Twelve Essential Oil Hacks for Back to School

Whether your kids go back to school in August or September, the first day is right around the corner!

I remember my first days of school when I was a child. They were filled with anticipation and excitement. I couldn’t wait to see my friends that I hadn’t seen over the summer, meet my teachers and use all my new school supplies. On the other hand, my husband dreaded the first day of school. He was fraught with stomach aches and anxiety of the looming year and loathed the idea of going back to that place called school.

Your children most likely fall into one of those camps but they also might be stationed somewhere in between. Even if they don’t dread the first day and look forward to it, they could have some nervousness because of the unknown and anticipation. You also might have an entirely different situation because you homeschool like we do. In any of these situations, there are numerous ways to use essential oils when it comes to getting back into those school days

Every single one of these hacks work wonderfully for the homeschool family as well as the public or private school family.

Safety and Dilution

Before you discover the twelve hacks I have to share with you, I need to make sure to talk with you about essential oil safety and proper dilution.

Safety

The following points are crucial to understand when you use essential oils:

• Be sure you have followed these 5 important aspects to choose an essential oil brand.
• Only use essential oils that are third-party tested and verified to be 100% pure and free of contaminants, fillers and synthetics. These are our favorites that we’ve used for over 5 years!
• Use essential oils from a company who sources indigenously (where the plant grows native.)
• Only work with essential oil companies that don’t use brokers (middleman) because the broker generally only cares about the profit, not the quality.
• Understand that not all oils should be used for children and that with therapeutic, grade 1 oils, a little bit goes a long way and you can overuse.
• Know that every person’s body chemistry is different so what works for one person may have different results with another, and what one person loves another, may not like at all.

Dilution

When applying essential oils on a child’s skin (topically) you’ll want to remember these important points:

• If you have not used essential oils on your child then it’s very important to spot test one oil at a time on your child to be sure their body likes that particular oil. You would do this by placing one drop of oil diluted essential oil (see below for dilution instructions) on the child’s inner wrists or back of the neck. Wait a couple hours and pay attention to the child’s behavior, what the skin looks like and the way the child feels. In most cases, all results will be positive and continued use of the essential oil is warranted. If there is an unwanted reaction, it’s best to find another essential oil that works better for your child. *Remember – every single essential oil is vastly different in chemistry and results.
• Dilution does not mean that you are “watering down” the essential oil. It means that you are allowing the essential oil, through the use of a carrier oil, to soak into the skin at a slower rate as well as spread more evenly over the skin.
• Rule of thumb for dilution for children = 1-2 drops of essential oil/1tsp. carrier oil (Fractionated Coconut Oil makes a great carrier oil.)

12 Essential Oil Hacks for Going Back to School

1 | Wake Me Up

Waking up may or may not be hard for your child on the first day of school. It really depends on how they feel about going to school. We find that these invigorating oils really help to get those eyes opened wide and brains turned on for the day.

Wake Me Up Diffuser Blend:

With an ultrasonic diffuser, diffuse: 2 drops Lemon, 2 drops Wild Orange and 2 drops Peppermint in a prominent area in your home – like the breakfast table or kitchen where everyone will be gathering.

Wake Me Up Room Spray:

In an 8-ounce glass water bottle (not plastic please) place 2 drops Lemon, 2 drops Wild Orange and 2 drops Peppermint and then fill the rest with water. When going into your children’s room for wake up time, spray this wake up spray in the room to get them going. Also, be sure to turn on their light! It’s not comfortable to go back to sleep with a light on (for most kids.)

Topical Wake Up:

If your child is still having a hard time getting energized for the day, you can place 1 drop Lemon and 1 drop Peppermint in 1 tsp. of a carrier oil and rub on the back and feet. *Lemon is a photosensitive oil which means when applying topically you’ll need to apply where the sun won’t shine on it for at least 12 hours.

Lemon oil is a great oil to help clear the mind and cleanse the body. Wild Orange which is full of D-limonene which helps the cells function properly and Peppermint can help fight fatigue and be invigorating and stimulating.

2 | NERVOUS THOUGHTS

There are a lot of unknowns for a child when it comes to school, even in homeschool. Maybe your child has a learning disability that causes him or her to be anxious or maybe they struggle with negative thoughts about themselves? Along with praying and discipling our children and helping them to understand God is the Ultimate Comforter, essential oils can greatly help to reduce these kinds of thoughts in children.

With an ultrasonic diffuser, diffuse:

1 drop Lavender, 1 drop Roman Chamomile, 1 drop, Bergamot, and 1 drop Vetiver. Alternately, you could also diffuse 4 drops of doTERRA Serenity.

