This is the time of year when the stuffy noses and coughs really kick in...so we decided to take on the germs in kindergarten. Have you done the pepper and soap experiment yet? You should. All you need is a bowl of water, pepper, and soap. Shake some pepper into the water and have the students put a finger in the water. The pepper will latch onto their finger. Then, have the students put soap on their finder and touch the surface of the water. The pepper scatters! We used this as an example of germs not liking soapy water. The kiddos loved this one, I will definitely be doing it again next year.
How do germs spread? That was our second illustration. I mixed together finger paint and glitter to represent germs. I had one student pretend to cough on the hand and put some of the glitter paint on it. I encouraged that student to give high fives or shake hands with their friends to see what happens to the germs. THEY SPREAD! The whole class ended up with "germs" on their hands. Then we discussed proper hand washing to get the germs off. I did this is small groups to keep it manageable, but it can also be done while group. Did I stop there? NO! I also included language arts and math components throughout the day. What a fantastic day of science!
