Handwashing is the highest-value health intervention in a childcare centre by a wide margin. It is also, with toddlers, an exercise in patient repetition.
When we wash
The list is fixed and posted at every sink:
- On arrival
- Before and after eating
- After toileting or a nappy change
- After coming in from outside
- After sensory play, messy activities, or handling animals
- After a nose is wiped
- Any time hands are visibly dirty
Staff wash on the same schedule plus a longer list. In a room of twelve children under three, adult hands are the main transmission route, and adult handwashing matters more than the children's.
How we actually teach it
Soap, warm water, and twenty seconds. The twenty seconds is the part everybody skips. We use a song, because a two-year-old will not watch a clock but will finish a song.
Backs of hands, between fingers, thumbs. Children left to themselves wash palms only. It takes months of naming the parts before it sticks.
Dry properly. Damp hands transfer more than dry ones, so drying is part of the routine rather than an afterthought.
Step stools everywhere. A child who cannot reach the tap cannot build a habit. This is the most common practical barrier in a home bathroom.
Soap they like. Foaming soap gets used. A hard bar in a slippery dish does not.
What we do not do
Hand sanitiser as a substitute for young children. It is useful on an outing where there is no sink, but it is less effective on visibly dirty hands, it stings broken skin, and it is not something we want a toddler putting near their mouth. Soap and water first, always.
The Edmonton winter hands problem
By January most children's hands are chapped, and sore hands mean a child who resists washing. Then the habit breaks and illness spreads.
The fix is unglamorous: a thick, plain moisturiser after washing and before going outside. We keep some in every room. Send a tube if your child needs a specific one for eczema, and tell us.
What to do at home
Match the daycare list — before eating, after the toilet, after coming inside. Consistency across settings makes the habit far stickier.
And wash your own hands alongside them. A two-year-old will not follow an instruction they never see anyone else obey.
Our full illness and hygiene policies are covered in the FAQ.
