Would you wash your hands more thoroughly if you could
literally
see the germs?
Wilkes-Lincoln County Extension Agent Martha Partridge has
been putting this question to the test with primary-school
children
in her counties.
With the help of a product called GlitterBug, Partridge has
developed an effective way of teaching children the proper way
to wash their hands.
In the Schools
“In the fall, the schools begin teaching children about
proper hygiene,” Partridge said. “They asked if I had
a program I could present, and that’s how it all began.”
That was three years ago when Partridge presented the program
for the first time to preschool, kindergarten and Head Start
children.
Since then, the success of the program has mushroomed. She now
presents the program to primary-school children.
Glowing Germ Lotion
Partridge begins by telling the children about the importance
of washing their hands to fight against disease-carrying
germs.
“Then I pump some of the GlitterBug (TM) potion in each
child’s hands and tell him to rub it on just like hand
lotion,”
she said.
Once the children have the potion on their hands, Partridge
turns off the room’s traditional lighting and turns on an
ultraviolet
or black light.
Ghostly Results
“Under the black light, the GlitterBug potion causes
their
little hands to glow and look like ghost hands,” she said.
“The kids and the teachers love this. It’s a big
attention-getter
and a real eye opener.”
Partridge then explains to the children the importance of
using
soap, water and friction to remove germs from their hands. Next,
the children head to the sinks for the ultimate tests.
The ABCs of Hand-Washing
“I tell them not to hurry when washing their hands,”
Partridge said. “They understand better when I tell them
to count slowly to 20 or 30 while washing their hands or to say
their ABCs or sing Happy Birthday before they turn off the
faucet.”
Back in the
classroom,
Partridge prepares the children for their results.
“I tell them that some germs will still be there, and
I’m always right,” she said. “I can always pick out
the children who bite their nails, because the GlitterBug potion
will still be in the creases around their fingernails. It also
sticks to the natural creases of all the children’s
hands.”
Partridge remembers one particular classroom in which the
black
light proved very effective.
“The county fair had been the night before, so some of
the children had stamps on their hands from the ticket
gate,”
she said. “When I turned on the black light, all those
stamps
glowed. You could tell which children hadn’t washed their hands
since they left the fair the night before.”
Children Teaching Parents
The program reaches the parents, too, as the children rush
home to tell about their day.
“I’ve had parents tell me their child came home and
taught
them the right way to wash their hands,” Partridge said.
“I’ve also had children tell me, ‘My mama doesn’t do this,
and she should.’”
Partridge has found the program can also be used effectively
with adults.
“There’s a GlitterBug powder that you dust on
handouts,”
Partridge said. “When the person touches the handout and
then scratches their face, the powder will show up under the
black
light.”
Adult groups are surprised and sometimes embarrassed, she
said,
when the black light is turned on.
“I think the children really enjoy this program, and I
always get positive evaluations from teachers and parents,”
Partridge said.
“When I come back to a school, the kids always remember
me from the year before,” she said. “They see me in
the hallway and say, ‘Hey, there’s the germ lady.’”
(Photo provided by Martha Partridge. Glitterbug logo
provided
by Brevis Corporation.)
