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5 Tips to Help Keep Your Kids Cold- and Flu-Free

Kids can catch a whopping eight to 12 colds a year. That's a lot of sniffles, sneezes and sick days for the whole family – especially when school is in session.

Help your little ones sidestep the cold and flu with some preventative planning from Costco.com.

1. Teach them right

Don't rely on the classroom – focus on teaching your kids proper hygiene at home. Add glitter to sanitizer and apply it to your hands. Shake everyone's hand to show how fast germs (even the sparkly ones) spread.

Pro-Tip: To make sure your kids are thoroughly washing their hands, have them sing the ABCs while they scrub. This or another little ditty should take about 20 seconds.

2. Sanitizing safety net

For kids 6 years and up, add some alcohol-based hand sanitizer to their backpack, along with a treat and a friendly reminder to use the sanitizer. This way, everyone wins.

Pro-Tip: For sanitizing bottles with a pump on top, tightly wrap a rubber band around the base of the pump to limit the amount that is dispensed. This will allow a kid-size squirt each time.

3. Water to-go

Water fountains are among the dirtiest spots in schools — yes, surpassing even toilet seats. Keep hydration healthy and send the kids off with personal, labeled water bottles.

Pro-Tip: Another hangout spot for germs? Cafeteria trays. Include sanitizer wipes in their backpack to remind hungry kids to de-germ their hands before they eat.

4. Pencil box prevention

Sharing is caring, but not during flu season. To avoid spreading germs from borrowed items, give the kiddos fully stocked pencil boxes.

Pro-Tip: Kids should sort and clean their backpacks weekly, while you take on the task of sanitizing their bags separately in the wash. Routinely wash plastic toys in the dishwasher.

5. Strong body, strong immunity

Children's immune systems are less mature, so help them build natural defenses with vitamins, a regular bedtime, exercise and a balanced diet. Ideally, TV time should be equal to (or less than!) physical activity.

Pro-Tip: Encourage exercise by creating a tracking chart for the entire family, brainstorming a family-wide reward for each active week.