Healthy Kids 101
Authors: Ali Haney, Sarah Bessent, Joseph Robertson, Melody Higgins, Sierra Bryant, Brooke Browning, & Jordan Nipper
Faculty Supervisor: Beverly Rowe, MSN, RN, CNE
Abstract:
Health is often overlooked especially in pre school age children because they are not taught the importance of it. The motive of our project was to teach about dental hygiene, hand washing and nutrition. It was an opportunity for us to engage and educate pre-k students on their health. As a group, our goal was to make the learning experience fun and something to remember.
For our project we presented the class with different learning materials. We divided the students into groups of seven or eight and each group focused on one of the three topics. Students spent approximately 15-20 minutes with each of the three groups. One table used coloring sheets to inform students about nutrition. They were instructed to color the healthy fruits and circle them and the non-healthy fruits they put an “X” over it. After each individual finished, we discussed what their favorite foods were and whether it was good or bad for their teeth/health.
The second group used printed out smiling teeth, which we previously had laminated. Each kid was handed one to draw “germs” on their teeth with a dry erase marker and brush them off with a toothbrush. While doing this the kids sing the song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” to make it enjoyable at the same time.
The third group taught about proper hand washing. Each student had the chance to get a bit of invisible “germs” put on their hands and after it was applied they washed them. Once their hands were washed, students put their hands under black lights to see how effective their hand washing technique was. Hand washing is especially important in this age group because of constant contact and they have a tendency to put their fingers in their mouth.
It was impressive to see how much the kids knew already. We accomplished our goal because not only did they have the knowledge, but we also helped build on top of the knowledge they had prior. It was a great way to reach out to the community.
