Lifebuoy has collaborated with Imagimake, a toy design company to launch the H for Handwashing Games, in conjunction with Global Handwashing Day (GHD) on 15 October 2023. These games are guided by Lifebuoy’s behaviour change model and are designed to engage and educate young Indian minds by blending play with practice of hand hygiene.
Recent trends across the globe have shown that the handwashing rates with soap have drastically reduced in the post-COVID era. One of the primary reasons for the decline has been the hygiene fatigue caused by the pandemic. The ‘H for Handwashing Games’ is a direct response from Lifebuoy to this fatigue and aims at reigniting healthy hand hygiene habits amongst the kids.
Commenting on the launch, Madhusudhan Rao, executive director and general manager – South Asia (Beauty & Personal Care), Hindustan Unilever said, “The H for Handwashing Games upholds our brand’s purpose and commitment to inspire and foster good hygiene habits that last a lifetime. The reimagined classic boardgames from India creatively addresses the hygiene fatigue and makes handwashing fun, exciting, and a part of everyday play. We are confident that these games will reignite the relevance of handwashing among kids with help of one of the most powerful tools of learning – PLAY.”
The “H for Handwashing Games” collection features four board games – “Germs & Ladders”, “Handwashing Ludo”, “Soap-Tac-Toe” and “Lose the Germs” – that have been recreated for Indian kids. These games provide solutions to educate children to practice proper hand hygiene consistently by highlighting various instances where children should wash hands with soap.
The ‘H for Handwashing Games’ also uses the reward mechanism, trophies and wrist bands, to further associate hand hygiene habits with health through positive stimulus. Finally, at the end of each game, kids will be encouraged to take a pledge to champion the habit of handwashing with soap, ensuring a profound and lasting impact on behaviour after playtime.
The initiative has received significant endorsement from the state governments of Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana. The games will be made available for students from state-run schools across these states and is expected to encourage over 75,000 kids across the region to cultivate the habit of handwashing with soap and lead a healthier life.
“Play is a fantastic driver of learning, bringing about connections with a purposeful and joyful flow! These games are a testament to the power of play, and its ability to bring about change,” said Disha Katharani, co-Founder, Imagimake.
The ‘H for Handwashing’ movement that began in 2020 has impacted over 12 million children from more than 30,000 schools across 25 countries, promoting handwashing with soap as a fundamental practice for better health. To date, Lifebuoy has reached over 1 billion people through its handwashing programmes.