Simple Health Tips for Children: Teach Them to Avoid Germs

There is a fine line between a carefree child who doesn't know a thing about germs and an overly educated germ-phobic child, and these tips will help you to teach your child to walk the line and avoid germs in their daily life.

Teach Children to Avoid Germs: Basic Education

The first step in training your children to be healthy is basic age-appropriate education about germs. Specifically, you should begin by teaching them about things that are "dirty" or "germy", such as trash, human and animal waste, and the ground outside. As they grow older, you can include more specific health education on topics such as bacteria and germs, and the fact that there are some bad germs that will make you sick if they get inside you.

Teach Children to Avoid Germs: Hand Washing

To help reinforce where germs come from and how they can get inside you, have your children get in the habit of washing their hands after touching things that are likely to have harmful germs or bacteria on them. Teach your children how to wash their hands thoroughly, using soap and warm water, and also how to use basic no-water antibacterial hand gels.

Teach Children to Avoid Germs: Model Good Behavior

One of the best ways to teach your children is to model the behavior for them. If they are being instructed to wash their hands after using the bathroom, then you should too. Children are naturally inclined to try to behave in similar ways to their parents, and you can use this inclination to help them develop good habits, not bad ones.

Teach Children to Avoid Germs: Don't Spread Colds and Flu

Another realm of behaviors that children should learn is healthy practices when they are sick so they don't get everybody around them sick. These include sneezing and coughing into a sleeve, washing your hands after blowing your nose (or sneezing or coughing into them if a sleeve cannot be reached), and maintaining a healthy distance from people when you are sick. This will also teach them things that they can pass along to their friends who may be coughing in their faces.

Teach Children to Avoid Germs: Know Their Resilience

The last tip is to not go overboard when you are teaching your children healthy behaviors to avoid germs. Children are often very resilient, and although they get sick sometimes, they can usually bounce back very quickly. They should not be horribly sheltered just for the sake of avoiding a basic cold, so be aware of what is reasonable to ask of them, and trust that they will end up okay.