"We were teaching them not just 'rinse your hands,' but 'scrub them.' And instead of having to dread washing their hands, they were able to get excited and laugh and have fun while they were doing that," says Libby Corral of a YMCA that operates 9 emergency childcare sites across Arizona. At the start of each 30-minute activity, kids get a stamp or marker doodle on their hands, which they have to wash off before moving to the next activity. "Throughout the pandemic many child care centers have stayed open for children of front-line workers -- everyone from doctors to grocery store clerks. YMCA of the USA and New York City's Department of Education have collectively been caring for tens of thousands of children since March, and both tell NPR they have no reports of coronavirus clusters or outbreaks." As schools sweat over reopening plans, educators can draw from these case studies, which engaged practices like grouping kids in "pods" of 9 or less and "airplane arms."

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