Helping Your Child Wear a Mask at School

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School is starting in just a few short weeks whether we are ready or not. And there is absolutely no question that this school year is going to be unlike any other in the history of what we’ve experienced. If the thought of sending your child back to school and getting them to keep a mask on all day makes you a nervous wreck (It does me. I won’t lie!), then read on to see what we’ve been doing at my house to try and help ease that transition from non-mask wearing at home to wearing a mask all day at school.

Talk about the why.

If you haven’t already done so, begin talking with your child about WHY everyone is wearing a mask. Keep it simple. Kids don’t need to hear all of the debate surrounding masks. They just want to know why they have to do it. Below are some important points to make sure your child understands:

Let them decorate their own masks.

Let kids start to develop a sense of control over the situation by letting them decorate their own masks. It seems strange, but this one small act can make a huge difference in helping your child learn to wear a mask. Kids will be excited to wear something they created. You can see we started with disposable paper masks below.

Practice wearing a mask around the house.

Let your kids wear those decorated masks around the house a few times each day. Make a game or challenge out of it to see who can wear the mask for a set amount of time. If your child really struggles to keep a mask on, offer a simple reward for keeping the mask on for the set amount of time. Maybe your reward is something as simple as some extra time with mom or dad. Be creative. Do what you know motivates your child. Rewards don’t have to cost money.

Let your child select their own cloth mask.

Paper masks aren’t meant to be reused. They should be thrown away after being worn. If you’re like me, you don’t want to spend a ton of money on paper masks. So after practicing wearing paper masks around the house for awhile, let your child help pick out their own cloth mask for school. If you sew or know someone who does, your child would probably LOVE a trip to the fabric store (that’s a great time to wear those paper masks you’ve been practicing with at home-get a new clean one of course and don’t forget to decorate it!) to pick out their own fabric for their mask. Fabric stores have such a great variety of patterned fabric for kids to pick from. Let them pick fabric that goes along with their interests to personalize their masks. Does your child like the Chicago Bears? Then great! There’s probably a fabric for that. Does your child adore princesses? Awesome! There’s probably a fabric for that. Maybe your child will even find several different fabrics they like, and you could create several different masks to coordinate with outfits during the week. Be creative, and make it as appealing for your child as possible. Then practice wearing these masks around the house too.

Some extra tips:

Even if you completely disagree with having your child wear a mask to school (I know in our area people aren’t wearing masks a lot right now.), do your very best to make the whole process as enjoyable as possible for your child. DON’T let them overhear your dislike for it. Go in the other room and complain about it if you must, but do NOT let your child over hear you. It will just make the whole process that much harder for them.

DON’T wait until the night before school begins to start talking about it. Do it NOW. Help them understand what this is all about and why.

Know that your child’s teacher will be so supportive and positive. Feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher for concerns or reassurances.

If you read this article and let your kids design and pick out their own masks, I’d love to see them in the comments below. Please don’t make this a debate about whether masks are appropriate or not. My purpose is to help those families where schools are requiring it. Thank you!

Also, if there are any other questions or concerns you might have about helping your child deal with school this year, please feel free to leave those in the comments too. I’m happy to help everyone navigate through this new territory.

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