Battle the Bug – Fort Worth

Battle the Bug is on a cross-country tour.

I went today to see the frighteningly cute exhibit at the Fort Worth Zoo…

with it’s frighteningly cute mascot, Achoo…

frighteningly cute truck…

and frighteningly cute car.

All in all it WAS frighteningly cute.

There were activities for the kids (OK, I might have participated a little too) which were teaching hand-washing, tissue techniques and the importance of flu and cold warfare.

I met Kelley Rather, RN (pictured above on RIGHT) who is a mom and registered nurse at Hyer Elementary School.  She has joined in the fun at Battle the Bug to educate children about cold and flu transmission prevention.  She mentioned that cold and flu seasons are a year-round issue.  Prevention is something we need to tackle everyday.  Her suggestions were to teach proper handwashing technique to our children.

Handwashing should always include soap (plain old regular soap is fine) and should last about 30 seconds.  Kelley teaches kids to sing the Happy Birthday song through twice to make sure that their handwashing is complete.

I also asked her about Kleenex’s new product – the ANTI-VIRAL tissue – which is the sponsor of Battle the Bug.  It is a three-ply tissue.  The middle layer is moisture-activated and kills 99.9% of flu viruses in the tissue within 15 minutes.  Pretty cool.

Here is a little video from our visit today – please note that my bug catching victory is only 4 bugs SHORT of the record.

I just have one concern about the Battle the Bug exhibit…

isn’t this BUG too cute to be scary?