Top Tips To Keep Your Kids Healthy With Back to School Season
Getting your kids back to school ready usually means new backpacks, school supplies, lunch boxes, and new clothes — but it involves more than that. To have a great school year, kids need to be healthy and stay healthy.
When your kids are healthy and happy, they do better in all areas of life, especially school.
Different Types of School
No one cares more about your child and their education than you do. No one else will be as careful to make sure they are well educated and cared for like you.
As their parent, you have a growing array of options when it comes to school.
We all have different situations and ways of life that have led us to place our children in one of the following:
- Public School — this can look very different right now: virtual, hybrid, or in person.
- Homeschool — this type of schooling is gaining popularity, especially during the pandemic
- Private School — also a mix of virtual, hybrid, or in-person
You know your child’s personality, strengths, and struggles. You’ll always know what’s best for them.
Which is why you’re reading this article! You’re concerned about how to keep your kids healthy with back to school season. It’s easy to worry about what happens when everyone is in close quarters again after the year we’ve had.
It may feel like an impossible task with how the world looks today, but I’m here to tell you that it most certainly is not!
There are easy ways to ensure your child stays healthy, not just through back to school season — but all year round. So let’s get started!
Check out these tips to kick-start back-to-school season and charge it head-on!
Eat the Rainbow
Back to school season is when life gets crazy busy. You aren’t exactly up for making home-cooked meals every night, and that’s ok! I get it. But quick doesn’t have to equal processed and full of ingredients you can’t pronounce.
Help your child make healthy choices by keeping various real foods stocked, sliced, and ready to eat.
Toss those sugar-filled snacks (yes, it’s hiding in almost every packaged snack, including granola bars) to the side and replace them with yummy nuts, seeds, fruits, and veggies.
Make sure to provide balanced nutritional meals, and try not to skip breakfast. Even if it’s a handful of almonds and an apple. Their brains and bodies will thank you as a day full of challenges await them.
Looking for more breakfast ideas? Give my Elderberry Smoothie Bowl a try!
Stay Active
Kids need at least 1 hour of moderate exercise a day. Keep in mind — that’s just the minimum! Ensuring this happens helps kids maintain a healthy weight, sleep better, and reduces anxiety and stress.
For all of us, getting enough exercise is all about balancing priorities. Cut back on watching tv, playing video games, surfing the web, or any other low-energy activity.
Instead, get them outside to explore and get dirty — which also helps build their immune systems. Enroll them in a sport, or simply take family walks or bike rides together.
Get exercising together, and you’ll draw closer as a family in the process.
Stay Hydrated
Whether you’re an adult or a child, it’s important to stay hydrated.
As adults, we understand this. Our kids. not so much. Let's be real — they aren’t keeping track of how much they’re drinking throughout the day. They don’t usually see the link between a headache or poor concentration to hydration issues.
Send them to school with a reusable water bottle, so it’s easy to refill throughout their day and have access to a drink while sitting in class.
A Daily Dose of Elderberry Syrup
What is elderberry syrup and why all the hype?
Elderberry syrup is made from the extract of elderberries, honey, and spices such as ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. They are beautiful purple gems full of antioxidants and vitamins that give your immune system a charged boost.
My family takes a daily dose of elderberry syrup as a preventative measure all year round. Kids ages one and two — take 1-2 tsp. Ages three and up — take 1 tbsp.
If you do end up getting sick, did you know that elderberry syrup effectively treats the flu, relieving symptoms 4 days sooner? Take the same dosage but instead of once a day, take every 2-3 hours. Keep in mind children under 1 are not advised to take this as it contains honey.
Practice Good Hygiene
Germs are everywhere, it’s part of life. Touch a surface like a bathroom door where germs are lurking, then touch your face. It’s that easy.
Handwashing with warm water and soap is highly effective in removing germs, stopping the spread of illness, and avoiding getting sick in the first place.
Encourage your child to always wash their hands after using the bathroom, blowing their nose, or coughing into their hands.
Seems easier said than done, right? Once the kids are out of sight, they’ll make their own decisions. And if they’re anything like mine… they aren’t the best at washing after coughing.
So if you can get them to commit to washing one time, make it before meals.
Simply washing hands before eating can drastically reduce exposure to bacteria and germs.
Establish a Bedtime Schedule
Quality sleep is essential to your child’s success at school. While you teach your child healthy habits, sleep should be no exception.
A regular sleep schedule tells your body when it’s time to sleep and wake up. A healthy sleep schedule helps prevent daytime tiredness and fatigue while helping to improve mood and concentration.
So how do you start getting your little ones to bed earlier and on a consistent schedule?
Make getting enough sleep a family priority. Show them by example that sleep is crucial for your entire family’s health. Establish a soothing routine such as a warm bath and reading before turning off the lights.
A good night’s sleep can go a long way.
Keep Cool
Overheating in school is something we don’t even think about, but it’s a real problem.
High indoor temperatures have been associated with higher incidences of headaches, eye, ear, nose, and throat irritation. It can also magnify a range of health issues, including asthma.
Thankfully there are a few things you can do from home to help them stay cool in school.
Send your kid to school in light-weight, loose-fitting clothes that are breathable. Try sandals instead of socks and sneakers if possible, since most of our heat escapes through our heads and feet.
I know these are trying times we're currently in. It's easy to feel helpless when it comes to protecting our loved ones. But let me assure you of this — there is so much you can do to help keep your family healthy.
I hope these easy tips help you and your family with this upcoming season. A season full of good health, fun memories, and smiles galore!