Healthy Habits Time

Curriculum Context

Learning Area: Health and Physical Education
Level: Curriculum Level 1 (suitable for Year 2 & 3 students)
Strand: Personal Health and Physical Development
Achievement Objective:
Students will describe and use safe and hygienic practices to address basic health needs — including handwashing, personal cleanliness, brushing teeth, and managing sneezes and coughs.

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Lesson Overview

This 40-minute interactive hygiene lesson is designed to engage 20 Year 2–3 students in practical learning experiences. Using games, songs, demonstration, and stories, students will learn about the importance of everyday hygiene routines such as:

• Washing hands
• Brushing teeth
• Changing into clean clothes
• Showering regularly
• Sneezing and coughing into elbows

These practices support the wellbeing of both individuals and the classroom community. Special emphasis is placed on self-awareness, routine development, and making hygiene fun and memorable.

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Learning Intentions

By the end of this session, students will:

• Understand and describe the importance of key hygiene practices.
• Correctly demonstrate basic hygiene routines.
• Recognise how good hygiene helps us stay healthy and protects others too.

Success Criteria:

Students can:

• Demonstrate proper hand-washing technique using the steps taught
• Explain in their own words why we need to brush our teeth, change clothes, and shower regularly
• Show the correct way to sneeze or cough to prevent germs spreading
• Participate enthusiastically in activities and recount what they learned

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Preparation Checklist

Materials Needed	Purpose
Glitter & hand lotion	Simulates germs
Large laminated posters showing hygiene routines (e.g. handwashing, toothbrushing)	Visual aids
Two dolls or puppets with “clean” and “dirty” clothing	Clothing hygiene roleplay
Toothbrush and model teeth (or laminated diagrams)	Teeth-brushing demo
Mirror (small or full)	Brushing movement practice
Whiteboard and markers	Group brainstorm
Tissues & 'Germ Busters' cape or badge	Sneeze/cough activity
Hygiene song lyrics	Singing & movement activity

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Lesson Sequence (40 Minutes)

1. Energiser & Hook (5 minutes)

Activity: Play “Glitter Germs”

• Teacher rubs glitter-lotion on own hands and high-fives a few students.
• Students quickly realise the glitter has spread — representing how germs do too!
• Mini-discussion: “How can we stop these sparkly germs?”

Purpose: Engaging, sensory hook to introduce hygiene in a fun and relatable way.

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2. Group Discovery – “What is hygiene?” (5 minutes)

Activity: Whiteboard Brainstorm

• Ask: “What does hygiene mean?”
• Prompt: Clean hands? Shower? Teeth? Clothes?
• Record audience answers visibly on the board.

Purpose: Activates prior knowledge. Builds shared understanding of the term.

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3. Hands-On Hygiene Circuit (20 minutes total)

Students rotate through 4 mini-stations (5 minutes each, groups of 5).

🚰 Station 1: Super Soap Hands

• Teacher demonstrates handwashing steps: Wet – Soap – Scrub (20 secs) – Rinse – Dry.
• Students practise their own. “Sing Happy Birthday twice!”

🦷 Station 2: Big Smiles!

• Model teeth or laminated diagram
• Show up/down/circle brushing movements
• Students pretend brushes and practise in mirrors

👚 Station 3: Dress the Puppet!

• Two dolls: one “clean”, one “dirty”
• Kids sort clothing, deciding when to change and why (e.g. sweaty shirt after PE!)

😷 Station 4: Sneeze & Cough Heroes

• Roleplay coughing/sneezing into elbow
• Use tissues, then hand sanitiser
• Each child puts on a 'Germ Buster' badge or cape after using correct procedures

Purpose: Kinesthetic and visual learners are engaged. Keeps energy high and embeds learning through doing.

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4. Story Time Reflection (5 minutes)

Activity: Read aloud a hygiene-themed picture book (e.g. "Germs Are Not for Sharing").

• Pause at key points – “What could [character] have done better?”
• Ask students to pair-share with a buddy:
  “What hygiene rule is hardest to remember?” “Which one is easiest?”

Purpose: Offers winding down time while reinforcing messages through narrative.

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5. Wrap Up & Waiata (5 minutes)

Activity: Class creates a “Hygiene Heroes” chant or song

• Keep it simple and repetitive (chorus ideas: "Wash, rinse, sparkle bright! Hygiene heroes do it right!”)
• Encourage actions: scrubbing, brushing, sneezing into elbow.

Purpose: Ends lesson on a high, students co-create a learning artefact. Incorporates music and movement.

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Assessment & Extension

Formative Observation:

• Did students participate confidently in activities?
• Did they demonstrate the correct technique in stations?

Reflection Journal (Optional Extension/Homework):

• Students draw or write one hygiene routine they practised today and when they do it at home (e.g. “I brush my teeth every morning and night”).

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Māori Perspectives & Culture Richness

• Include te reo for key words:
  • Horoi ringa – Wash hands
  • Paraihe niho – Brush teeth
  • Hāpainga kaka horoi – Change clean clothes
  • Tiki horoi – Have a shower/bath
  • Hā ki te tuke – Cough into elbow
• Embed values of manaakitanga (caring for others) and hauora (wellbeing)
• Consider local iwi stories or pūrākau that link to caring for our tinana (bodies) and te taiao (environment)

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Teaching Approach

This plan is designed for whole-child development – cognitive, emotional, and physical. It honours play-based learning, movement, visual cues, group collaboration, and individual reflection.

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Ka Pai Tip for Teachers

End with a class hygiene hero badge they can wear or take home — something as small as a sticker shaped like a soap bubble with “I’m a Hygiene Hero!” adds a sense of pride and ownership.

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He waka eke noa – We're all in this together!
Together, through daily hygiene habits, our tamariki create a healthy, kind, and confident classroom culture.