Entertaining and educating my grandson with the nanobugs

About every 2 weeks, I spend the day with my 2.5-year-old grandson, Alex.  We almost always have a wonderful day that includes scrambled eggs with spinach, at least one shared apple, a walk around the block (sometimes 2), a long nap after the reading of 3 favorite books, playing restaurant with the play kitchen and fake food, and occassional housework - scouring sinks and vacuuming.  The day of activities would not be complete without the nanobugs.  Today was the best of days spent with Alex and the featured nanobug was Pseudomonas aeruginosa.  We removed the really worn Strep pneumo tattoo from his right forearm that we put on 2 weeks ago as Alex repeated, "he's snotty and naughty, right Nana?"  Then  we went to the website on the "puter" and  looked through the menagerie for the next nanobug to wear on his arm.  It seemed to take forever for him to make his selection - but that is a good thing - to extend the attention span of a toddler!  He clicked on Clostridium botulinum repeatedly along with many old favorites (especially Hep A) before finally making his choice. We applied the Pseudomonas nanobug to his left forearm and Alex learned to say Pseudomonas - it is certainly an appealing image for a 2 year old but saying the name Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bit of a tongue-twister. Soon he had it down pat and after 22 times - he had memorized the one-liner: "Splish, splash, I'm right here in your bath" and giggled every time he repeated it.  He insisted upon calling Mom at work to share this new microbiology knowledge with her.  To reinforce the lesson, we printed Pseudomonas aeruginosa from the website coloring book.  Alex isn't much into coloring yet so I colored the nanobug while he napped.  He left my house with a tattoo on his arm and a picture to put on the fridge at home.  I was glowing.  What could be more rewarding for an infection preventionist, than being able to teach a 2-year-old elementary microbiology? - I guess, it would have to be effectively teaching health care workers the same! 

This entry was posted on April 8th, 2009 at 12:00 am. RSS | Back to Blog Homepage.

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