Vanquishing Viruses

Last weekend we took a roadtrip out to Philadelphia to visit my in-laws.  In the process we had to stop at rest stops to potty, eat, and fill up on gas, which got me thinking that it’s about time to talk to the kids about germs.  The trick here is to inform the kids about germs without creating little germ-a-phobes. 

I start by asking them if they know what germs are.  “They’re yucky stuff.” Answers Bree.  “Not always” I reply, though I was surprised that she had heard the word before.  Maybe all of that money we’re pumping into her private preschool isn’t for naught.  Then I tell them all about germs.  Germs are tiny living things around us that can creep into our bodies.  Some are good and some are bad.  There are 4 kinds of germs: bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa.  I offer no additional explanation on those because the nuances of differences between the 4 types of germs will only confuse the kids.  I do mention them all so that when, later in life, they hear those terms, they’ll at least vaguely recognize the words in the context of germs.  Briana says “I want the fun guy germs to play with me.  Just the fungi.”  We laugh because everyone thinking fungi sounds hilarious.

I continue by telling the kids that germs are tiny creatures that get their food from the environment they live in.  So when you get an ear infection a little bacteria might be in your ear having a party.  Good old images from the Cosby show.  Don’t you remember cute little Rudy telling the germs to stop having a party in her body?  But good bacteria can live in our intestines (tummies) to help us break down our food so we can go potty.  “And pee pee, Abby.  The good germs help us pee pee AND poo poo.” Bree elaborates.  Another thing that good germs do is that they make medicine (vaccines).  I purposefully gave two good examples and one bad one.

Bree then cracks me up by saying “We just have good germs in our family.  All of us have good germs.”  Apparently to Briana germs and genes sound a lot alike.  I let it go.  For the record, that was a joke, I doubt that she knows the word ‘gene’ and I am not so vain as to tell my kids that our family has good genes (Think it maybe, but not say it.  Just kidding again.)

Sometimes the germs you get can make you sick, especially the viruses, because they take up all of our energy.

Today we’re going to do an experiment on germs.

How Do The Germs Get Into Our Bodies?

I ask the kids – How do the germs get into our bodies?  Briana continues on a made up story that I couldn’t possibly relate accurately.  Then I tell them that people already have good and bad germs in them when they’re born.   We get new ones through the air or by touching things.  When we sneeze or cough, sometimes our sick germs get out and that’s why we use tissues to catch our coughs – so other people don’t get our sick germs.  “Then we throw the tissues in the trash can and then the trash can gets the germs because trash cans can’t get sick.”  Sure.

Then we do a little experiment -

I cover a pen with a little lotion and then lots of glitter and tell each kid to pick it up and color a picture.  Briana doesn’t want to touch the pen because she’s not a big fan of getting dirty, but I get her to hold it for a few seconds and color.  Then I tell them that the glitter represents germs and show them everywhere the glitter gets from one dirty pen.  In a few short minutes, glitter has gotten in their hair, hands, face, table, etc.  Good thing I waited to give them baths.  They see the glitter all over and I’ll say that’s how germs spread.  You touch stuff with germs on it and they get on you.  After that I run around dodging the “germs” the kids are trying to get all over Mommy.  My poor, glittery pants!

How Can We Get Rid Of The Germs?

“So how can we get rid of germs?” I ask.  Briana oddly answers “Spitting!  Spit the germs out.”  Ew.  “No. “ I quickly answer before she spits on everything.

There are lots of ways, but the two best are to cook your food and wash your hands.  “Grandparents never get germs.  They cook lots and lots and lots of food.  That’s why grandparents don’t get germs.”  Briana tells me.  She is cracking me up today!  I guess we have recently had Thanksgiving, Christmas, and my mother in law’s birthday party with the kids lately, so there has been a lot of cooking when they’re around.

“Would you like to make your very own soap to wash the germs away?” I ask while cleaning the kids up from the glitterfest.  I tell Briana that she can make her own soap when she gets up from her nap.  Because Abby has a propensity to eat whatever she touches, she’s excluded from the soap making, and we make it while she’s napping.

Making soap can range from very technical and dangerous (think containing and handling lye safely in your kitchen) to very easy, relatively safe (risks more along the lines of splashing and/or touching hot liquid), and fun.  Of course for the kids the latter is the only way to go. 

