Preparing Kids for School and Life in the Pandemic Era -- including steps to boost immunity, and ensure proper mask wear and care

This article is full of tips to help keep your kids safe during the pandemic area, whether or not they will be attending school in-person this year. I’d originally conceptualized this as a back to school post, but it’s really relevant for anyone whose kids will have any social contact, whether at school, the playground, or medical appointments.

This post is sponsored by Livia One and Mabel’s Labels, two brands that my family has been loyal to for years, and which I’d be using as described in this article regardless of whether they sponsored this content. This post may contains affiliate links, which means that I may make a small commission if you click through a link or image in this post. Please see the Disclosure page for additional information. Additionally some of the featured items and services may have been provided for editorial consideration.

My main tips are to build your child’s immunity through topical and oral probiotics, get your child comfortable wearing masks for extended periods, build your child’s independence so that he can put on and take off his mask on his own, open his lunch box, etc., label everything prominently to prevent inadvertent handling by others and consider what gear you may need for extended time outdoors. I expand on each of these ideas below!

Boost your child’s immunity with probiotics

My family has been using probiotics religiously for years to support digestive and immune health. We all take oral probiotics and also use liquid probiotics in a less common way — we've been spraying LiviaOne’s liquid probiotics on our faces for years, concentrating on our eyes and inside our nostrils to help prevent viruses and bacteria from taking hold.

We have been LiviaOne customers since 2016 when my father-in-law who is a physician recommended it to us. We used their adult organic liquid probiotics since then for both the adults and kids in our family. When the pandemic hit, I stocked up on LiviaOne products to help protect my family.

When we started using LiviaOne, my son went from being constantly sick to being the only child in his class that didn’t have a runny nose.

LiviaOne recently introduced LiviaOne KiDS, and I’ve switched my kids to that formula. Like the original, the kids formula is a certified USDA organic, plant-based, multi-strain, live and active probiotic blend. The products are also chemical-free, non-GMO, vegan friendly, and allergen-free. The kids’ version has a few refinements to the formula to make it more targeted for kids, and also includes a cute sticker chart to keep the kids motivated to take it (it tastes like water, but a little extra motivation never hurts).

We all also all use the LiviaOne nasal spray, and I label them with personalized name labels from Mabel’s Labels so that we each use only our own bottle. Before the nasal spray product was introduced, we applied the liquid probiotics in our nostrils with qtips, which you can do too if you want to start with just one or two product from the brand.

In summary, here is how we use LiviaOne probiotic products: nasal spray (adults and kids), spray or apply to face, especially around eyes and nose (adults and kids), take drops orally (original liquid for adults and LiviaOne KiDs for the kids).

LiviaOne discount // The brand shared the a limited time Amazon discount for my readers: click here and use code 15VeryBestBa for 15% off the following LiviaOne products: KiDS 2oz Daily Probiotic, Nasal Probiotic, Daily 4oz Probiotic and Topical 4ox Probiotic (expires 9/23/20). Those who have been following me for a while know that I’ve been recommending LiviaOne for years!!! I’ve always paid full price, but am happy to now pass on this discount!

Get your child comfortable wearing masks for extended periods

In our area, schools are requiring kids to wear their masks 100% of the day, even outside, except during lunch and snack time. In other contexts (e.g., medical appointments or sports), your child also may need to wear a mask for extended periods. Here are some tips and ideas for getting them comfortable with this:

• Find a well-fitting and comfortable mask // Masks need to fit well to be effective. Equally important is that your child is comfortable in the mask, because otherwise he will either fidget with the mask or be distracted by it. I shared a few great mask options here with info on materials and sizing by age.

• Provide an incentive // My two year old refused to even try on a mask until we showed her a swan paddle boat and told her that she had to wear a mask on the dock to go on the boat. To my surprise, she instantly agreed and has since been more amendable to wearing a mask.

• Make it fun

  • Buy masks in a fun color or print (once I found a mask that worked well for my five year old, I let him choose additional prints to order).

  • We also took turns playing a game of guess whether I’m smiling or frowning under my mask. This has the added bonus of teaching kids to discern expressions from eyes, which will be important if their teachers and classmates will be wearing masks.

• Build up mask tolerance // it’s even hard for adults to wear masks for extended periods. Before sending a child to school or bringing her anywhere that she will need to wear a mask for a while, try to up her endurance. I’ve heard of a lot of parents requiring that their kids wear masks when they watch TV in the weeks before school.

Keep the mask sanitary

• Label the mask with your child’s name // I’ve seen memes of kids trading masks, which would be entirely counterproductive! Personalizing the mask will prevent mix-ups. Mabel’s Labels recommends using iron on labels on masks. They makes really cute ones!

• Send extra masks in a bag labeled “clean” and send a labeled bag or pouch for dirty masks // I like to put clean masks in a clear pouch to make them easy to find, and dirty masks in a washable pouch. I also fold the masks precisely so that I can tell whether my son put a used mask back in the “clean” bag. I ordered labels to label the bags — “clean” with a smiley emoji and “dirty” with a poopy emoji to make it easy for even pre-readers to avoid confusion. I had extras and have been doing the same in my own bag!! Here are the products I recommend for this:

  • Clean / dirty labels // You can customize a mixed label sheet with a combination of clean, dirty and your child’s name. A more expensive alternative is to order individual sheets of “clean” and “dirty'“ labels with whatever emojis you like (I went with smiley and poop).

  • “Clean” pouch // Bumkins makes cute zippered pouches with clear fronts.

  • “Dirty” pouch // I use a Lunchskins reusable/washable sandwich bag.

• Consider a mask chain, lanyard or band // The mask can fall off, and a chain, lanyard or band will keep it from falling to the floor. It also allows your child to remove the mask briefly to eat or drink, without needing to find a clean surface for the mask. I’ve instructed my son to tuck his mask into his shirt to keep it clean. I’ve rounded up our favorite adult and kid mask chains and lanyards here. I recommend breaking the chain or cutting the lanyard in the middle and adding a teething necklace breakaway clasp (available on Amazon or Etsy) as a safety precaution.

• Teach your child to put on the mask independently and avoid touching it once on // The less hands on your child’s mask, the better! Plus you want to make sure that it (or a fresh mask) is put back on quickly if it does fall off.

Practice opening backpack and lunch items

Have your child practice opening his backpack, lunch items (bag, lunchbox and drink), as well as any snack containers or packages. Again, the fewer hands on items going into or near your child’s mouth, the better! Plus teachers and lunch staff will be especially taxed and may be less available to help.

Label everything!!

I have always labeled all of my kids’ belongings for school to avoid losing them. Now, I’m labeling belongings extra prominently so that other kids don’t accidentally pick them up.

We’ve been using Mabel’s Labels for years. We use the peel and stick personalized labels on clothing, cups, lunch boxes, pencil cases, helmets and more. We like the personalized bag tags on scooters and backpacks. And now we use the iron-on labels on masks.

Dress your child for more outdoor time

Many schools are setting up tents and maximizing the amount of time that kids will spend outdoors to decrease transmission risk. If your child will be going to school, find out whether and for how long they may be outside in wet or cold weather, and send them with appropriate gear. Make sure that your kids have the obvious items like rain boots, snow boots, mittens or gloves and hats. One of my Facebook group members told me that her school requested that parents leave a rain suit at school.

Decide on a routine for when you arrive back home

This is really a personal decision — some families are just removing shoes when they arrive home from school, playgrounds and other outings. Many are changing into clean clothing when they get home. And others are heading straight to the tub or shower.

I’m always open to updating my lists with more useful tips! Comment below with any tips for keeping kids safe and minimizing risk during the pandemic.