Being a parent is one of the most beautiful feelings. You love your little one more than life. It is as if your breath lies in their breath. You leave no stone unturned to ensure their health, happiness, and safety. Although the pandemic is posing considerable challenges in this regard, you overcome them all by following the best safety practices at home. But, with the restrictions of lockdown getting lifted, schools are planning to reopen. This implies that soon you’ll have to gear up for sending your child back to school.
As the situation outside is not yet normal, you’ll have to take extra care for your child’s safety. Here, we will discuss some effective ways to ensure maximum return to school safety for your child.
1. BOOST YOUR CHILD’S IMMUNITY:
In the current situation, a strong immunity is something that your child requires the most. So, it is crucial for you to work on boosting his immunity. Given below is a list of immunity boosters which will help you in this purpose:
· Healthy diet:
A healthy diet plays a significant role in strengthening the immune system. So, first of all, you have to feed your child lots of fruits, green leafy vegetables, nuts, and dairy products daily. Not only this, but you have to also limit their consumption of junk food. Further, some food items primarily work on boosting the immune system. To help you know about them, a list of such food items has been given below. Do make sure to add them to your child’s diet.
Immunity boosting food items:
i. Citrus fruits: Grapefruit, oranges, lemons, etc.
ii. Almonds
iii. Garlic
iv. Ginger
v. Yogurt
vi. Spinach
vii. Turmeric
· Proper sleep:
Lack of sleep weakens the immune system. This makes it essential for you to ensure that your child takes proper sleep every day. To be specific, school-going children should sleep for at least 7 hours a day.
· Regular exercise:
Exercise is one of the best immunity boosters. It enhances good gut bacteria, reduces stress, and promotes good health. When talking about kids, playing is the best exercise for them. Although, your child cannot go out to play with friends due to the pandemic, make sure that they play well at home. For this, you can take some time out and play with your child for at least an hour every day.
2. TRAIN THEM TO FOLLOW SAFETY PRECAUTIONS:
Protection against Covid-19 requires us to follow some necessary safety precautions. Wearing a mask, regular hand washing, and social distancing are the major ones of them. To ensure your child’s back to school safety, you have to train them to follow the precautions. Given below are some ways do so:
· Make them wear a mask at home:
Children find it a little difficult to keep wearing a mask. To help your child get comfortable with it, make him wear a mask at home daily.
Further, you should try to begin this practice at least a week before school reopens.
· Check their handwashing technique:
Proper handwashing reduces the threat of infection by 50%. So, when your child goes to wash their hands, you can accompany them to check their handwashing technique. You have to see if they wash their hands for at least 20 seconds. You also have to check they rub soap between their fingers, over the nails, and everywhere on their hands. If you find them missing the proper handwashing technique, you can exemplify it to them.
· Make them practice social distancing at home:
Kids don’t have to follow the social distancing practice at home. As a result, they are usually not habitual of following it. But, when they go back to school, they’ll have to follow the social distancing technique. Thus, you need to make them practice social distancing at home for some time daily, like an hour or so.
· Play the do not touch your face game:
Kids have a habit of touching their face frequently. But, according to the guidelines issued by WHO, we should avoid touching our face. This is because the eyes, nose, and mouth serve as entry points for infection. Thus, you must help your child get rid of this habit. You can do so by playing the do not touch your face game with them. In it, you have to set a timer and play a game of your child’s choice. But, there is a rule that whoever touches their face while playing, loses the game. This will help your child slowly get rid of the habit of touching their face.
3. KEEP EXTRA SUPPLIES OF SAFETY GEAR IN THEIR SCHOOL BAG
Kids are prone to losing their things. They often keep them somewhere and then forget all about them. So, you should keep extra supplies of safety gear such as masks and hand sanitizers in their school bag. Further, you should also keep a regular check that your child has enough protective gear every time they go to school.
4. DROP YOUR CHILD TO THE SCHOOL YOURSELF
In the current times, you should try to drop your child to school yourself. This is important because no one can ensure the best safety for your child other than you. Further, going to school on a school bus can expose your child to the risk of infection. They may not be able to maintain a safe distance from other students on the school bus. So, if possible, you should try to drop your child to school yourself.
5. REMOVE THEIR SCHOOL UNIFORM AS SOON AS THEY ARRIVE BACK HOME
Covid-19 can thrive on any surface. Clothes, bags, faucets, everything. So, when your child comes back home, keep their school bag, and other things aside. Then, carefully remove their clothes and keep them aside for washing, so that no one contacts them. After this, wash your hands and take your child for a bath or wash their exposed body parts. Then, sanitize their school bag, books, notebooks, and other things. But, wash their water bottle and lunch box separately with hot water. This will help you prevent any infectious agents from making an entry into your house.
So, parents, this is how you can ensure maximum back to school safety for your child. Stay Safe, Stay Blessed!