For topical application:

Apply 1 drop each of Roman Chamomile and Vetiver to feet and back of the neck. Additionally, apply 1 drop of Bergamot on the back of the neck or any place the sun won’t get to since it’s a photosensitive oil.

*Dilute oils (especially Vetiver) according to safety section above!

Roman Chamomile is known to ease negative feelings, Bergamot is wonderful for easing agitation, boosting mood and helping with depressive thoughts and Vetiver has antioxidant properties that help with cellular function.

3 | TUMMY TROUBLES

It’s easy with that nervousness for a child’s stomach to give them fits. The wonderful fact is that essential oils can help support digestion as well as help to ease any upset they may feel.

Apply topically, with dilution:

1 drop Ginger, 1 drop Peppermint, and 1 drop Roman Chamomile over the abdomen. Alternatively, rubbing 2 drops of doTERRA DigestZen on the abdomen can be very effective.

 Ginger has Alpha-Zingiberene in it which helps calms digestive upset and has warming capabilities

4 | Bye-Bye Stinky Shoes

After a long day at school or even after a recess during homeschool, shoes can start getting quite stinky. Essential oils can help purify and cleanse the bacteria that often reside inside shoes.

Stinky Shoe Remedy:

Take two cotton balls and add 1 drop of doTERRA Purify and 1 drop of Melaleuca to each cotton ball. Place one cotton ball in each shoe to help remove odor.

doTERRA Purify has anti-bacterial constituents and Melaleuca is comprised of anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal constituents.

5 | A Fresher Backpack

Let’s face it, those shiny new backpacks that our kids start out with at the beginning of the year only take about a week before they have an odor to them, carry a bunch of germs and have lost that new gleam. Here’s a hack to help give your backpack a fresher smell and eliminate the germs that dwell in and on it.

Make my

anti-bacterial airplane wipes and use them to wipe down your child’s backpack.

Using a cotton ball

Place 1 drop of Lemon oil and 1 drop of doTERRA OnGuard on it and put it in the mesh zippered pocket that lines the inside of the backpack.

Get my

DIY Household Cleaners Kit to get your hands on my favorite All Purpose Essential Oil Spray and Germ Away Essential Oil Spray Recipes to clean your kiddos backpack up.

6 | Classroom Defense

Whether you have one or two children in your homeschool classroom or your child is in a classroom full of 30 or more kids, boosting immunity and guarding against unwanted bugs is really important.

With children all touching the same school tools and maybe even coming to school under the weather, it’s important to boost your child’s immunity as much as possible.

Of course, one of the most important ways to do this is to be sure they’re eating a whole-food diet, free from processed and artificial foods that are loaded with chemicals. In tandem with that, essential oils can be used to aid the body in its God-given protective responses.

Make my favorite Hand Sanitizer

The recipe is in my DIY Household Cleaners Kit and you can just make a small bottle of it and send it with your child to school in their backpack. They can spray it on their hands or their desk anytime they need it.

If your school allows

or in your homeschool classroom diffuse 2 drops of doTERRA OnGuard with 2 drops of Lemon to cleanse and freshen the air and naturally boost the children’s immune systems.

7 | ON THE PLAYGROUND OF FOR SPORTS

Children often come home with scrapes, bruises and wounds from playing and being kids or competing in after-school sports. Having an essential oil blend on hand can be very beneficial. For older children, this can be sent with them in their backpacks and for younger children, this can be used when they come home from school. Of course, for homeschool children, you’ll be at home so this rollerball remedy will be something you’ll want to keep handy. It fits nicely in purses too!

Owie Blend (for older kids you can call it Ouch Blend)

In a 5ml roller ball bottle combine 5 drops each of doTERRA OnGuard, Melaleuca, Frankincense, Lavender and Helichrysum. Fill the rest of the bottle up with Fractionated Coconut Oil. Rub on the wounded area as needed.

8 | HEALTHY AFTER SCHOOL SNACKS

Something we love to do with essential oils in our home is cook with them. They provide a flavor boost and, depending on what way they are used, can offer therapeutic benefits too.

Here are three of our favorite whole-food snacks using doTERRA Essential Oils:

doTERRA Cinnamon Apple Chips

AIP Baked Apple Cinnamon Granola

Raw Cocoa Bites

9 | DEEP FOCUS

Life can be distracting and focus can be hard to find in this day and age. Couple that with the challenges of going back to school and focus can downright disappear. Along with being sure your child starts their day off with whole-food protein, quality fat and nutrient dense vegetables, using essential oils can set them up for a day filled with valuable concentration. You can start your day with these oils, use them in the middle of the day and use them in the evening when focus is needed as well.

