**Note: This page is for educational inspiration and is not officially affiliated with Global Handwashing Day. Global Handwashing Day is an annual global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases. It is observed annually on October 15th and was co-founded by the Global Handwashing Partnership. For official information and to learn more, please visit their website (www.globalhandwashing.org/global-handwashing-day).
Thursday 15th October 2026
Understanding Global Handwashing Day in EYFS & KS1
Wash, wash, wash your hands! 💧 Global Handwashing Day is an annual global advocacy day celebrated on October 15th. It's dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases. Co-founded by the Global Handwashing Partnership, this day highlights the critical role hand hygiene plays in keeping us all healthy.
For early years settings, nurseries, preschools, childminders, and Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, this day provides a vital and practical theme for exploring health, hygiene, personal care, and germs. It's about teaching children a fundamental life skill that protects them and others from illness, fostering healthy habits, and understanding how simple actions can have a big impact. This day offers fantastic planning ideas and inspiration for engaging activities that truly resonate with young minds, making learning about health and well-being both engaging and essential.
Why Is Teaching About Handwashing Important for Young Children?
Integrating lessons about handwashing and hygiene into your practice with young children (aged 0-7) is incredibly important for fostering their understanding of personal health, preventing the spread of illness, and building lifelong healthy habits. Young children are particularly susceptible to germs, making this a crucial area of learning.
Disease Prevention: The most direct benefit is teaching children how to reduce the spread of germs and protect themselves and others from colds, flu, and other illnesses.
Personal Responsibility: It empowers children to take an active role in their own health and well-being.
Understanding Germs: It introduces the concept of invisible germs and how they can make us sick, making handwashing more meaningful.
Routine Building: Establishing regular handwashing routines at key times (before eating, after toilet) instills good habits for life.
Community Health: Understanding that handwashing protects not just themselves but also their friends, family, and community fosters a sense of collective responsibility.
Engaging Handwashing & Hygiene Activities for Global Handwashing Day (0-7 Year Olds)
Make Global Handwashing Day a truly hands-on and health-focused experience with these planning ideas and activities perfect for EYFS and KS1 children. The focus is on learning the 'how' and 'why' of clean hands! Many of these early years and year 1 activities can be supported by the extensive range of printable resources we have available on our dedicated Handwashing & Hygiene page.
Here's some inspiration for making hygiene fun in your setting: (Please use your own discretion and knowledge of your children to ensure appropriateness of each activity and safety concerning any materials given and activity undertaken.)
Handwashing Song & Dance: Use familiar tunes with handwashing lyrics to make the process memorable and fun. Our song-based handwashing resources resources include 'If you're happy and you know it wash your hands', 'Hey diddle diddle', ‘Once I caught a fish alive', 'Hickory dickory dock', 'Incy Wincy/Itsy Bitsy spider', 'Twinkle Twinkle little star', 'Happy Birthday'. Each also has a Colouring version to reinforce learning.
Demonstrate Proper Handwashing: Visually demonstrate the steps of proper handwashing (wet, soap, scrub for 20 seconds, rinse, dry). You could use glitter glue on hands to represent germs and show how thorough washing removes them.
"When Do We Wash Our Hands?" Discussion: Talk about the important times to wash hands throughout the day. Use our targeted posters: 'After you cough, sneeze or blow your nose...wash your hands!' poster, 'Before eating...wash your hands!' poster, 'After using the toilet...wash your hands!' poster, 'After playtime...wash your hands!' poster, and 'After being in the outdoor area...wash your hands!' poster. Each poster also has a Colouring poster version.
Handwashing Display: Create a clear and engaging display in your washing area. Use 'Wash your hands!' - display pack and 'Wash your hands!' banner/reminder.
Germ Art: Have children draw or paint "germs" (little monsters or colourful blobs) and then discuss how washing hands gets rid of them.
Role-Play Doctors/Nurses: Link handwashing to keeping people healthy. Our ‘Medicine: 'Doctors and Nurses' page is a good resource for this, with ideas for doctor's surgery role-play.
Story Time: Books about Germs/Hygiene: Read age-appropriate books that explain germs and the importance of cleanliness.
