#1
LET’S READ!
Germs! They’re so small, they’re impossible to see; you need a microscope to see them! But they make a big difference in our lives. And they’re everywhere–on our phones, our counters, our hands, and even our pets! Sometimes they can make us sick, but they can also strengthen our immune system. There are lots of ways to prevent germs from making us sick and to treat the diseases we might get from germs.
There are four kinds of germs: bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. Bacteria are one-cell organisms that get what they need to live from the environments they’re in (which can be someone’s body). Viruses are germs that need to be inside living cells to reproduce and grow. If they’re not inside a living thing like a human or an animal, viruses have a hard time staying alive. Fungi have lots of cells, and they’re plant-like. They get nutrition from plants, people, and animals. And protozoa love moisure. These sneaky one-celled are often found in water.
All of these germs have the ability to make us sick, and many of them are contagious–meaning they can easily and quickly spread from one person to another.
LET’S TALK!
1. Do you like feeling sick? Why or why not?
2. Talk to your child about why it’s so important to stay healthy.
3. Describe proper hand washing and covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Explain how this keeps the germs from spreading to others.
#2
LET’S READ!
Not all germs are bad! In fact, some are good to have. These good bacteria are called “probiotics,” and they do very helpful things for your body. They keep your digestive system (or gut) healthy and happy, and they help even out the balance of good and bad bacteria in your body. Some kinds of probiotics are found in yogurt, while others come in milk and yeast (which is often cooked into bread). You can also take probiotic supplements. These pills have the good bacteria inside, so when you take them, you add the probiotics to your body!
Probiotics are helpful for decreasing any discomfort in your stomach, like aches or nausea. They can also decrease symptoms of excema, allergies, and colds. These diseases and symptoms come from bad bacteria, so it’s pretty cool that good bacteria can undo what the bad bacteria is doing!
LET’S TALK!
1. Have you ever taken probiotics or eaten them in yogurt or milk? Did they make you feel better?
2. What can you do to keep yourself healthy?
3. Describe a time to your child when you prevented germs from making you sick and a time when germs made you sick.
#3
LET’S READ!
There are lots of ways to avoid germs so they can’t make you sick. One of those ways is to wash your hands every time you use the bathroom, touch raw food, or interact with sick people. Disinfecting things like phones and doorknobs can be very helpful too! You can use things like wipes and spray to do that; they’ve been specially made to kill as many germs as possible. Regularly using hand sanitizer is another awesome way to kill germs and keep yourself healthy.
But if prevention doesn’t work and you do end up getting sick, there are all kinds of ways to treat that sickness and get rid of the germs in your body. If you have a bacteria, you will often be prescribed antibiotics, which either kill the bacteria or stop it from multiplying so your body can fight it. Antiviral medications can stop some viruses from spreading and from wreaking more havoc in your body, and the medicine used to treat protozoa is called antimalarial medicine. Finally, antifungal medicine is used to kill or stop the growth of fungi, which is most often found in your hair, skin, and nails.
LET’S TALK!
1. Why should you wash your hands after you use the bathroom? Why?
2. Have you ever gotten a flu shot or any other vaccine? What was the experience like and how did it keep you safe?
3. Have you ever had to take antibiotics or antiviral, antimalarial, or antifungal medication? Did the medicine help?
#4
LET’S READ!
Us humans aren’t the only ones who carry germs–animals do, too! The diseases that can be transferred from animals to humans are called “zoonotic diseases.” Two of the most well-known zoonotic diseases are rabies and avian flu.
Rabies is a virus that can be fatal, but it’s treatable! It’s most often found in bats, raccoons, skunks, and foxes, and it’s also common in country dogs. Rabies is most often transmitted through a scratch or bite from the animal. It can be prevented with a rabies vaccine and treated with the same vaccine (as well as another medicine).
Avain flu, on the other hand, is spread by birds. Though it’s well-known, it’s not common for humans to get avian flu. Bird flu causes lots of coughing, body aches, headaches, and shortness of breath. It’s not a very fun time. Thankfully, it’s also treatable!
Finally, there’s one more disease we’ve all heard of that came from an animal. It’s not around as much as it used to be and we can treat it now, but at the time it first happened, it was highly contagious and very fatal–the Bubonic Plague (or the Black Death). This disease was caused by rats that carried bacteria-ridden fleas. It’s a good thing we can easily treat the disease now!
LET’S TALK!
1. Tell your child when they should be worried about feeling sick and when they shouldn’t. (For example, fevers are very normal! High fevers are dangerous.)
2. Do animals have germs?
3. Why should we be grateful for modern medicine and how it can help us?
VOCABULARY WORDS:
germs, sick, cold, flu, cough, bacteria, fungus, sneeze, washing, clean, raw, virus, spread, contagious, unhealthy, protect, medicine, antibiotics, doctor, vaccine
ACTIVITIES:
• Take your child to the grocery store and allow them to pick out a bottle of hand soap they want, then encourage them to use it on a daily basis! Letting them choose their own soap will encourage them to do this. You might even be able to find a kids soap shaped like a dinosaur or something fun like that!
• Make a dish that includes food that’s unsafe to eat raw (like chicken or eggs) and wash your hands with your child each time you’re done handling the raw food. Remind them how important it is to stay germ-free!
• Make a list with your child of all the things you can do because you aren’t sick with germs (like exercise, play, eat, have fun, etc). It’s easy to forget how good life is when we’re healthy!
• Look up what germs look like under a microscope and draw them with your child. Make the good bacteria look cute and fun and the bad bacteria look angry and evil.
RESOURCES:
1. Hand Hygiene: Germy the Germ Gets Washed Away! (YouTube Video)
2. How Germs Spread – Explaining the Science for Kids (YouTube Video)
3. Keep Bad Germs Away – Health and Wellness Song for Kids (YouTube Video)
4. Germ Wars – The story of kids as heroes in preventing germs (YouTube Video)
5. Germs Are Not for Sharing by Elizabeth Verdick (Free Spirit Publishing, 2006)
6. How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon? by Jane Yolen (Blue Sky Press, 2003)
7. The Berenstain Bears Come Clean for School by Jan Berenstain (HarperFestival, 2011)
8. Wash Your Hands by Margaret McNamara (Simon Spotlight, 2010)