The diffuser blend works well for homeschool classrooms or classrooms where the teacher will be open to diffusing essential oils. The rollerball blend is one you can send with your child to school and they can use when they feel they are having a hard time focusing on the task at hand.

In an ultrasonic diffuser, diffuse:

1 drop Vetiver, 1 drop Lavender, 1 drop Cedarwood.

Focus rollerball blend:

In a 5ml roller ball, combine 3 drops Vetiver, 5 drops Lavender, 3 drops Cedarwood and 5 drops Rosemary. Fill the rest with Fractionated Coconut Oil. Apply to neck, wrists and temples as needed.

Vetiver has been found to aid deep concentration and increase it 100%.(1) Lavender oil is ultra calming and Cedarwood oil helps promote clear thinking. Rosemary, due to it’s 1,8-cineole content, has been studied and shown human subjects to perform with higher concentration levels.(2)

10 | Memory Boost

With so much going on during a school day, sometimes it’s hard to remember things clearly. There are essential oils that have been studied and proven to improve memory!

In an ultrasonic diffuser:

diffuse: 3 drops Rosemary and 3 drops Frankincense

Topically:

Apply 1 drop Rosemary and 1 drop Frankincense to the back of neck, wrists and chest. Dilute as needed.

Rosemary Oil has been found to improve cognition and mood and boost brain function (3) and, due to its Sesquiterpenes. Frankincense has a profound positive affect on the brain since the essential oil can pass through the blood brain barrier.

11 | Homework Time

Whether your children come home and do their homework or stay at home in homeschool and do their homework throughout the day, the following oils will help with motivation, mood improvement, calmness, and at the same time will be invigorating.

While your student is doing their homework, diffusing the following or applying topically can be very effective:

In an ultrasonic diffuser, diffuse:

1 drop each, Geranium, Lavender, Bergamot and Douglas Fir or 4 drops of doTERRA Citrus Bliss

Homework Help Balm:

Combine 1 tsp. coconut oil with 1 drop each Lavender, Geranium, Bergamot and Douglas Fir or 3 drops doTERRA Citrus Bliss. Apply on neck, back, hands and wrists and feet.

Douglas Fir is a very grounding oil and found to improve motivation. Bergamot, due to its linalyl acetate, can boost the mood and at the same time, calm tense thoughts and ease agitation. Lavender, also comprised of calming linalyl acetate, will aid in creating a serene environment for homework. Geranium, with its geraniol component, is high in antioxidants and helps promote good cell health.

12 | Restful Sleep

A good night sleep of at least eight hours or more for a student is crucial for learning, focus and overall brain function and health. Winding down from the day, without screen time, is a great way to improve the next day’s performance. However, sometimes, it is still hard for a child to turn their mind off and doze off into the dreamland. Essential oils can help calm the mind and get their bodies into that restful state needed to get into that REM sleep.

We have a diffuser for every level of our house. They’ve really come in handy because sometimes more than one person needs to diffuse at the same time. Here are two ways to use essential oils to help your child rest easy.

In an ultrasonic diffuser, diffuse:

1 drop each of Lavender, Frankincense or Spikenard, Roman Chamomile and Ylang Ylang.

Epsom Salt bath with essential oils:

in a bathtub half full of warm, filtered water, add 1/4-1/2 C. Epsom salt and 1 drop each of Lavender, Frankincense or Spikenard, Roman Chamomile and Ylang Ylang.

The magnesium in the Epsom salt will help relax the muscles and the mind. Lavender, with its linalool and linalyl acetate are altogether calming. Frankincense has alpha-pinene in it which can be sedating and Spikenard is comprised of numerous Sesquiterpenes which can help calm the brain. Roman Chamomile with its ester content is wonderful to help with insomnia. (4) Lastly, Ylang Ylang, when studied, was found to promote restful sleep and be stress relieving. (5)

All the Essential Oils Mentioned in This Post

Which Hacks Will You Use for Your Children Going Back to School?

Whether your kids attend your homeschool or they go off to another school during the day, you can use essential oils in so many ways to help them enjoy school and do well.

Applying essential oils to help your children wake up, calm nervous thoughts, help with digestive issues and getting restful sleep is extremely useful. Freshening up their backpacks and shoes and tending to wounds and scrapes is another fun way to use oils and of course, that quintessential afternoon snack is a great way to get the therapeutic benefits of essential oils into your child’s life. When it comes time for homework and focus along with remembering important information and improving concentration essential oils can be priceless!