Sleepy Time Foot Balm For Kids

tooties

Who doesn't like a good foot massage?  A nice rub is especially relaxing before bed.  Massage oils and balms made with essential oils massaged into the bottom of feet at bedtime helps to induce sleep as well as fight infection.

Did You Know ~ Our bodies are able to absorb a phenomenal amount through the skin on the bottom of our feet.  In fact an old remedy for coughs is to rub the bottom of the feet with olive oil, put minced garlic on top of the oil and then put socks over the whole thing.  Within a very short amount of time the person's breath will smell of garlic!  The garlic then helps to fight infection from the inside of the lungs out as the person breathes.

Creating Foot Balms With Kids ~ 

What is better than squishing and squeezing a bag of gooey goodness?  This is just what we did recently at preschool.  The kids each created their own sleepy time foot balm in a little baggie for mixing.  Originally we were going to use tins to put the balms in but what fun is that?

Materials ~

• Shea Butter
• Coconut Oil (optional)
• Relaxing Essential Oils, Some Examples Are ~
  • lavender
  • atlas cedarwood
  • clary sage
  • sweet orange
  • vetivert
  • Australian sandalwood
  • frankincense
  • petit grain
  • neroli
  • rose
  • jasmine

Important Note: These essential oils are generally considered safe for kids from age 2 and up. If your child is very small and may get into the foot balm or otherwise misuse it, please store it up out of their reach when you are not in the room with them.  Essential oils are not safe to use internally. 

Instructions ~

• Place a big spoonful (about a tablespoon) or two of the shea butter and coconut oil in a baggie.  
• Let the children smell the essential oils and pick out a couple of their favorites that make them feel relaxed and sleepy.  
• Add these essential oils to the shea butter/coconut oil blend.  Because this is a really loose project with no exact measurement for the shea butter/coconut oil blend, I errored on the side of too little essential oil, to be safe, rather than risk using to much.  So I used up to 6 drops of essential per baggie.  This means that if the child choose lavender, cedarwood and ylang ylang for the essential oils, I put 2 drops of each oil in their baggie for a total of 6 drops.  See Essential Oils for more information on using them herbal preparation safely.
• Seal the bag shut tight!
• Now for the fun part... Mixing it all up!  It is the child's job to mix up all that goodness by squishing it around to their heart's content!

To Use ~

At bedtime rub a little bit of the balm on the bottoms of your child's feet.  This is  a great time to connect with a little massage and conversation or lullaby.  Then cover your child's feet with socks.  Off to slumber land they go!

More~ 

Nightmares And Night Terrors, What's A Mama To Do?

Babar's Yoga for Elephants

An Original Laurent De Brunhoff Book

A couple of years ago, I spied this awesome book peaking its binding out of a shelf at one of my favorite used book stores.  I loved Babar as a child and my child loves yoga, so this was a win-win.  I brought Babar's Yoga home with me and wrapped it up for my little one's Valentine's surprise, a total gift of love.  Immediately upon opening the book she wanted me to read it and with in moments we were both giggling, breathing and doing yoga together.  As I said this was a couple of years ago; she loved the book then and still loves it, keeping it bedside along with a few other precious books.

Babar's Yoga for Elephants also made a trip to the preschool with me as part of our unit on Mindful Self Care.  The kids and I read though it, having a blast stretching and rolling around on the floor together.  We took a few moments here and there with hands on our bellies to take big deep breaths and center ourselves.  When we were all done I checked in with the kids to see how they were feeling.  I found them calm and centered.  We even had a few moments of silence before they went off on their way which is saying something!

The book starts off with a bit about the elephant's history of yoga and then quickly catches up to modern-day Babar who describes how he uses yoga in his life.  He offers multiple yoga routines with fun to see illustrations of an elephant doing yoga.  My daughter enjoys setting up the book so she can follow the pictures and do yoga all by herself!

Shared On: Kid Lit Blog Hop, It's Playtime!, Kid's Get Crafty

Flower 'n' Spice Play Dough Mandalas

Flowers 'n' spice and everything nice went into these lovely little mandalas!

"What's a mandala Ms. Angela?" was the immediate question I received after telling the kids what would be making together. While showing the kids a mandala coloring sheet I brought in for them, I explained that a mandala is a circle with a center.  It has patterns.  "As you work on a mandala," I explained, "you become calm and reflect on the beautiful parts inside yourself."

