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Teaching Kids About Coronoavirus Doesn't Have To Be Scary
How to use humor and play to educate kids
Recently, I visited a friend of mine who has the most precocious seven-year-old daughter. We were in his kitchen talking about the news of the day, when she interrupted us at the mention of the word virus. Since the coronavirus, or Covid-19, is all everyone is talking about these days, I wasn’t surprised she was interested.
She started to tell me how she was upset with this virus. It was causing her “undue hardship” (her words not mine).
So, I took the bait.
“What kind of hardship is it causing you?” I asked.
“Well,” she said, “I have to wash my hands many more times a day and for longer than I usually would.”
“Ah, I see,” I said, “and that’s causing you a lot of pain?”
“No, it’s just annoying,” she said.
“How so?” I asked.
“Have you ever had to wash your hands that much?” she grumbled.
I said, “Yes, I used to work in a restaurant while in college; we had to wash our hands quite often.”
“Oh, I’m sure it’s not the same,” she insisted.
