A program was created to be given to the mothers in the experimental group in line with the content of the "Toy Hygiene Guide Book" prepared by the researchers.

The researcher did not apply anything other than the clinical routine to the control group during the first three days of hospitalization.

The training was given to the mothers in 2 sessions (morning and afternoon), each lasting approximately 30 minutes, accompanied by the Toy Hygiene Guide. The sessions were presented face to face in the mother's room in the form of explaining, showing, question and answer and power point, at a time convenient for the mother and the child, outside the morning and afternoon treatment and care hours. After the first session was completed, an appointment was made with the mother for the afternoon session. In the second session, the information in the book that was not given in the first session was presented to the mothers face to face in the mother's room, outside the treatment and care hours, at a time convenient for the mother and the child. After the training was completed, a final five-minute discussion was held with the mothers in the form of a general question and answer session. The training book was given to the mothers in the experimental group on the first day.

Demographic data for the mother and her sick child were questioned in the form prepared by the researchers in line with the literature (Avila-Aguero et al. 2004; Merriman et al. 2002, Deshpande et al. 2020). As variables related to the mother, age, family type, number of children, education level, employment status, perception of economic situation, place of residence and the status of receiving information about toy hygiene were questioned. For the child; It was composed of questions asking age, gender, medical diagnosis, presence of chronic disease, hospitalization, room type, and hospitalization experience.

The toy hygiene information form, prepared by the researchers in line with the literature (Avila-Aguero et al. 2004; Yokoe et al. 2009), was composed of two parts. In the first part, the types of toys that parents prefer to buy for their children, their preference for buying cleanable toys, the situation of cleaning toys before bringing them to the hospital, their practices to ensure toy hygiene in the hospital environment, and the difficulties they experience in ensuring toy hygiene in the hospital environment are questioned. In the second part of the form, a knowledge test consisting of 31 items was prepared to determine the knowledge level of mothers regarding toy hygiene. The second part of the form is answered as true or false. A high score from the knowledge test is interpreted as a high level of "toy hygiene knowledge".

This form was created by researchers to record the level of surface cleanliness by taking a swab from the toy surface with the 3M™ Clean-Trace™ ATP device before and after the training.

The toy hygiene information form, prepared by the researchers in line with the literature (Avila-Aguero et al. 2004; Yokoe et al. 2009), was composed of two parts. In the first part, the types of toys that parents prefer to buy for their children, their preference for buying cleanable toys, the situation of cleaning toys before bringing them to the hospital, their practices to ensure toy hygiene in the hospital environment, and the difficulties they experience in ensuring toy hygiene in the hospital environment are questioned. In the second part of the form, a knowledge test consisting of 31 items was prepared to determine the knowledge level of mothers regarding toy hygiene. The second part of the form is answered as true or false. A high score from the knowledge test is interpreted as a high level of "toy hygiene knowledge".

Only the second part of the form was remeasured.