Teacher’s kinda gross ‘Bread Trick’ is the hand-washing inspiration that kids need

Washing your hands has always been an easy and effective way to avoid germs but it has taken on a whole new level of importance this year. Whereas flu season was always a proper time to remind people about the importance of hand-washing in years past, 2020 has felt like one endless flu season thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scrubbing your hands with some soap and water has been proven time and again to help you avoid the flu, common colds and even the coronavirus. The problem is that sometimes all of us — even our children — get so busy that we neglect to take such a simple step.

Well, thanks to a viral (in a good way) experiment by a teacher in Tennessee called the “bread trick,” we’re all getting a visual lesson in the importance of washing our hands.

Elementary school teacher Courtney Lee Simpson shared a very telling image on Facebook of an experiment she conducted several years ago with her students to hammer home the importance of washing hands.

All it required was three slices of bread, three plastic baggies, a disposable glove — and some germs.

“You let all the kids see you put a piece of bread in a baggy with a glove on hence ‘controlled,'” Simpson wrote in her post. “Then, you wash your hands and put a piece of bread in a baggy for ‘clean.’ Last, but definitely not least, you pass a piece of bread around and let every kid in class touch it then you put it in a baggy and label it ‘dirty.'”

The results were pretty shocking and definitely disgusting.

Ugh, so gross, right?!

Since germs are invisible, this seems like a perfect way to show kids just how easily they can spread simply by touching things.

“Watch how the bread changes over time due to germs,” Simpson wrote. “It is so cool and a great way to teach the importance of hand washing.”

Simpson first shared the photo in 2014 after the bread had been on the wall for about five or six weeks. She said she repeats this project with her students every year, and she asks the kids to write or draw about the bread’s status each week. How cool!

Adults are loving Simpson’s “bread trick,” too, commenting on the post with praise for her unique way of teaching her students and tagging their own teacher friends, saying they should try it out with their own classes. The post has been shared more than 300,000 times across Facebook.

Other Ways To Prevent The Flu

Along with washing your hands, some other important steps to take when it comes to battling the flu include eating foods rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and following steps to keep germs out of your home in the first place, like not wearing your shoes indoors and wiping down light switches, door handles and commonly touched devices.

Correction: This article was updated to properly credit the teacher who conducted the experiment with her students. A previous version incorrectly identified the teacher and author of the Facebook post. We regret the error.