Healthy Habits Chart: Create a class chart to track when children remember to wash their hands without prompting, celebrating their growing independence.
Explore Related Pages: For more comprehensive support on health and well-being, visit our dedicated pages:
These activities offer great inspiration for making Global Handwashing Day a memorable and impactful experience in your early years and Key Stage One setting, fostering personal hygiene, health awareness, and a proactive approach to well-being.
To explore ideas surrounding additional early years events, please visit our 'Special Dates Calendar' page.
Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: ‘Global Handwashing Day’
Please visit our ‘Handwashing & Hygiene’ page for our entire catalogue of resources.
Fun poster to help children judge how long they should wash their hands for.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Fun colouring poster to help children judge how long they should wash their hands for. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Fun poster to help children judge how long they should wash their hands for.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Fun colouring poster to help children judge how long they should wash their hands for. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Fun poster to help children judge how long they should wash their hands for.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Fun colouring poster to help children judge how long they should wash their hands for. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Fun poster to help children judge how long they should wash their hands for.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Fun colouring poster to help children judge how long they should wash their hands for. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Fun poster to help children judge how long they should wash their hands for.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Fun colouring posters to help children judge how long they should wash their hands for. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Fun poster to help children judge how long they should wash their hands for.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Fun colouring poster to help children judge how long they should wash their hands for. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Fun poster to help children judge how long they should wash their hands for.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Fun colouring poster to help children judge how long they should wash their hands for. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Part of a set of ‘Wash your hands!’ colouring posters. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Part of a set of ‘Wash your hands!’ colouring posters. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
This display pack condenses the ‘When to wash your hands’ posters into slightly smaller A5 posters to fit on a single display board with a banner.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Part of a set of ‘When to wash your hands’ colouring posters. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters. This set is a colouring version of our display pack with A5 sized posters as an alternative to the separate A4 sized ones.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Part of a set of ‘When to wash your hands’ posters. Choose which ones are appropriate for your setting. Perhaps even place these A4 posters in particular places scattered around your setting as visual reminders for everyone at certain times of the day in certain places.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Part of a set of ‘When to wash your hands’ colouring posters. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Part of a set of ‘When to wash your hands’ posters. Choose which ones are appropriate for your setting. Perhaps even place these A4 posters in particular places scattered around your setting as visual reminders for everyone at certain times of the day in certain places.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Part of a set of ‘When to wash your hands’ colouring posters. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Part of a set of ‘When to wash your hands’ posters. Choose which ones are appropriate for your setting. Perhaps even place these A4 posters in particular places scattered around your setting as visual reminders for everyone at certain times of the day in certain places.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Part of a set of ‘When to wash your hands’ colouring posters. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Part of a set of ‘When to wash your hands’ posters. Choose which ones are appropriate for your setting. Perhaps even place these A4 posters in particular places scattered around your setting as visual reminders for everyone at certain times of the day in certain places.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Part of a set of ‘When to wash your hands’ colouring posters. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Part of a set of ‘When to wash your hands’ posters. Choose which ones are appropriate for your setting. Perhaps even place these A4 posters in particular places scattered around your setting as visual reminders for everyone at certain times of the day in certain places.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Part of a set of ‘When to wash your hands’ colouring posters. To aid increased engagement with the ‘Wash your hands’ messaging, we have created colouring versions of all of our posters.
Original artwork drawn by Sara Murphy and final digital resources created by Stuart Murphy. COPYRIGHT ON ALL OF THE RESOURCES HOUSED ON THIS WEBSITE IS HELD BY ‘LITTLE OWLS RESOURCES’. OUR RESOURCES (INCLUDING THE IMAGES WITHIN THEM), CANNOT BE SHARED OR SOLD COMMERCIALLY.
DOWNLOAD EDITABLE (DOCX)
DOWNLOAD NON-EDITABLE (PDF)
Please visit our ‘Handwashing & Hygiene’ page for even more resources.
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Disclaimer:
This page is for educational purposes only and is intended to support early years and primary practitioners with ideas and resources related to 'Global Handwashing Day'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by the Global Handwashing Partnership, which co-founded this day. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this event. For official information and to learn more about global handwashing initiatives, please visit their website at www.globalhandwashing.org.
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