Workshop to offer a child’s view of germs

Kimberley McGee

Friday, Jan. 18, 2002 | 9:17 a.m.

When: 1 p.m. Monday.

Where: Lied Discovery Children's Museum, 833 Las Vegas Blvd. North.

Tickets: $6; $5 for children age 12 and under.

Information: 382-3445.

Creepy, crawly germs thrive on unwashed skin, phone receivers and the bars of the playground jungle gym.

The simplest way to fight back against bacteria, especially for children who share hugs and their can of soda with their little friends, is to wash your hands -- really well, said Barbara Paulsen, a registered dietician for the Dairy Council of Nevada.

Paulsen will teach a one-hour food safety workshop for children on Monday at Lied Discovery Children's Museum.

She uses colored chalk, fact sheets, stickers and other props to draw the children's attention to the lesson at hand -- that clean digits and proper food handling can help cut back on colds and coughs.

"We can't make a germ-free environment," Paulsen said, "but we can show them a couple of ways to reduce the spreading of germs."

The workshop is a collaboration between the museum and Smith's Food & Drug Centers, said Emily Newberry, public affairs director for the children's museum. It is an extension of Smith's interactive, child-friendly grocery store exhibit on the first floor of the children's museum.

The grocery-store chain's hands-on exhibit features aisles of faux-frozen, fresh and refrigerated foods, a checkout line with a fully functional cash register and mini-grocery carts, all built for small hands, eyes and ears.

It intends to teach the importance of the safe handling of food, such as why cold cuts need to stay cold, as well as nutrition, Newberry said.

"They can look at the exhibit through a child's eyes and better understand shopping and food handling," Newberry said. "They may not be aware of what happens and how quickly (spoilage) happens."

Typical germs from food, or bacteria from a cold begin to double in quantity within 30 minutes, Paulsen said.

By washing hands the proper way, germs don't have a chance to spread to other people, places or things, Paulsen said.

The American Dietetic Association recently reported that thorough hand washing reduces cases of food-borne illnesses, such as food poisoning, by half.

A good hand washing should take 20-30 seconds, or the amount of time it takes to sing a chorus of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" twice, Paulsen said.

By singing the classic song, Paulsen said, children know how long they should stand at the sink and wash in between their fingers, the back of the hands, wrists and under their fingernails.

"Teaching them the song is a good reminder to ensure that their hands are completely clean," Paulsen said. "They need little reminders."

Paulsen will also teach a proper food handling workshop at the museum Feb. 18 and nutrition classes March 25-28.

"It's fun," Paulsen said. "Hopefully they will get a better awareness of things they can do on a daily basis to protect their health."