Hand washing

1. Rubba Dub Dub: Preschooler Hand Washing Song, Lesson Plan and Animation

By The Singing Nurse, Dawn Ginese, RN 2000-2010

“Rubba Dub Dub”, the hand washing song was written for the preschool classes I worked with as a nurse to help them understand that washing our hands, “is the one thing that can make your hands clean”.

Washing our hands helps us get rid of germs and helps us to stop spreading our germs. Preschool teachers have used the ABC and Happy Birthday songs for years to help with the daily hand washing of their young charges.

Sing a new health song with The Singing Nurse to teach your children to get rid of those germs. The children echo back the hand washing song words, as the bubbles pop in the background. You can download Rubb Dub Dub @ www.TheSingingNurse.com @ the Music tab

The Song

When the song starts pretend to turn on the water, pump some soap into your hand and start to rub your hands together. At the end of the song dry your hands and pretend to turn off the water with a paper towel then throw the paper towel in the trash.

Rubba Dub Dub (echo) [Rub hands together as if washing hands, rub between fingers etc.]

Make some soap suds (echo)

Rubba Dub Dub (echo)

Make some soap suds (echo)

Rubba Dub, Rubba Dub, Rubba Dub, Rubba Dub

Make some soap suds

Rinse your hands (echo) [Hang hands down letting the water rinse the soap off, flip hands back and forth.]

Rinse the soap suds (echo)

Rinse your hands (echo)

Rinse the soap suds (echo)

Rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse,

Rinse the soap suds

What is the one thing that can make your hands clean? [Hold up one finger.]

(Wash your hands) [Raise both open hands on each word.]

We will waaaaaaaaaaaaash our hands. [Hold hands to chest like an opera singer, tilting head back and forth.]

The Lesson Plan

Rubba Dub Dub, hand washing lesson for preschoolers

Skills

♥ Recognize germs can be many places: hands, cough, sneeze, on things we touch

♥ Learn echo singing

♥ Learn to follow simple directions

♥ Use large motor movements

♥ Learn that the one most effective way to get rid of germs is the use of friction, soap, and H20

♥ Pretend to be an opera singer

♥ Learn a step by step procedure for hand washing

♥ Recognize the color green (green germ)

Materials needed: The Singing Nurse, Nurturing Body, Mind and Spirit CD and CD player, pictures of germs, a map drawing of your classroom, bubbles, markers/crayons, glue, green tissue or green dots from holepunch, container to collect germs, spray bottle with H20

Before lesson: Make a couple copies of the germ sheet, make copies of hand washing info and copies of the large germ or a picture of the classroom or playroom for each child. Review hand motions to song.

Lesson/lesson activity:

Q: Does anyone know what makes us sick?

A: Germs can make you sick.

Q: Are germs big or small?

A: Germs are very small.

Q: Where do we find germs?

A: Germs can be on many things. Germs are on the things that people touch with their hands, let kids name objects. We pass our germs around with our hands and mouth.

Activity: Place pictures of germs around the room while the children are out of the room in preparation to play the “find the germs” game. Have a container for children to place the germs in as they find them. After the children find all the germs, gather the children around in a circle and review again that germs get on your hands when we touch the germs.

Spray a mist of water from a spray bottle and explain “this is what it is like when you cough or sneeze into the air, the germs float in the air.”

Q: What can we do to keep our germs from going in the air and onto our neighbor?

A: Cough or sneeze into your shoulder. (Can also use the song “Don’t Spread Your Germs Around”)

Q: So if you forget and cough or sneeze into your hands, what are you suppose to do?

A: Wash your hands. (Raise your hands on each word to practice the hand motions in the song.)

Q: What is the most important thing we can do to get rid of germs?

A: Wash your hands. (Raise your hands on each word to practice the hand motions in the song)

Q: Tell me some other times we should wash our hands?

A: When we get to school, before we eat, after we play outside, before we play in the rice or water table, after we go to the bathroom, after we blow our nose, if our hands are dirty, after handling pets.

Review the importance of friction

Q: Why do we rub our hands together?

A: To make frictions to help rub the germs off of our hands.

Demonstrate: Rubbing germs off, remind to wash between fingers (and under fingernails for older kids)

Song review with kids: Show and say to the children ”this is how an Opera singer sings”, hold hands to your chest and sing a little operatic scale (“We will waasssh our hands”…like the one in the song)Ham it up a bit, here’s your big chance to belt it out, the kids will love it.

Play the song: pretend to turn on the water as the song starts to play, pretend to pump some soap into your hand and start to rub your hands together. At the end of the song pretend to take a paper towel to turn off the water and dry your hands and then throw the paper towel in the trash.

Take home papers/Hands on activities:

Option 1: Have the child color the germ picture and take it home with the hand washing info.

Options 2: Have the children glue green tissue/green dots to fill in the germ picture and glue the hand washing info to the bottom or back.

Option 3: Have the children glue little crumpled pieces of green tissue paper/green dots to places on the drawing of your classroom where germs can be found; on toys, on table, in the air after someone coughs or sneezes.

Option 4: Have the children glue individual pictures of objects on construction paper that represent the play area and then have them use green marker to place germ dots on objects.

Option 5: Cut pictures of rooms out of magazines and have them glue green dots on things that have germs.

Option 6: Have children trace or make a hand print of one or both hands and place handwashing bullets @ the bottom of their picture. (scroll down, the words are at the bottom of the germ picture)

Option 7: Have children make a collage poster of children and adults washing their hands. Collect pictures from magazines, photos of family members, teachers, classmates, hand drawn pictures.

Option 8: Class projects: take pictures of all the children @ handwashing time, create a book or poster so the children can find themselves, create a slide show of pictures w the Rubba Dub Dub song playing in the background.

Option 9: Play the “Rubba Dub Dub, Animated Hand Washing Song for Kids” on your Smart Board.

Go to www.YouTube.com/TheSingingNurse

Fun free for all: Have adults blow bubbles during the song and let children pop them as it plays.

Pictures: Click on the pictures below and save as germ picture. Click on it to make it smaller or larger to fit on a whole piece of paper. Include the hand washing information at the bottom of the picture, you can change the info to a fun font. Do the same with the cute little green germs, copy and paste it, make it smaller and place 16 on a sheet, and use them to play the “find the germs” game. If you are unable to do this editting with help from a word document knowledgable friend, email me and I will send you a word document attachment or pdf file.