This awesome video from a teacher explains how to use pepper to combat coronavirus. With simple ingredients like black pepper  and some dish soap to demonstrate the importance of hand washing in preventing the spread of diseases (like coronavirus). It is a simple and dramatic illustration of the importance of soap and washing your hands. Hopefully after seeing this video, and doing the experiment, your kids will never look at hand washing the same.

Instructions

1. Put water on a plate.
2. Add normal black pepper to the plate.
3. Have the child touch the plate and see how the pepper transfers to their hands.
4. Put some dish soap on the child’s hand.
5. Have them put there finger in the middle of the plate.
6. Watch as the pepper quickly “runs away” from the soap.

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When it comes to kids and the Covid-19 outbreak, I have two major concerns related to how we help kids not only endure the current situation, but move forward in a healthy way.

My first concern is the impact that the stress of this outbreak will have on kids, and particularly on children who have already experienced another trauma in their young lives. We will deal with this topic in future articles here on Hope 4 Hurting Kids.

My second major concern is how we prepare kids for grief related to a pandemic. On a smaller scale, there are likely many kids who are currently experiencing grief related to the loss of their normal routine. More importantly, given the daily projections of deaths which may be experienced related to this outbreak, it is likely that there will be hundreds of thousands of kids who face the very real prospect of grieving the loss of someone they love either already or in the very near future.

For many kids, one of their first experiences of grief relates to the loss of grandparent. Given that Covid-19 appears to have a disproportionate impact on the elderly, many kids may face that task sooner than they would have otherwise. We live in a grief avoiding culture, but unfortunately, we will all be faced with grief in the coming weeks.

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The good folks at Sesame Street have some great resources on hand washing, or as I like to call it “Hand Washing Sesame Street Style.”

These resources pre-date the current Covid-19 pandemic, but they are great for teaching kids about the importance of hand washing. The resources include a video:

The video includes the following description:

Together, enjoy Bebe’s handwashing song. Then, ask kids to describe each of Bebe’s steps. Remind kids: first comes water, then the soap. Then you scrub, rinse, and dry! You might also ask, “Why do you think this family is called the Feelingwells?” “Why and when is it important to wash your hands?”

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This awesome graphic from the Orange County Public Libraries offers kids helpful tips with engaging graphics to help in preventing the spread of Covid-19. Click here, or on the graphic above, for a full page pdf version that can be printed.

Use this graphic to talk to your child about the virus, prevention and any feelings they may be experiencing as their world changes in response to the pandemic.

For more information and resources related to Covid-19, please visit our Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Resource Page.

There is no doubt that cornoavirus and the various stay-at-home orders that have come along with it have created a lot of stress, and kids are feeling that stress as well. This site from Save the Children offers six different methods for helping kids deal with the stress of coronavirus including:

1. Flower and Candle
2. Lemon
3. Lazy Cat
4. Feather/Statue
5. Stress Balls
6. Turtle

These are all great forms of progressive relaxation. I would encourage you to try all of them with your children and see which one(s) they react to the best.

My personal favorite is Lemon. Here are the instructions for that technique: Continue reading

This great graphic from Lucy Knisley combined the popular song Frere Jacques with proper hand washing technique. Frere Jacques Hand Washing is a fun way to remind kids the importance of washing properly and for the proper amount of time in prevention of the Covid-19 virus.

For more information and resources related to Covid-19, please visit our Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Resource Page.

Schools around the nation and around the world are closing to help prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. While your kids may have initially been excited at the prospect of missing school, the reality of not seeing their friends and the impact of losing their daily routine will soon begin to weigh on them. Fortunately, the organization Save the Children has some sound advice to for helping kids cope with school closures.

They suggest the following six steps (along with my own comments on each):

1. Set the Stage. Let your children know what is going on. Make sure to use age appropriate language, but know that your silence on the current circumstances does not help. In the end, if you don’t give them information, they will fill in the blanks with their own ideas…which are likely even worse than reality.

2. Stay on Schedule. Daily rhythms and routines help to reduce stress. It doesn’t have to look exactly like it did pre-covid-19, but set up some sort of schedule for bedtimes, wakeup time and your day and stick to it. But, show yourself (and them) grace because, as we all know, schedules aren’t always met.

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There is a lot of information out there these days for parents on how to talk to kids about coronavirus, and we are trying our best here at Hope 4 Hurting Kids to share as much of it as possible. However, there is not enough information directed specifically to kids. This guide from the website Live Science is an awesome comprehensive guide and earns its title as the ultimate kids’ guide to coronavirus.

The articles is written in language kids can understand and covers questions many kids have including:

• What is a virus?
• What is the coronavirus?
• Where did the coronavirus come from?
• How does the virus get into cells in the body?
• How does it make people sick?
• How will I know if I get it?
• What can I do to help?
• Should I be worried?
• What is being done to keep us safe?
• Will my school close?
• Will I be able to see my friends?
• When could the coronavirus outbreak end?

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This awesome video from Kim St. Lawrence explains to kids the importance of social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic and reassures them that things will get back to normal sometime. If you have young children (toddlers through early elementary), I encourage you to watch this video with them.

Things are not always what they seem. The young adults in your life may be exhibiting some behaviors that have you at your wit’s end. I would encourage to look past the behavior your child is exhibiting to what is causing it and realize that it may just be your teenager’s reaction to social distancing.

As the helpful graphic above (from joyfulcourage.com) illustrates, teenagers who are acting out are likely experiencing the impact of social isolation. At a time in their lives where the influence of friends has likely surpassed the influence of family, we have asked these kids to stay in a confined space with….you guessed it…their family. While the time together may be welcome to parents who have missed having their “baby” around, it is taxing on these kids who would rather be doing normal teenage stuff (life hanging out with their friends).