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Help kids all about how germs spread and cause diseases, as well as how to get rid of them – with some fun Crafts and Activities to Teach Kids About Germs!

We’re a few months into the pandemic at this stage, and we’re slowly getting adjusted to the new normal. While Covid-19 has disrupted our lives, it has taught us some important lessons. Improvising, home cooked food, finding little joys – and of course, a renewed interest in hand washing!

Germs have always been a concern of parents, but never more like now. We’re all taking great pains to teach our kids not to touch their faces and how to was their hands, but kids will be kids! 

Rather than giving out empty instructions, it makes more sense to teach our kids why we’re asking them to do this things. And while you’re at it, you might as well make it fun! Here are some fun crafts and activities to teach kids about germs – what they are, how they spread and what we should do.

15 Crafts and Activities to Teach Kids About Germs

1. Germ Paper Craft

Explaining how germs look like can be difficult, especially for little kids. However, this project from Messy Little Monster makes it easier – and a lot more colorful! Make the monsters as icky and dreadful as you like – all the more reason to keep them away!

2. Glitter Germ Experiment

This is a project that has become quite popular, thanks to how effective it is at teaching kids the importance of washing hands with soap. Teaching Exceptional Thinkers makes it pretty with some glitter, and kids will be fascinated to see how soap ‘magically’ keeps germs at bay!

3. Wash your Hands Activity

We may be washing our hands, but unless we do it correctly, we won’t be able to get rid of germs. How Wee Learn has a fun activity with a filled glove, that kids can try to scrub the ‘dirt’ off. This will help them learn that ‘flash washing’ is not enough!

4. How Germs Spread Activity

Germs spread incredibly fast – which is why we have to be constantly alert. Help kids understand the gravity of this with a glitter activity from Gift of Curiosity. Nothing like glitter to prove how something can get transferred from one surface to another in no time!

5. Growing Germs Activity

This is a great project for slightly older kids, and it’s a very good STEM project. Playdough to Plato uses apples to show us the effects of washing our hands properly, and with soap. You can also use bread slices if you can’t find any apples.

6. Soap Paper Craft

Hand wash and sanitizers have become an integral part of our lives now, and for good reason. In case your child is feeling a sense of dread or boredom when it comes to keeping hands clean, this fun project from 10 Minutes of Quality Time should change their attitude towards hand washing.

7. Coughing Katie Craft

Keeping your hands clean is how you can keep yourself safe, but covering your mouth is how you can keep others safe! Get your kids into the habit of keeping the mouth covered – either with a face mask when out and about, or with the elbow when at home. Sight and Sound Reading has a fun paper cup project that teaches these concepts.

8. Learn about Germs Study Unit

If you have an older child and would like to make germ study into a proper lesson, Teachers Pay Teachers has a germ study unit on their website – for free! Learn about the different types of germs and how they affect us with the help of worksheets.

9. Germ Busters Game

You’ve heard of ghost busters, but Teach Beside Me brings us a new concept – germ busters! Have fun this lockdown with a game that provides not just entertainment, but information as well, on how you can be a germ buster and stay safe during this time.

10. Vampire Sneeze Cough Craft

Just like washing your hands correctly is important, it is also crucial to know how to sneeze. 10 Minutes of Quality Time has an interesting craft that features a vampire sneezing – into his elbow! This is very easy to make, but super effective at getting the message across.

11. Germ Blow Painting Art

While teaching kids that they should sneeze into their elbows, it also helps to show them what’ll happen if they don’t do so. Simple Everyday Mom has a blow paint project that demonstrates how far germs can go if you sneeze out in the open. 

12. Pom Pom Germs Craft

This project by The OT Toolbox is another way to show how far germs can go without a face mask or covering. Make the fluffy germs and blow on them and see how far they go. Then put on a face mask and blow again. Kids will be able to understand how a face mask holds back the germs and prevents them from spreading.

13. Clean Hands Sensory Bag

This is a fun project for younger kids, just to show the importance of scrubbing hands properly. Mother Could has a video on this easy sensory bag. Just use a bottle brush to ‘scrub’ away the pom pom ‘germs’ and get your hands squeaky clean!

14. Hand Washing for Kids Activity

If you don’t feel like making a sensory bag, you can try this simple project from What Anika Says. Use a paper soap to scrub away the germs. This works well with the younger set, especially preschoolers.

15. Felt Hand Washing Craft

Library Quine uses felt as a good way to show how sticky germs can be! Stick the germs onto the felt hand, and show kids that a good amount of scrubbing is required to actually get rid of the germs – simply holding hands under running water is not enough.

These crafts and activities help kids understand the various aspects of germs – that they’re gross and should be kept away, how sticky they are, how easily they can spread as well as how face masks and sneezing into the elbow can prevent their spread. Simply lecturing kids about these will not have an impact, so we strongly recommend these fun activities to teach kids about germs!