Germ Sharing

Show children how germs can lead to disease with a handshake activity. Think of several ailments, such
as the flu, colds, pink eye, strep throat and bronchitis. Before the game, assign each ailment with a
number. Also have some numbers represent good hand washing, keeping hands out of the mouth, not
sharing drinks and other ideas for preventing the spread of germs. On several slips of paper, write the
numbers you've chosen to represent the diseases and tips, one number on each slip. Assign each child a
number---the child shouldn't know which ailment he or she has been assigned---and give the child a slip
of paper with his or her number on it. For a predetermined amount of time, allow children to walk about
the room and shake hands with as many children as they can. When they shake hands, they should
exchange numbers. At the end of the predetermined time, look at the numbers each child is holding and
tell each child if he or she is sick or if the child has been saved by following a good sanitation tip. The
infected children should sit down, and play should continue until there have been enough rounds to
have one healthy winner.

Trash or Recycling
Children can learn how to keep the planet clean by playing a game that teaches them which items can
be recycled and which can't. Arrange children into groups of four. Each group should have two bins and
several cutouts of trash or recycling, such as a newspaper, chicken bones, milk carton, and old
eyeglasses. Give the children five minutes to quickly go through their cutouts and determine which
items belong in the trash can and which items belong in the recycling bin. At the end of the
predetermined time, the group with the most correct choices wins.

Safe Water
Children can work to make water clean with a water safety game. After explaining that water could have
pollutants, arrange children into groups of four. Place a bucket of water in front of each group. In each
bucket of water, have a dozen or so table-tennis balls with possible contaminants, such as lead, arsenic
and copper. See the Environmental Protection Agency's list of possible contaminants for more. About
five or six feet in front of the water bucket, place another bucket. Children should race to see which
group can throw the table-tennis contaminants from the water bucket to the dry bucket. If a table-
tennis ball misses the dry bucket, it has to go back in the water and be thrown again. The first group to
rid its water of contaminants is the winner.