Wash, Brush, Crunch — Every Day!

2 min Magic Box hook

Box chant. Shake it — something rolls and something rattles. Two things! Sniff the lid.

Peek. Gasp. Peek again. Lift out the apple in one hand and the lollipop in the other and hold them far apart.

Polish the apple on your jumper. “Apple!”

4 min Teach · Healthy

Apple up high, in two hands, so every child can see it.

Now the lollipop. Hold it up the same way, wait, and let them tell you.

Littles say the one word “Healthy!” with strong arms — that is a full win at 2 and 3. Bigs say the frame: “An apple is healthy.” and “Sweets are sometimes food.”

Teacher fails: announce that the lollipop is “a lovely healthy breakfast”, start unwrapping it and look delighted. Do not rush. Let them shout you down twice before you sadly put it away.

3 min Song · Every Day, Every Day — chorus + Monday verse

The one song of the week — same chorus at every circle, one new verse each morning. Chords and the full sheet are on the Song tab. The last line of the chorus already teaches three of this week's five words with their gestures; do the actions from day one even if they only sing the CRUNCH.

3 min Game · Every day or sometimes?

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Two hoops on the carpet: a green one — every day — and a yellow one — sometimes. Cards face down in a pile.

Each child takes one card, names it, and runs it to a hoop. The class calls the verdict together: “Every DAY!” or “Sometimes.”

Twelve cards, so everyone gets a turn or two. Bigs owe you a sentence — “Broccoli is healthy.” Littles just run and drop, and shout the word with the class.

Put one card in the wrong hoop yourself, whistling. They will fix it before you stand up.

1 min Close

Sitting. Whisper → normal → shout, with all four actions:

It is the whole week in one line, and they will chant it on Monday without knowing what half of it means yet. By Friday they will. Got 3 spare minutes? The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle) — on the Saturday page, ask each food: “Every day? Or sometimes?”

2 min Magic Box hook

Box chant. Shake — this one sloshes. Hold it to your ear and slosh it again.

Lift out the water bottle. Then the fizzy bottle. Stand them side by side on the tray, in the middle, where everybody can see — and beside the fizzy one, the little stack of sugar cubes you counted out this morning.

“Water!” Everyone drinks from a pretend cup with a long “aaah”.

4 min Teach · Water

Pour water from the jug into the clear cup, slowly, so they hear it. Hold it up to the window.

Every child gets a real sip if you have cups — it takes ten seconds each and it is the whole lesson. Littles say “Water!” and drink; Bigs say “I drink my water.”

Now the fizzy bottle. Take the sugar cubes out of your pocket and stack them one at a time beside it, counting out loud together: “One… two… three…” all the way to ten. Everybody gasps at the tower.

Teacher fails: “I am thirsty! I will just eat these ten sugar lumps for my breakfast.” Lift one towards your mouth. Wait for the roar, then put it down and drink the water instead.

3 min Song · Every Day, Every Day — chorus + Tuesday verse

On “hip hip hooray” in the chorus, everyone's cup hands go straight up over the head. That is the loudest bar of the week.

3 min Game · Count the sugar cubes

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Five bottles in the middle, sugar cubes in a dish, a numbered card face down under each bottle.

A child stacks the cubes in front of one bottle while the class counts. Then turn the card over and check together. Water: zero — everybody cheers. Fizzy drink: a tower — everybody gasps.

Five bottles: water, milk, juice, fizzy drink, sports drink. Then everyone drinks a cup of water together.

Littles do the counting with their fingers up in the air, not with the cubes. Bigs read the number card themselves and say “The fizzy drink has ten.”

1 min Close

Whisper → normal → shout, with all four actions:

Got 3 spare minutes? Water Is Water (Miranda Paul) — don't read every word, just turn the pages and say “Water!” together on each one.

2 min Magic Box hook

Box chant. Shake — a soft, heavy thud. Sniff the lid, close your eyes, sniff again: it smells clean.

Out comes the bar of soap. Pass it round the circle so every child can smell it. Then reach in again — and lift out the muddy apple, holding it away from you between two fingers.

“NO!” Ask what we have to do first. Somebody will get there: “Wash!” Everybody rubs both hands together.

4 min Teach · Wash

Bowl of water in the middle, soap beside it, towel on your shoulder. Wash the apple in front of them, properly, taking your time.

Now your hands, the same way, and name the five steps as you go: wet · soap · scrub · rinse · dry. Hold up a finger for each one.

Littles say “Wash!” and rub both hands together — that is the win. Bigs say the frame: “I wash my hands before I eat.”

汉字 洗. And the 儿歌 everybody already half-knows — sing it in Chinese while you scrub: 《洗手歌》搓搓手心，搓搓手背，洗得干干净净。

Teacher fails: put your hands in the water for half a second, flick them, and reach for the apple. “Done!” Let them stop you. Then do it properly while they count.

3 min Song · Every Day, Every Day — chorus + Wednesday verse

This verse is also your timer. One chorus + one verse, sung at normal speed, is about twenty seconds — which is exactly how long a pair of hands needs to be scrubbed. Tell them that; they love owning a rule.

3 min Game · Bubble hand-wash

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Blow a cloud of bubbles over the circle. Every child catches one on their palms — and now their hands are “full of germs”.

Everybody scrubs — palms, backs, between the fingers, thumbs, nails — for one whole chorus. That is twenty seconds, and that is the rule. When the song stops, hands go up: “CLEAN!”

Three rounds. Round two, a Big leads the scrubbing and calls out the part: “Now the thumbs!” Round three, everybody does it with their eyes shut.

