This app reminds you of celebrity birthdays to make handwashing a little more fun

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that you wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds to mitigate the spread of germs. In light of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that continues to spread and impact several countries and industries around the globe, that’s especially important. To make it easier to do your part, the CDC says you can sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice. But exactly whose birth are you singing in honor of? One cannot simply sing the song, let alone sing it twice, if you don’t know who you’re singing for — and doing it for random strangers isn’t enough encouragement.

The web app Birthday Hands, created by @aaronzbest on Twitter, aims to make the task of simultaneously washing your hands and sending birthday wishes easier. It gives you two birthdays of celebrities, people who you might just have enough affinity for to warrant a song during your hygiene upkeep. It’s a simple but very fun idea.

Washing your hands is always an important (and courteous) practice for keeping germs at bay. But if you need some motivation to give your hands the extended scrub that the CDC recommends, check out the Birthday Hands app each day. And if it feels forced to wish someone a happy birthday multiple times a day, take a page from former Verge reporter, now full-time cartoonist, Dami Lee, and sing along to your favorite song.