With back to school at our doorstep, and many communities mandating the wearing of face masks in enclosed spaces, like the classroom, helping kids to wear face masks safely needs to be a top priority.
The first sticking point for a lot of parents and educators is that some kids, particularly younger ones who don’t fully grasp what is going on in the world, will fight wearing a face mask. They may whine and be obstinate, in the hopes that they will be allowed to remove it. It takes time to get used to wearing them, but as kids in other countries have proven for years, it’s completely doable.
How to help kids accept wearing masks
While it can be logically explained to an older child that wearing a mask helps to prevent them, and those around them, from sharing the virus, younger kids might not be able to grasp the importance of consistently and safely wearing a mask. However, even with older kids, it’s important to use a positive message instead of scaring them.
The easiest way to get their buy in is to make it a game for them. A challenge that they will be happy to attempt to win! Whether you incentivize the game with stickers and prizes or just encourage them through the thrill of winning, using a positive position, rather than a negative, more punitive stance, will go much further in getting the behavior you are looking for.
