Handwashing skills are so important for toddlers and preschoolers, both for cleanliness and to help with disease prevention. Fortunately, handwashing can be lots of fun! My 2-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, is a good example of just how much fun a Montessori toddler can have with simple handwashing.
Fun with Handwashing + Handwashing Song by a 2 Year Old – YouTube Video
Every day when we return from the park, I ask Zoey, “What’s the first thing we do when we get back from the park?” She says, “Wash our hands!”
Here she demonstrates her handwashing and the handwashing song she uses each day. This makes me laugh each time I see it!
Fun with Handwashing
The time to teach good handwashing habits is when children are toddlers. We’ve been working on this for awhile, and Zoey absolutely loves it. We spend the most time with handwashing after a trip to the park and spending time in the sandbox, petting neighborhood dogs, and exploring nature.
The handwashing song is meant to be sung 2 times through to thoroughly clean hands for at least 20 seconds. Of course, most toddlers will want to do more than 2 times through!
I loved in the video when Zoey had to check her hands and decided they were still “very dirty.”
The whole process is a happy event. Regular handwashing from an early age became a natural habit for my kids, and I expect Montessori lessons will make it a natural habit for Zoey as she grows up, too.
Handwashing Resources
“Happy Handwashing Song”
This is our handwashing song, except that we sing (making a change in the second line):
Wash hands well each day.
Keep those germs away.
Scrub with soap and water.
And be on your way.
I have a post with lots of handwashing songs and Montessori-inspired handwashing lessons.
I also have a post with Montessori-inspired hygiene lessons to help kids stay healthy.
Handwashing songs are also helpful for toddlers who are working on toilet learning. Toilet learning songs and handwashing songs can work well together.
Montessori Monday Link-Up
If you have some Montessori activity trays/lessons to share, please link up below. It’s fine to link up a post from your archives – and you may link up anytime during the week! Your post may be any Montessori-inspired activity or idea. It doesn’t need to be related to my Montessori Monday post.
If you’re wondering what’s considered “Montessori inspired” and what to link up (or not link up), check out my “What Is Montessori Inspired?” post. Link up your exact post URL so that we can find your activity if we return to the linky at a later date (which I often do when I’m looking for activities for a roundup post). Don’t link to giveaway posts (unless the giveaway is only part of a Montessori-inspired post). Giveaways in general should go on my giveaway linky. Also, don’t link directly to products. You can link up a review of a Montessori product or activity post related to a Montessori product.
I publish the Montessori Monday post and linky each Monday morning and keep the linky open throughout the week. Please place the Montessori Monday button (using the code from the right sidebar) in your post or put a link back to this post. I do a lot of sharing on the Living Montessori Now Facebook page from the Montessori Monday link-up. Thanks for participating!
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It’s also Motivational Monday on Mondays! I invite you to share something positive on the Bits of Positivity Facebook page (Bits of Positivity is my other blog) to help us all get a good start on the work/school week. You might share an inspirational or motivational quote, positive graphic, or post about finding balance or simplifying your life. Or you might share a post on organizing, an encouraging post, a post about making a difference in the world, or a positive parenting post. Just go ahead and share on the Bits of Positivity wall any time today! (Please “like” the Bits of Positivity Facebook page if you haven’t already.) I’ll be pinning a number of ideas to my regular Pinterest boards.
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May be linked to Practical Mondays Link Up, Afterschool Express, Thoughtful Spot, Hip Homeschool Hop, The Mommy Club Resources and Solutions, Mom’s Library, A Little Bird Told Me Linky Party,Learn and Play, Link-ups at Squishable Baby, Preschool Corner, Sharing Saturday, Tot School Gathering Place.
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