Friday, September 4, 2009

Hand Washing Toddler Style


Toddlers LOVE water! In an effort to conserve water and to minimize the interest in the bathroom sink, I came up with this:
I took photos of Little One washing his hands, step by step, and then put them up for a visual guide. I plan to introduce this set up next week. Before lunch set up time, each child will wash hands and then take their lunch box from the lunch box shelf.

The set up is sequenced left to right beginning with:
1.) wet your hands
2.) one squirt of Method soap
3.) rub your hands together to create bubbles (sing the hand washing song)
4.) rinse hands in rinsing bin
5.) dry hands with small cloth
6.) put cloth in basket

Hand washing song:
"This is the way we wash our hands,
wash our hands, wash our hands.
This is the way we wash our hands
before we eat our lunch."


I will also mention that the floor has a non-slip pad and that the water bins are filled only 1 inch high with fresh warm water after every third child is finished cleaning hands. This method is not preferred when a child's hands are especially dirty, the idea is for the young learner to experience the repeated action of following step directions, taking turns and the sensory experience of warm water; not necessarily getting one's hands clean.

Happy Hand Washing!
In PEACE
Montessori Mama

6 comments:

My Boys' Teacher said...

Awesome!

Any chance you might be able to post the pictures of the individual handwashing steps so the rest of us can print some out? They look amazing!

SmartPumpkin'sMom said...

How come I could not think of that?!
Great idea!

Jennifer Howard said...

Thanks for the comments!
I won't be posting the photos as requested because:
1.) I'm not the best photographer
2.) The pictures only really accompany our set up...if you make your own for your boys, it might be even better with photos of their hands?
3.) I'm not sure how to create a PDF yet...I'm embarrassed to say.
Thanks for understanding. Perhaps in the future?
PEACE
J

Regina said...

What a wonderful set up! It's so perfectly cute and functional.

My oldest is going to a Montessori school now and we love it so much!!

It's a great thing you are doing.

Becky said...

I love the step-by-step photo directions!

Lori said...

Such a wonderful post. I loved it so much that I linked back to your post here:
http://mymontessorimoments.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/ask-montessori-moments-appropriate-works-24-36-months/

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