In my dissertation, I researched how incentives affect the hygienic condition in a kindergarten. In the theoretical part, I wrote about the history of hygiene, that is, from the first attempts of a soap to the first guidelines for hand washing. I focused on hand hygiene, when and how to wash our hands, and on hand disinfection. I also summarized some research in which there were examples of activities that we can do in kindergarten. I also wrote about the hygiene of sneezing/coughing and wiping a nose, and there I also mentioned some activities for wiping a nose and learning to blow a nose. Finally, I write about the hygiene in indoor areas.
Empirical part involved 34 pre-school teachers and 18 children from the age group 2—4 years. Pre-school teachers participated in an anonymous survey questionnaire containing 17 closed, open and combined questions. The children participated in the activity; before and after the activity, I observed the children washing their hands, sneezing/coughing and wiping their noses, and entered the data in observation sheets. Research has shown that pre-school teachers support hand washing, proper sneezing/coughing and wiping the nose. It is important for them to wash their hands before lunch, after use or. assistance in toilets and after arrival from outside premises. They also find it important to throw the handkerchief in the bin after use. However, they do not find it so important to wash their hands every time they sneeze/cough. Pre-school teachers plan activities from various fields that promote hygiene. They allow children to be independent in taking care of their hygiene, but pre-school teachers are still checking how well the children are doing. Pre-school teachers often remind children to wash their hands, but children, depending on their age, are in the minority or in most cases independent in taking care of hygiene. The motivation for learning hygiene was provided by a puppet, which the children were enthusiastic about and expressed great interest in the content. With just one day of activity, I noticed great advances in child hygiene, both in theory and in practice. The results showed that hand hygiene, sneezing/coughing and wiping the nose increased after the performed activity.
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