Cleanliness means keeping ourselves and our surroundings free from dirt and waste. Hygiene means the habits that help us stay healthy and prevent disease. Sanitation means safe disposal of waste and clean toilets and facilities. A place that looks clean may still have germs, so hygiene habits matter.

Some tiny living things (microorganisms) can cause disease. These are called pathogens. They can spread through dirty hands, food, water, coughs and sneezes, and some insects. But not all microorganisms are harmful. Many are harmless or even useful.

Staying clean protects us from germs that make us ill. Good hygiene does three jobs for us:

• Prevents illness: regular hygiene stops germs and bacteria that cause infections.
• Promotes health: it keeps you fresh and healthy.
• Boosts confidence: when you are clean you feel positive and confident.

Wash your hands in 5 steps

1. Wet your hands with clean running water.
2. Apply soap.
3. Rub palms, backs of hands, between fingers, fingertips and under nails for at least 20 seconds.
4. Rinse well.
5. Dry with a clean towel or air dryer.

Clean food and safe water

• Wash fruits and vegetables with safe water before eating.
• Keep food covered to protect it from dust and insects.
• Use clean utensils and wash your hands before touching food.
• Drink water from a safe source. Clear-looking water can still have harmful germs.

A daily hygiene plan

Khoji finds food stuck between her teeth and wonders how to look after her eyes, nose, ears and hair too. Here is the care guide:

Drinking plenty of water, eating fruits, vegetables and proteins, and getting enough sleep also keep your body, skin and hair healthy.

Poor personal hygiene can cause skin infections, bad smell, cavities and illnesses. Dirty surroundings attract mosquitoes and pests, and these spread diseases like dengue and malaria.

Mosquitoes lay eggs in stagnant water. In a garden or home, this water can collect in old tyres, flower pots and trays, coconut shells, broken bottles, uncovered tanks and open drains. The eggs grow into larvae (tiny wriggling creatures that can look like baby fish), then into adult mosquitoes. The adults bite us to feed on blood. If a mosquito carries disease germs, it can pass them to the next person it bites.

What can we do? Empty and scrub flower-pot trays, buckets and coconut shells. Cover water tanks. Throw garbage into bins. Keep drains flowing. If someone has a high fever, tell an adult and see a doctor.

Waste is any material or object that is no longer needed or useful and has been thrown away. It comes from homes, schools, factories and businesses. When we throw something away, it does not disappear. It has to go somewhere. If nobody collects it, it piles up, smells, attracts flies and mosquitoes and spreads disease, just like in Khoji’s dream.

Wet and dry waste: Food scraps, peels and garden waste are wet waste. Paper, plastic, metal and glass are dry waste. Many Indian cities use a green bin for wet waste and a blue bin for dry waste, so always follow the labels on your bins. Separating waste makes composting and recycling possible, keeps waste out of landfills and keeps cleaners safe from broken glass.

The waste ladder: We should try the top steps first.

1. Prevent: Do not create waste in the first place. Carry a cloth bag.
2. Reduce: Use and buy less, for example avoid extra packaging.
3. Reuse: Use things again, for example an old jar as a pencil stand.
4. Recycle: Turn waste like paper, plastic, glass and metal into new things.
5. Recover: Get useful material or energy from waste that cannot be recycled.
6. Dispose: Throw away safely in the right place. This is the last choice.

Image prompt: Flat illustration of an Indian city street buried under tall heaps of garbage bags, a worried girl with glasses and plaits standing in the middle, flies in the air, soft pink and grey colours.

Garbage piles up when nobody collects it. It smells and attracts flies.

Key idea: Waste must always be collected and managed.

Image prompt: Close-up cartoon of two child hands covered in soap foam under a running tap in an Indian home, bright blue water, friendly style.

Wet your hands, use soap, rub well and rinse.

Key idea: Wash before meals and after using the toilet.

Image prompt: Cartoon of a smiling Indian child brushing teeth in front of a mirror, with a toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss and a clean tooth character.

Brush twice a day for 2 minutes and floss once a day.

Key idea: Clean teeth prevent cavities and gum disease.

Image prompt: Three friendly panels: a child using a clean tissue near an eye, wiping the outer ear with a damp cloth, and blowing the nose into a tissue. Crossed-out cotton bud and pin.

Be gentle: use a tissue for eyes and nose, a damp cloth for the outer ear.

Key idea: Never push objects into the ear or rub the eyes.