Then walk to the real basin as a class and do it once with real soap and real water, singing. That walk is the lesson — it is the habit they take home.

1 min Close

Whisper → normal → shout, with all four actions:

Got 3 spare minutes? Wash Your Hands! (Tony Ross) — the Little Princess will not wash, and they will tell her off on every page.

2 min Magic Box hook

Box chant. Shake — a light, hollow clatter. Sniff: mint!

Out comes the toothbrush. Wave it about. Then lift out the giant tooth — sticky, dull, and disgusting — and hold it up in silence until somebody says something.

Everybody brushes their own teeth in the air, up and down. “Brush!”

4 min Teach · Brush

Toothbrush up high so everyone can see the bristles. Then your own teeth, hugely, in the mirror.

Every child brushes their own teeth in the air with you, twice: once in the morning, once at night — hold up one finger, then two.

Littles say “Brush!” with the up-and-down action. Bigs say “I brush my teeth in the morning and at night.”

汉字 牙 — hold the card up beside your own grin.

Teacher fails: brush your ear. Thoroughly, with great concentration. Then your nose. Then your elbow. Keep going until they are screaming at you and pointing at their own mouths.

3 min Song · Every Day, Every Day — chorus + Thursday verse

Sing this one a shade slower than the rest — Am wants it. Then finish the last chorus at full speed so nobody goes back to work sleepy.

3 min Game · Brush the giant teeth

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” The sticky tooth goes in the middle on a tray, with the big brush beside it.

One child brushes while the class directs: “The top!” “The BACK!” “In the middle!” When they think it is done, everyone inspects it, and somebody always finds one more sticky patch.

Then all together, in the air, for the length of one verse: up and down, round and round, front and back.

Bigs can count the strokes to twenty. Littles just brush and shout the word. If you have a toothbrush each, this is the day to send them home clean.

1 min Close

Whisper → normal → shout, with all four actions:

Got 3 spare minutes? Brush Your Teeth, Please (Leslie McGuire) — a pull-tab book; let a different child brush each animal.

2 min Magic Box hook

The box comes out fat, heavy and smelling of fruit. Everyone leans in.

Pull the props out one at a time and hold each up in silence — they will supply the word before you can.

Apple → “Healthy!”  Water bottle → “Water!”  Soap → “Wash!”  Toothbrush → “Brush!”  Lollipop → “Sometimes!”

Last out: the fruit basket — and one small pumpkin lantern. Don't explain it yet. Set it at the edge of the mat where they can all see it and carry on.

4 min Teach · Share

Wash your hands first, in front of them, all five steps — Wednesday's habit, used for real. Then the fruit basket in both hands. Don't eat any. Turn to the child beside you and hold it out.

The basket goes all the way round the circle, hand to hand, and nobody eats yet. Every child says “Share!” as they pass it on; Bigs say “I share my food with my friend.”

Teacher fails: take the basket back, sit down and start eating the whole lot yourself with your back to them. Wait. Being told off for not sharing is the best English lesson of the week.

3 min Song · Friday verse, then the WHOLE song

The finale: chorus → Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday → chorus, top to bottom, with the fruit on the mat and nobody allowed to touch it until the last chord. They learned it one verse a morning without noticing, and this run-through is the review of the whole week.

3 min Game · Slice and share

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Board, wedger, jug and dish in the middle. Hands washed. Rinse each apple, then press the wedger down — eight pieces every time, and the click is very satisfying.

Nobody eats their own piece. Each child takes one, turns to a friend, holds it out with both hands and says “Share!” — or, for a Big, “This is for you.” Then everybody eats at the same moment.

Now the pumpkin. Tomorrow is 万圣节 — Halloween — a festival other children have, where they carve a pumpkin and pretend to be a little bit scary. Light it (or switch it on), turn the lights down, and once — only once, all together:

One pumpkin, one BOO, and back to the fruit. It is a nod, not a party — the week belongs to washing, brushing and sharing.

1 min Close + the take-home sheet

Hand out the “My Healthy Day” sheets: every child traces the cup, the toothbrush and the soap, draws the every-day food they love on the plate, you scribe their line, and it goes home today with an award.

Everyone holds their sheet up. Whisper → normal → shout, with the actions:

Got 3 spare minutes? The Doorbell Rang (Pat Hutchins) — more and more friends arrive and the biscuits get shared again and again. Count them out loud together.

The four chords

Tempo: bright and bouncy for the first two lines, then lean back on the Am — that is the “sometimes” line and it wants to sound a little sorry for itself — then drive hard into the last line, which is the one that teaches wash · brush · share. Am is one finger, the same finger C uses, just moved across. Chant it without the uke first; add chords once they know the words.

Chorus — sing it every single day

Sing the chorus twice each time. On every CRUNCH the whole class takes a huge bite of the air — and the last line does three of the week's five words with their gestures, every single circle.

One verse a day — verses use C, G7 and one Am

The build: each day sing chorus → today's verse → chorus. By Friday they know five verses without ever “learning” the song — Friday's finale is the whole thing top to bottom with the fruit on the mat, and it doubles as your review of the entire week. One chorus and one verse is also almost exactly twenty seconds, which is Wednesday's hand-washing rule.

If you're brand new to ukulele

Practice this loop for five minutes tonight: C (4 strums) → F (4 strums) → C → G7 → C. That is the whole chorus, and it is the same three shapes as every Whale Class song so far. The only new one is Am — one finger on the G string, second fret, and it appears exactly twice: once in the chorus and once on Thursday. If your fingers get stuck, put the uke down and clap the chorus instead: the class will not notice, and the CRUNCH lands either way.