Clean Hands Up!

Louisville Water Education Blitz during Nat’l Handwashing Awareness Week
(story updated!)

Cold and flu season is in full swing and the viruses may’ve already reached your house.

National Handwashing Awareness Week is the perfect time for Louisville Water’s Education and Outreach to multiply their Clean Hands Up! lessons at local schools.

Community Relations Specialist, Barbara Crow, had a captive audience at the Westport Early Childhood Center on Tuesday morning.

Crow taught the little ones about where our drinking water comes from, read a book about the importance of handwashing, and even brought along some “germy” stuffed animals!

Then it was time for the pre-schoolers to put their handwashing skills to the test and get rid of those icky germs, especially the ones that can hide in tiny places.

What better way to make it fun for the kids than to get messy with glow-in-the-dark liquid! The kids lathered up their hands and headed over to the sink. One by one, they washed off the “germs” with soap and water.

A tiny blacklight revealed green spots where the little ones needed to scrub a little harder. Singing a special song, Crow showed them how to clean both sides of their hands, to get in between their fingers, and under the fingernails.

Clean Hands Up! is a year-round program that’s had great success in countless area schools.

“Why do we teach handwashing? Because it works!  Everyone in the health and medical communities agree that handwashing is still the best way to prevent the spread of germs,” said Education & Outreach Manager, Channa Newman.

Lather, rinse, repeat. Educators shared their message with preschoolers at Unseld Early Childhood Center on Wednesday. Louisville Water will reach nearly 500 students over the course of 33 lessons this week at Unseld and Westport.

Fun video to teach kids: