Teach Your Children How To Take Care Of Themselves During The Pandemic

It’s safe to say the past year hasn’t been kind to any of us. Between working from home, restricted movement, and the anxiety of waiting for vaccines, we’ve all had to deal with new and unusual situations that we never even had to think about before.

So think about what it must feel like for our kids, especially the younger ones who cannot yet understand what living under a global pandemic truly means.

Questions like “Why don’t we go out anymore?” or “Why do we have to do this?” are things that we can expect to hear. And while we might not have the answers to every single question, it falls upon us to prepare them for the days ahead. Because the pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon.

The Mayo Clinic suggests that children can often sense what you’re feeling, so how you react to the pandemic will affect their response to it as well. It also suggests that talking to your children will help them understand the situation better.

Keeping them in the dark at a time like this, even if it’s to protect them emotionally, won’t help matters when you need their help in keeping themselves safe.

So how do you talk to your kids about the crisis? How do you help them take care of themselves? Here’s what we suggest:

Learn as much as you can, and explain it to them in simple terms.

By now, we know a little bit more about the pandemic, and there are multiple reliable sources out there to get the information you need. Take the time to read up, check your sources, and learn as much as you can before explaining it to your children. And when you do finally give them the talk, try to make it as simple and as engaging as possible.

You can do this by using toys as characters or making a game out of it. But while they might not fully get what a virus is, the important part is having them understand the danger and how to avoid it.

Tell them that the house if the safest place to be

Children need security in times of crises, and you are who they look to when they need to feel safe. It’s important to tell your children why you’re staying in the house, and how being there is the safest place for them.

Setting boundaries helps, too. Make a distinction as to which parts of the house they’re allowed to go to. So while the backyard is fair game, the front gate might not be.

You can also involve them in keeping the place clean. Assigning them small chores and tasks will teach them responsibility, and will help them realize that they, too, are doing something to fight the pandemic.

Teach them to wash their hands more frequently and keep themselves clean

Handwashing is a basic skill that children should learn whether in a pandemic or just practicing basic hygiene. If handling soap might be too difficult for them, a fun way of going about it is through using liquid soap instead, as it requires a pumping motion. Plus, liquid soap has an advantage as it has less abrasion compared to using bar soaps, and is less harsh on the skin.

Try the new Safeguard Instantly Foaming Hand Soap with its 1 pump InstaFOAM action, lathering up makes handwashing so much fun for children. Safeguard removes 99.9% of germs and protects you and your kids even after washing so you’ll feel much safer using it compared to just ordinary handwash, while still giving you 100% fun with the variants of Pure White and Lemon Fresh.

Teach them how to use hygiene products

Washing their hands might be the best way to avoid manual transmission, but that’s not always possible, especially if you end up having to leave the house. Teach your child how to use hand sanitizer and other hygiene and safety products, such as wipes, masks and face shields.

Knowing how to use these things will give them a sense of responsibility, and will also give you some peace of mind. What’s important is to drill this down as a routine, so that in cases where handwashing is not possible, they’ll be prompted to find alternatives.

Have a plan in place

It’s good to have an emergency plan in place, and it’s one that you should be able to share with your children. Having a plan that’s easy to follow will keep all of you calm during an emergency, because during these times, every second counts.

It’s also ideal to prepare an emergency bag for each member of the family, with spare clothes, soap, hand sanitizer, water and some food inside them. Basically, everything you need to keep safe. This means you have a lot less to think about if you suddenly have to leave in a hurry.

Inside the bag, you can include a printed version of your plan, as well as a list of numbers to call in case you get separated. The short of it is, covering your bases, and involving your children in the process, will help you deal with any situation and help teach them the value of caring for themselves.

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