Image prompt: Cartoon of an Indian girl washing her hair with shampoo foam and another combing long hair gently, bright bathroom colours.

Wash hair 2 to 3 times a week and comb it gently.

Key idea: Clean hair is free from oil, dirt and lice.

Image prompt: Garden scene with an old tyre, a coconut shell, a flower pot with a water tray and a broken bottle, each holding still water with tiny wrigglers; a girl pointing at them.

Still water in tyres, pots and shells is a mosquito nursery.

Key idea: Empty and cover containers so mosquitoes cannot breed.

Image prompt: Two bins side by side, green for wet waste with vegetable peels and blue for dry waste with paper, bottles and cans, a child sorting waste.

Put peels in the wet bin and paper, plastic, metal and glass in the dry bin.

Key idea: Separating waste makes composting and recycling easy.

Image prompt: Indian children at a birthday party with homemade paper banners, reusable steel plates, a cake and a nature scavenger hunt, no plastic balloons.

This party uses homemade decorations and reusable plates.

Key idea: Small green choices lower the Eco-Impact Score.

It is the rainy season in Mumbai. Pooja loves the flower pots on her balcony, and each pot sits in a tray of water. One evening her family is scratching mosquito bites. Her grandmother finds tiny wriggling creatures in a tray and says, ‘These will become mosquitoes!’ Pooja’s father soon gets a high fever, a bad headache and pain behind his eyes, so the family visits the doctor, who says it may be dengue. That weekend Pooja empties the trays, scrubs them and dries them. Now she checks them every Sunday.

Questions

1. What were the wriggling creatures in the tray?
2. Why did mosquitoes grow on the balcony?
3. Which mosquito spreads dengue?
4. Name two symptoms of dengue from the story.
5. Name two more steps the family can take to stay safe.

Rohan plays football on a muddy ground near his home in Pune. He comes back sweaty, picks up a sandwich with muddy hands and falls asleep in the same clothes. The next morning his skin is itchy and his clothes smell bad. His mother gives him a three-step checklist for after sports: bathe with soap and water, change into clean clothes, and wash hands before eating. Rohan sticks the checklist on his cupboard door. Now he follows it after every match and his skin stays fresh and healthy.

Questions

1. What mistakes did Rohan make?
2. Why should he wash his hands before eating?
3. What are the three steps on the checklist?
4. Why should he change into clean clothes?
5. At which times of day should Rohan brush his teeth?

In a housing society in Thane, everybody throws vegetable peels, plastic bottles, paper and broken glass into one big bin. One day Sunita tai, who collects the waste, cuts her hand on broken glass. The bin also smells and attracts flies. The children of the society hold a meeting with the secretary. They suggest a green bin for wet waste, a blue bin for dry waste, and a small compost pit in the garden for peels. After one month the building is cleaner and Sunita tai sorts the waste safely.

Questions

1. What was the problem with one big bin?
2. Which waste in the story is biodegradable?
3. Which waste in the story is non-biodegradable?
4. What can be made from vegetable peels?
5. Is waste management only the cleaner’s job? Why?

Aman feels his ear itching, so he picks up a safety pin and starts cleaning inside the ear. Suddenly it hurts badly. His mother rushes him to the doctor, who looks carefully and says, ‘Never push anything inside the ear. It can push wax deeper and damage the ear.’ The doctor tells Aman to wipe only the outer ear with a damp cloth and to come back if he has pain or trouble hearing. Aman promises never to use pins or cotton buds in his ears again, and he tells his friends too.

Questions

1. What did Aman do wrong?
2. Why is this harmful?
3. What is the safe way to clean ears?
4. When should we see a doctor for our ears?
5. Why should we also avoid rubbing our eyes?

In a school in Navi Mumbai, a banana peel lies in the corridor. Many children walk past without noticing. Sanjana picks it up and drops it in the green bin, because someone could slip on it and it would attract flies. In class, her teacher asks everyone to plan a Cleanliness Campaign. The students decide to make posters, keep separate wet and dry bins, choose cleanliness monitors every week, and bring steel bottles and cloth bags instead of plastic. After a month, the school looks much cleaner and everyone feels proud.

Questions

1. What did Sanjana do and why was it important?
2. Which bin is right for a banana peel?
3. Name two parts of the campaign plan.
4. How does using steel bottles and cloth bags help?
5. Who is responsible for keeping the school clean?