body collages. Cut parts from magazine pictures and child glues them to a piece of paper. Also, you can make an activity card set with MISSING body parts which children must find and cut, or draw on their own paper. Snack: Edible faces. Spread cheese on round crackers, add raisins for facial features. Paper cup stethoscopes-push two pipe cleaner pieces into the bottom of a paper cup. Curl the ends of the pipe cleaner to simulate a stethoscope. Use tape on all the ends for safety, showing the children how to pretend without actually putting into the ears. Cognitive: Use play stethoscope during active play to "check heart beats." Use a real stethoscope also. Let each child hear his own heart, and his friends. Do they sound the same? What does it sound like? What happens after we exercise? See if you can get some old x-rays from a dentist, let the children use them in their dramatic play. Art/creative: Make a healthy mouth using red paper for the lips, and white paper for the teeth shapes. Children can practice "brushing" these mouths using paper brushes. They can "feed" the mouth healthy foods by gluing on pictures of healthy foods. Books: The Tooth Fairy (Troll) available also as a big book; The Berenstain Bears go to the Dentist (and the Doctor) Submitted by: ginny E-Mail: Msginnyedu@aol.com Blowing Noses: Blowing noses seems to be a major Pre-k learning experience, as well as a health concern. I wear an apron with 3 pockets while working. In one pocket I keep tissues, in another I keep cheap-o sandwich baggies (parents send in). When a child needs to blow out a really YUKKY nose, I slip a baggie on my hand, grab a tissue, assist in the blowout, then fold the baggie back over the soiled tissue to dispose of. This keeps my hand "semi-safe" and also puts the YUKKY tissue within a contained throwaway....don't forget to wash up with anti-bacterial ASAP. The third pocket holds band-aids, a couple of rubber gloves and miscellaneous junk. The baggies work well as a quick fix glove if you don't have one. Submitted by: Daylene E-mail: aactchrday@aol.com Bleach Solution Did you know that bleach water is the only disinfecting solution that kills ALL germs including the HIV virus and Hepetitus type A and B? In addition, compared to all the commercial disinfectants on the market, bleach water is the only disinfectant that kills these germs on contact. All the other solutions have to sit on the surface being cleaned for at least 1-5 minutes before they are effective. Also, this form of sanitizing is much more cost effective! This information was passed on to me years ago from the Arizona Department of Health. Here is the "recipe" for bleach water: After our preschool switched to using bleach water for sanitizing, we saw a dramatic drop in illness at our school. |
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