Inspiration for this project came directly from Nuture Store's wonderful post about Play Dough Rangoli Mandalas.  The instant I saw these mandalas I knew I would have to make them (with an herbal flare) at the preschool as part of our unit on Mindful Self Care.

herbal mandalas

Materials ~

• Play Dough (To enhance relaxation during this project I made play dough scented with lavender essential oil and colored lightly with beet powder.)
• Lids of some sort ~ like the lids from yogurt containers or jars
• Pretty botanicals to design with ~ we used baby rose buds, hawthorn berries, star anise and tiny fragrant cardamom seeds.

mandala botanicals

Directions ~

• Set up your materials on a table.  I laid out the botanicals on a paint palate and put lids in the center of the table.
• Give the children a brief age-appropriate description of a mandala.
• Have each child choose a lid and write their name on the bottom.
• Give them some play dough to press into their lid.  Remind them that a mandala is a circle and to press their play dough up to the edges of the lid.  You might need to help really little kids.
• Then let them design!  You might want to tell the children to press the herbs into the play dough so the herbs will stick.
• On a separate table, if you wish set up coloring materials and mandala coloring sheets for the children to enjoy as well.  A quick search online will give you lots of mandala coloring sheet to choose from.

creating a mandala

Our finished mandalas smelled amazing!  Some of the children really got into this project.  I could see and feel their minds and bodies relaxing as they carefully pressed each plant into their play dough.  They would pick up a plant, smell it taking a deep breath and then place it in the perfect spot on their play dough canvas.

herbal mandala

More Mindful Self Care For Children ~

Meditation Friends

An Aromatic State Of Mind

More Play Dough Fun ~

Herbal Play Dough

A Happy First Day of Preschool With Calming Aromatherapy

Cinnamon Day ~ Herbs For Kids ~

Rose and Chocolate Play Dough

Shared On:  Eco-Kids Tuesday, The Kid's Co-op, It's Playtime, Kids Get Crafty

Wintry Science Experiments & Crafts For Kids

Spring is just around the corner yet here in Colorado, March is typically our snowiest month.  We haven't had a whole lot of the white stuff so far this year and yesterday's storm has me excited for more before the first flowers start poking their heads up through the soil and the earliest green buds make an appearance on tree branches. In honor of winter fun I would like to share some of the great snow and ice projects the kids and I have done.  These projects are perfect to do with young children and even have complete lesson plans for those of you working with a group of kids.  Most of the projects have a bit of science thrown in while all of them offer kid-approved fun and creativity!

Crystal Snow Flakes 

Talk about and play with states of matter while conducting a dissolving experiment with kids.  Use all this new-found learning to grow crystals on snow flakes!

Experiments With Ice

Have a race to see how fast ice will melt when exposed to different temperatures and substances.  Create a big block of rainbow ice by using salt and food coloring together to track how fast salt will dissolve ice.  Then paint with ice cubes!

Snow Globes

Create an enchanted world using fairies, dinosaurs, glitter and pretty stones.  The kids really loved this and want to do it again!

Snow Paint

Super simple to make and a great way to get outside a play!!

Do you have any favorite snow or ice projects?  I would love to hear about them and give them a try!

Wishing you lots of wintry fun!

Shared On:  The Kid's Co-Op, It's Playtime!

Snow Paint ~ Snow and Ice Part 4

snowpaint

This activity is not herbal or even scientific, what it is, is just plain fun!  Plus it is a great way to get the kids outside on a snowy, cold day while bringing out the little Picasso inside.

Materials ~ 

• plastic spray bottles
• food coloring
• cold water

How To ~

The set up couldn't be easier.  Simply fill a few spray bottes with cold water and then add food coloring.  Let the kids watch.  The drops of food coloring swirling into the water always insights happy "ooh's and ahh's."

snow paint

Then take the kids outside and let them get creative.  You might want to instruct the kids only to spray the snow especially if you are working with a group of children otherwise you might have art in unwanted places.

We did this activity a few weeks ago at the preschool and started out our day with an Ice Cube Experiment and setting up the Big Block Of Ice Experiment and as usual it was great fun being scientists for the day and watching to see if our predictions came true.

ice experiments

We also read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

which inspired the kids to get outside and explore the snowy landscape.

More Please ~  Check out other fun ice and snow experiments...

• Crystal Snow Flakes at Preschool ~ Snow and Ice Part 1
• Experiments and Icy Painting At Preschool ~ Snow and Ice Part 2
• An Enchanted World, Snowglobes ~ Snow and Ice Part 3

The Best of Mama Rosemary 2012

Happy New Year! Before we move on into the transformation that 2013 promises, I wanted to share the top five viewed posts from Mama Rosemary during 2012 plus a few of my personal favorites that you may  have missed along the way...

Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.  I truly value each and every one of you!

Most Viewed Posts Of 2012

Inside A Flower

Have you ever looked inside a tulip?  There is a lot going on!

Playing With Peppermint

Hands-on aromatic fun!

Some Sweet Foot Lovin' For Mother's Day

The perfect present for mom because it is cute and relaxing at the same time.

Butterfly Circle

A study of the butterfly life cycle.

Cinnamon 'n' Spice Ornaments Craft Style

Aromatic crafting for the holiday season!

All Natural Candy Cane Bath Salts

And an honorable mention.  Mentioned because it was not posted in 2012 but got a lot of attention

and hopefully gave some folks a fun herbal craft idea to try!

Some Of My Favorite Posts From 2012

An Aromatic State of Mind

This was by far one of my favorite activities I have ever done with the kids at preschool.

It was just so much fun!!

At Long Last An Essential Mommy Time Out

Mommies need a break too!

Meditation Friends

Creating a tool for helping kids with their emotions.

Fairy Crowns And Mint Magic Cookies

Tasty fun for a summer day!

Violet Equinox

Cute little kids learning about beautiful violets.

Best wishes for a wonderful new year!  May it be full of what ever you are wishing for!

Preschool Teachers' Tricks For Staying Health During Cold And Flu Season

Imagine that you are surrounded day in and day out by little kids.  These little kids don't know how to blow their own nose, they may not even know they have a nose much less that it needs blowing.  They are learning to cover their coughs and sneezes but often forget.  And sometimes their fingers wonder to germy places like the inside of their nose and then they pick up a toy to share with a friend.  Needless to say, illness can spread fast in a school.  So, what is a preschool teacher to do to stay healthy?  I asked my fellow teachers what they do to keep illness at bay.  I am excited to share their tricks of the trade!

Each teacher had a different protocol they follow.  These are some great, straight forward easy to use remedies.  All of these wonderful women have very healthy diets and unquestionably  that is a big part of staying healthy.  Also, we all are sure to wash our hands any time something questionably germy comes in contact with them at school.  This, of course, is huge!

Here are the results ~

Teacher #1

This lovely lady takes Echinacea (2 or 3, 400 mg pills)at the first hint of illness or if she been exposed to a bunch of sick kids!  She also takes vitamin D everyday.

Teacher #2

Kick Ass Immune Activator by WishGarden Herbs is teacher #2's go to.  When she feels anything coming on she starts taking this remedy with frequent doses.  She is also great at keeping her energy straight and doesn't get freaked out when exposed to illness (law of attraction baby!).

I love WishGarden Herbs.  They are local to us here is Colorado and have simply wonderful formulas with great quality.  They also carry a Kick-It Immune For Kids that is wonderful.

Teacher #3

Teacher #3 told me she does something strange.  Well, I have research a bit about what she takes and it sounds interesting.  She takes Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) which is a solution of 28% sodium chlorite in water.  This solution works to kill pathogens in the body:

"Kills all pathogens - viruses, disease causing bacteria, parasites, molds, fungi and even oxidizes heavy metals from drinking water. Won't hurt pipes or plumbing inside the body or out if used as directed! Won't taint the taste of your food storage or other products with that nasty chlorine taste."  Source: Discover MMS

I have not tried this at all and know only what I am telling you here including that this particular teacher finds MMS to be very effective at keeping her healthy.

Here are some more sources for your own research should you be interested:

• Linda Melos N.D.

• MMS Healthy Living

• Miracle Mineral Supplement
• Miracle Mineral 

Teacher #4 (Me!)

I have a bunch of tricks up my sleeve.  I take vitamin D everyday as well as multivitamins and fish oils.  This post "A Sniffle and a Sneeze" that I wrote last year has my protocol plus what I do for myself and my kids if they seem to be coming down with something.

Here are a couple of other tricks I use for when I start to feel sick or have been exposed, though I don't use all of them at once, I try to keep them on hand for when I need them:

• Place one drop of high quality peppermint essential oil in a full glass of water and drink it down.
• If my nose is runny, I take Bi Yan Pian.
• For general sick/off feeling I take Yin Chiao then if that doesn't work I take Gan Mao Ling.
• Also my acupuncturist just gave me some Cold Quell by Blue Poppy.  She said to take it at the first sign of illness.  Luckily I haven't had a chance to try this out yet!

How do you stay healthy during cold and flu season?  

Shared On: The Kid's Co-op, Natural Living Link Up, The Sunday Parenting Party