Nose Picking

Greetings. Today I would like to talk about a behavior that most children do and this is "nose picking." The intensity of this behavior will vary among children. I had one child in my classroom that would pick his nose so much that he had frequent nose bleeds.

As a parent or educator you can modify this behavior by simply providing an alternative. This alternative is asking your student or child to "please, go wash your hands" each time they start to pick their nose. It is not necessary to make a fuss over it or to draw attention to the child. The child will soon figure out that each time they start to pick their nose, there will be a verbal
prompt, "please, go wash your hands." You are modifying their behavior and you'll see within a few weeks that the behavior will decrease.

At the beginning you'll be giving a verbal prompt to the child. After a week or two, you can eliminate the verbal prompt and provide a non-verbal prompt which is the "action" of washing your hands. This means putting your hands together as if you're washing your hands. Having lots of Kleenex available is also helpful!

Ms. C