Germs, Germs, Germs! A Hand-Washing Week

Some English topics get practised once a week. Hygiene gets practised every time you eat, every time you come home, every time you sneeze — which is exactly what makes it gold for language learning.

This was one of the most-loved weeks in my own classroom: children build a fuzzy monster germ (and learn body parts making it), watch “germs” flee from soap in a bowl of peppery water, and race germ cards to the sink in a relay. By Friday, wash your hands! is a phrase your child says to you.

Try this today, free

Fill a bowl with water and sprinkle pepper on top — those are the germs. Ask your child to touch the water: nothing. Now dip one finger in dish soap and touch again — the germs run away. Say it together, delighted: “Bye bye, germs!”

What the full pack includes

• A five-day parent planner, 15–20 minutes a day, scripted step by step
• Monster germ craft templates (yarn body, straw legs, sticker eyes)
• The pepper experiment card and the germ relay race game
• A hand-washing rhyme sheet for the sink — the daily revision engine