Questions to ask preschoolers after doing handwashin activity?

Question

First mix vegetable oil with cinnamon in a small bowl.

Rub it in.

1) wash in cold water only

2) wash in cold water and soap for 10 seconds

3) wash in warm water and soap for 10 seconds

4) wash in warm water and soap for 30 seconds.

Rub hands while singing the Alphabet Song

I need to ask open-ended questions. One of them I thought I could ask "What does your favorite soap smell like?" (or how else could I word this question)

THANKS

Answer 1

Why do we wash our hands?

What if we don't wash our hands?

How does different types of soap feel? (gel, liquid, foam, bar)  Which one do you like the best? Why?

(you can even take this a step further and make a bar graph of their favorite type of soap)

Why do you think the warm water worked better?

TIP:  This is the song I teach my kids to sing when hand washing: (sung to row row row your boat)

Scrub Scrub Scrub the germs,

Scrub the germs away,

Scrub Scrub Scrub the germs,

Scrub them down the drain.

***you can also use hand lotion and glitter to show how germs pass from one person to another. Put lotion on kids hand and a few flecks of glitter.  Let the children shake hands and the glitter passes from person to person.

Transiton:  

The germs went down the drain,

the germs went down the drain.

Hi Ho did you know the germs went down the drain.

Now we are all clean,

now we are all clean,

we srubbed our germs down the drain

and now we are all clean.

Answer 2

describe how the soap felt between your fingers.  what did you notice?

when are times you need to make sure to wash your hands?

what could happen if you DONT wash your hands?

if you need help with washing, who can you ask for help?

Answer 3

How about starting the activity with a song to move the kids towards the activity...

Now it's time to wash our hands, wash our hands, wash our hands.

Now it's time to wash our hands, so early in the morning (or day, or????)

Then do you what you wrote and sing the alphabet song or Go 'round the mulberry bush (change the words to fit the actions of the kids).

You don't have the drying of the hands - it is part B of washing hands.

Now, I would NOT ask them what their favorite or normal soap smells like because some of them might be poor enough to not have soap or may be homeless and not have a place to clean up regularly.

I might ask the any of the following in any order...

What did we just do and why did we do it?

What do you do when your hands are dirty?

How did we make the soap - what did we put in it?  

Was the water too cold, too hot, or just right?  

What would make it a better temperature for your hands?

If you want to know what kids are thinking then you need to ask them questions that get them to talk and that you are not looking for a particular answer.

Kids learn just like anyone else... through talking, actively engaging in the activity, and by linking it to their every day lives.  Comprehension (learning) is linking new information to information they are already have.

The only assumption you can make about them is that they are not all from the middle class and their soap - if they have any - may not have a smell or exist.  This doesn't mean they aren't clean - shampoo works as well as soap for cleanliness purposes.

I do have a question for you to consider...why are you using vegetable oil and cinnamon in a bowl?  Why not use soap?  The kids will get the oil on them and this may end up ruining good clothes that some may not be able to replace.    In addition this might ruin some of the floor or furniture that the kids use - a horrific mess to clean up.  Just food for thought here.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Your questions should help them focus on the importance of handwashing and which method was most effective. This activity may be a little beyond most preschoolers' development of logic skills. However, they can be observers, so asking:

What do the little brown spots show us? (germs)

Which washing left the most little brown spots?

Which washing took away more little brown spots?

Which washing felt the nicest to you so you wanted to wash more?

What did you do to get those brown spots off?

How much did soap help get the spots off? (this should yield interesting answers, since it is difficult to measure "how much")

How much did warm water get the spots off?

Did singing the song help you remember to wash longer?

What is another song you could sing while you wash hands?

If singing a song can help us wash hands better, what else do we do where a song could help us? (brushing teeth)

What smells of soap help you want to wash longer?

Where on your hands was it harder to get the brown spots off? (usually between fingers)

Why should we wash our hands before we eat something?

Why should we wash our hands after going potty?

Those are a few ideas. I hope that helps!

Answer 5

Know smell your hands they smell great Huh?? What do You want them to smell like???

Answer 6

first of all, as a prek teacher, I think this activity might be too confusing for the children.  I would stick with maybe just washing with soap, and then with water only.  The seconds part, and too many variables might be too confusing for prek children.  

As for the open ended question, you could ask "What do you put on your hands to make them clean?" or "When is it important to wash your hands?"  

just my thoughts...

jenny