Educating about personal hygiene is one of the many great habits to start teaching and practicing with your kids from a young age. Your kids need to practice daily routines such as washing hands, brushing teeth in the morning and before bed, showering at least once a day, and covering their mouths when coughing.

While these routines are obvious to do, kids are usually not mindful of the germs they pass along when they do not exercise proper hygiene habits.

Good personal hygiene can improve your kids’ self-confidence by tackling the problem of body odor or bad breath. Thus, personal hygiene for kids should be strongly enforced by parents on a consistent basis.

Here are some personal hygiene practices you should be doing with your kids: 

Washing Hands 

Handwashing has always been encouraged as this is one of the many ways you as a parent can prevent your kids from getting germs in their body and from spreading it to others. Handwashing should be done:

•     Before and after eating
•     After playtime 
•     After playing outdoors
•     After sneezing, coughing, and blowing nose
•     After interacting with an animal 
•     After every toilet use

The correct way of washing your kids’ hands is by first wetting their hands with water, lathering their hands with a generous amount of soap, rubbing hands in a wringing motion from wrist to fingertips for a period of 20 seconds. Singing the alphabet or one of your kid’s favorite songs can make the process fun and interactive. Rinse their hands thoroughly with running water, dry hands using a paper towel and now they have clean germ-free hands.

If water is not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer as a substitute.

Encouraging Baths or Showers 

Clean skin also plays an important role in your kid’s good personal hygiene habits. Showers or baths should take place at least once a day. This is to ensure that your kids are clean and not passing germs along to either you or others.

Supervise your kids when they are taking baths or showers to verify that they are washing all the different parts of the body. Areas of special importance include armpits, neck, back, groin, and feet.

These moments can be used as teachable moments where your kids can learn the importance of why they wash their bodies and why they wash the different parts. Make this time as interactive and fun as you like using songs, games, and bath toys.

Clean Teeth and Mouth  

Personal hygiene for kids also includes good dental hygiene. This is to confirm that your kids are properly caring for their teeth and gums.

Making tooth brushing a daily habit can help prevent gum disease and cavities. Make sure your kids are brushing for at least two minutes, twice a day. This can be done after they get out of bed and right before bed time.

Helping your kids floss should also be a daily practice. Removing any leftover food that may be trapped between your kids’ teeth, then using a kids’ antibacterial mouthwash to finish off this routine. Ask your kid to wash their mouth with water after eating food and/or candy, simple gargling is an effective way of making sure all leftover food has been removed from the mouth.

These simple personal dental hygiene steps can help combatant tooth decay and eliminate bacteria and germs from building up. Should your kids’ teeth show signs of deterioration, schedule a dentist appointment and have your dentist take a look and give advice on better means of prevention. 

These simple personal hygiene habits for kids can be practiced every day and can be a fun learning activity that your kids will continue doing throughout their lifetime.

Good hygiene is one of the most important aspects of our everyday life. It has been shown that good personal hygiene habits play a vital role in promoting health and boosting confidence in kids. 

Personal hygiene habit for kids is a way for your kid to practice good habits. It’s one they should put in practice and share with their friends.

The Creative Learning Academy has always provided a learning environment where your kids can learn and apply habits such as these. To learn more about Creative Learning Academy and what we can teach your child, call or visit our website!