Step 1: Melt the glycerin (Incidentally all of these steps are basically the same from this point if you had started from scratch.  The hard part is in rendering the fat into glycerin).  You can buy glycerin at any hobby store.  I already had some in the house because I enjoy making my own soaps…well, I did before having kids…so I had some uniquely made blends.  I let Briana pick and she choose, based solely on look and smell, a clarified hemp oil base, and an avocado cucumber glycerin base.  Whatever you buy will work the same way, but the end result will vary in smell, texture, and color.   If you don’t buy a purified version (and you care enough) check and see what else is in it as hobby soap bases a lot of time have shea butter, oils, and other stuff in it already.

I milled the bases before we started just so that they would melt more quickly and at a slightly lower temperature.  FYI, milling soap basically just means setting it up into a soap and then shredding it and resetting it into soap.  Lots of times you’ll see “French milled” or “cold processed (which is not actually done cold, just at lower temperatures)” or “triple milled” or “hard milled” and all they mean is that the soap was made without additives, grated in different ways, and remade with additives.  If you don’t want to go get glycerin, take a regular bar of soap in your house and grate it down and then melt it and follow the next 2 steps. 

I took the quickest route and microwaved the milled soap bases for 20 seconds in a bowl specific for soap.  We made one batch, washed out the bowl and then made the second.  If you do this at home, please don’t use the soap making bowl as an eating or cooking bowl anymore.  It is now a soap making bowl or a trashed bowl. 

 FYI, there’s really no need for safety goggles in melt and pour soapmaking, but with toddlers, overprotection is better.  Plus, Briana thought it seemed more like “good chemistry when you wear safety glasses”.

Step 2: Decorate

Like I said, I love soap making so I have a million things to add to soap from performance additives (like cocoa butter) to texture additives (like salts) to aesthetic additives (like lavender petals).  There is NOTHING that is in my kitchen that hasn’t gone in a batch of soap to see what would happen.  Some examples of things to try are:
*coffee (which I use to make soaps for my mom a lot because she’s an avid gardener and coffee is a natural deodorizer - ironic if you kiss someone with coffee breath – but it really does remove odors in soap form),

*Vitamin E (we used to always open the vitamin E pellets when I was a kid and rub them on our skin to make it stay baby soft, but in soap it also works as a stabilizer if you want to put fruit or something else that goes bad in your soap), 

*Basil (which is a natural antibacterial component, though you’re going to want to pick a dark color for the bar, and use a stabilizer with any leafy herb)

Ok, you get the point and I’m getting carried away.

With the kids I only allowed 2 additives so as not to get too carried away and to control the overall mess- scent and colorant.  In general I try to use natural ingredients to adjust scent and color in my soaps so I have a LOT of unused synthetic colorants and scents so I figured this was a good way to use them up to be honest.  In retrospect it probably would have been more informative to show Bree how to use everyday things in the house to control the look and smell of our soaps, but oh well, I guess we’ll have to have a lesson on using natural ingredients or something and make soap again another day.

Briana picked out orange with an apple scent and yellow with a lemon verbena scent for her soaps and added those things to the melted soap bases with droppers.

Step 3: Pour and wait

Once you’ve mixed your base to your liking, pour it into a mold and wait a few hours for it to set up.  Then pop it out and it’s ready to use.  I do buy soap molds but you don’t need to.  I use random things that I find in the house just as often.  Ice cube trays are great.  The top of battery packs makes a decent massaging bar, depending on the count, size, and orientation.   Toy packages have a million shapes for guest bathroom/ display soaps.  The biggest benefit to purchased molds is that you can use them multiple times and of course you can get fancier designs that way.  Also, look outside the soap aisle if you can’t find one you like.  The seashell mold that we used today was from the candy making aisle, though I ask myself every time I use it why so many people want seashelled shaped candy.  Many materials work so play around.  Importantly though – once you’ve made soap in it, save it for other soap projects or throw it away.  Don’t reuse it!

 When the soaps dry the kids wash their hands so happily and tell Daddy how they are washing the germs off so they could stay healthy.

 (In case you’re wondering, Bree got wet in the first washing with the new soap and changed into a butterfly dress so Abby had to have her fairy wings on.  “I fly!  I fly too!” she screamed while pointing to Bree’s dress.)

Now that we’re armed with knowledge, we can keep the bad germs away.  I’m crossing my fingers for a sickness free winter!

 <3 Pedigreed Housewife