Beat the Bug

How to stop those nasty viruses our kids pick up at school from thriving.

If there’s one benefit to what we’ve all been through over the past couple of years as far as Covid is concerned, it’s a much greater awareness of health, hygiene and protecting those around us.

So, with our kids heading back to school, it’s probably a sensible idea to strengthen good habits in the weeks before our youngsters return to their studies.

After all, it may be near impossible to stop your little one from picking up germs and viruses while at school, but you can teach them how to overcome them and prevent the spreading of germs once they’ve brought them home.

ONE

Seeing is believing

When it comes to kids, remember that seeing is believing. Getting a five-year-old to understand that when he or she sneezes they spray up to 100,000 bacteria in the air at 100mph, is not going to be an easy task, so it’s worth trying to find a fun way to help them understand the very basics of bacteria. A good way to do this is to prepare some hand sanitising gel with glitter in (which represents bacteria). This helps visualise the spread, meaning that when they wash their hands, they’ll have to clean them really well.

TWO

Education energy

To really engage kids with serious topics, it’s always a good idea to use things like books and songs. A Germ’s Journey by Katie Laird and What Are Germs? by Katie Daynes make for clever and entertaining reads, while handwash brand Carex have a great selection of hand washing songs you can download from their website for free.

What’s more, buying a hand soap which smells nice will also help make hand cleaning fun.

THREE

Top technique

Teaching kids to properly blow their own noses, wash hands frequently and cover their mouths when they sneeze will not only save the rest of your family from the never-ending onslaught of illness, but it will also serve them well in the future.

FOUR

Immunity boom

Of course, the best way to help kids beat the bugs is by using their own natural immunity. That means plentiful fruit, vegetables, vitamins and minerals, drinking of plenty of water and getting a lot of night-time rest. FIVE

Moderation nation

And while maintaining good hygiene is important, parents need to be careful they don’t go too far the other way. Kids should be allowed to play, explore, get mucky and thrive in their local environments without fear of infection at every turn.

They can build sensible immunity by gentle exposure, whilst still doing what’s required to stay clean, healthy and, most importantly, happy. Taking things too far can create OCD elements in our children, which might hamper their progression in other parts of their lives.