desymbol: Dad Uses Water, Black Pepper And Soap To Teach His Kids To Wash Hands During Coronavirus Pandemic

While the coronavirus still poses some questions to scientists, one thing is clear — regularly washing your hands is one of the most effective ways of preventing the contraction and spread of the virus. Adults throughout the world already armed themselves with soap and hand sanitizer, picked out their favorite songs to single along for 20 seconds while scrubbing their hands, and, of course, immersed themselves in handwashing memes. Yet convincing little kids to wash their hands may take a little bit of effort. While all parents teach their kids basic hygiene, children may not understand why it’s even more important to stay clean during the coronavirus outbreak.

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Recently, one dad from Finland shared a simple science experiment that helped his daughter to learn why she must wash her hands

Luckily, there’s a simple way to teach kids why soap is crucial in keeping the virus away from them and it involves just a little bit of science. Parents and teachers are remembering something they probably did at school: the water surface tension experiment. The experiment is done in a rather simple way: fill the bowl with water and then sprinkle pepper evenly on top of it. In a separate bowl place some liquid soap then place the tip of your finger in a bowl of soap and once it’s covered with it, then stick your finger in the bowl with water and pepper. During the last step, you’ll notice that the pepper flakes have moved to the sides of the bowl. That happens because soap breaks down the surface tension of water and that’s why it is such a good cleaner.

Recently a father named Ari Mäkiö from Finland posted a viral video with this experiment inspired by others using it to teach children about the importance of washing their hands during the coronavirus outbreak. In the video, you can see Ari performing the experiment alongside his daughter and as the pepper shots away to the sides after his daughter put her soap covered finger in it, he tells her that ‘viral run away’.

While the experiment doesn’t demonstrate how soap breaks down the virus, it became a good metaphor that helps children to understand how to protect themselves in a very easy way.