Mask in School - Logistical ?

[preppy]

DD1 is starting K on two weeks and thankfully we are lucky to have a mask mandate in our state. This will be the first time she is wearing a mask all day but is very good at masking when we go anywhere so I am not super worried. I would like to see what other people do in terms of how many to send per day etc. We have a great stash of her favorite masks but think I may need a few more. I want to have enough for a full week but is that two a day? Three?

I also ordered some mask lanyards so she could easily pull it off at lunch/snack or for recess without having to put it down somewhere. I was also thinking of getting a little pouch with her name on it for the masks? Are people labeling the masks for school as well? I have name bubbles clothing labels I could put on the outside if needed.

Any other advice on things to make her life easier at school or how many to order would be much appreciated. Thank you!

[raangoli]

We send one per day but she has 2-3 as backup in her backpack.

All are labeled with her name using a fine point sharpie. That's held up well through weekly washings.

She uses a lanyard sometimes - one is beaded with her name on it so that's easy. But otherwise I do not label the lanyard.

ETA: The extra masks are in a ziplock bag. No special baggie needed. 

[osulori]

In addition to the one AJ wears he has 3 in his backpack as backups. We rotate between a couple lanyards. I don't label any of it but now I'm wondering if I should...

[pierogigirl]

They always have extra in their backpack. Plus school has lots of extra disposable masks. Most of my students wear the same one all day. Occasionally, they will ask for a disposable because it got wet (sweat or some other way). No one in my class last year had a special bag to use for masks. Some had a lanyard.

[hocus2]

Wear a mask and have 2 back ups. My kids usually wear 2 per day but sometimes 3. My kid also reports that gym specifically is best in a paper disposable.

[dcn]

We use disposables, I send one on a lanyard and there’s a ziplock with extras in their backpacks. For cloth ones I’d probably put name tags on them.

[moonpie]

Dd was in K last year, and also masked for part of the summer at camps/daycare.

We pack her three total masks. The two extras go in a ziplock bag with her name on it in the front pocket of her backpack. We don’t label the individual masks, and she’s never lost one. She has never used all three masks in one day. Her best friend chews on them though and I know he goes through 3-4 because they get wet.

[redheadk]

I labeled at the beginning but stopped. She uses a lanyard at school so it never comes off her body. She has a back up in her backpack. I’d put 2 backups and an empty ziploc bag in her backpack since if she needs to switch masks, it’s probably bc the one she’s wearing got wet or dirty. Maybe teach her how to switch out the lanyard or use disposables as the extras.

[kitty]

My DS1 was masked for 1st grade last year. He wore a lanyard every day (but make sure she can operate the clip(s) if she needs to switch her mask). We send him in wearing one with two clean extras in his mask bag each day. We started with ziplocks but eventually to make it more fun, I ordered small personalized canvas zip top bags from Etsy - one natural colored one labeled DS’s clean masks and a matching black one labeled DS’s dirty masks. That way the dirty masks weren’t just rubbing all over the rest of his stuff in his backpack.

DS2 is starting PK5 and I’m a little worried about him being able to operate the lanyard clips so I recently ordered some from Amazon with snaps. They haven’t come yet so I’m not sure how he will like them.

I was afraid the name bubbles stickers would be itchy so I just labeled the bottom inner corner with a rub a dub sharpie. Just last name since my kids sometimes share (freshly laundered) masks.

[plutosmoon]

I keep a couple extra in a regular ziplock bag in DD's backpack, but she usually just wears the same one all day. I started out with labels, but they fell off and bugged DD. I tried to write directly on them, but a lot are darker colors and it doesn't show up well, so I gave up. None have gone missing in over a year of masking. No lanyard here. We use a maskmate headband because DD hates ear loops.

[ssmjlm]

We have anywhere from 10-15 masks on rotation and a couple lanyards.

She wears one and has one in a bag in her backpack. Last year she never used the back-up one.

Just a FYI, even though mine didn't chew hers, we had to throw away a few because they leave spots from their breathe and a couple developed holes just from wear/tear.

[jordylee]

DD is in Pre-K and has been masking all day throughout covid. We don’t label masks. She wears one and has 5 backup in a ziplock baggie in her backpack that we pack once a week. Her name is written on the ziplock with a sharpie. At the end of the week, I restock her backup baggie so it’s ready to go for Monday morning, but she never ends up using more than 1-2 or her backups in any given week.

No one in her class does lanyards - they pull it down under their chin when drinking and for eating, they put their wrist through the ear loops to have it on their non-dominant arm.

[orval]

One per day. Extra in backpack. School has a disposables on hand too.

[gretchenindisguise]

Even though we put extra in his backpack, he manages to get one from the school/camp instead because he can or he forgets he has them in his backpack.

[Poppy]

My kids also have not used their backup masks yet. I put the backup in a ziploc. I also have an extra disposable mask in there, so 3 total.

[cricketwife]

We are in the hot sweaty south so they ask for minimum of 2 per day and I have two extras in their bags. We were in person last year and I feel like however many masks you think you need, you need double that number. I feel like I'm always buying masks. They don't get lost, but they break, we end up with 10 in the car, they don't fit anymore, etc. I'm so over all of it. (Though I FULLY support universal masking.)

[thebreakfastclub]

My son has been fully masked at daycare and school for over a year. I put 2 backup masks in the pouch in his backpack where he has spare clothes.

I've never bought a lanyard nor labelled them. I had bought him 2 3-packs of Costco masks in Spring 2020, and we are probably down to having 3 of those left. Costco doesn't sell them anymore, but Amazon does so we're back in stock with 15 more.

I usually find them in his pockets or the car.

[lessel]

Last year and this year DS1 is wearing 1 to school with 2-3 in his bag as back-ups. Most days he just wears the one, but randomly he'll go through more in one day (like gets sweaty at PE or gets paint on it during art class). I have two bags labeled "Clean" and "Dirty" in his bag. I used to just have one bag, but he would put the dirty masks in the same bag when he pulled out a clean one and that would make the clean masks (and bag) smelly.

[steamboat185]

We send a few backups in a pouch 2-4 and then wash them at the end of every week regardless of use. Some days the kids stay in the same mask and other days they go through 2-3. We also use these instead of lanyards www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FLHRK5T/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My kids like that they take the pressure off their ears and help the mask stay on better. I like that they improve the fit of the masks a lot.

[ilikedonuts]

I’m sending my kids in kf94 disposable masks. I gave them a back up kf94 already on a lanyard in their bag. The one they wear for the day as well is on a lanyard.

[Susie]

Last year DD was in K and was new to masking full day.  It went better than I expected.  We sent her wearing one in the morning, with 5 or so in her backpack.  Most days she only wore 2-3.  She had a ziploc bag labeled "clean masks" and one labeled "used masks" in her backpack.  

I use iron-on name bubbles labels for the kids' masks.  I iron them into the inside, lower outer corner, and it's been fine.  IDK if she used a lanyard much.  The school bought them lanyards, but she was a little K kid, in a K-5 school, so all the masks, lanyards, etc. that the school supplied for the student body as a whole were really too big/long to be useful for her.

ETA:  she went through a lot more when the weather turned cold, so be prepared for that if, like our school, they take the kids outside as much as possible.  The hot breath in the cold air = condensation and wet gross masks.

[186momx]

My plan is for DD to have one in the morning, a fresh one in her lunch bag to wear after lunch, and a couple extra's in a zip lock in her backpack. She has made some mask chains so she will have that. I'm not planning on labeling but she is a 5th grader now.

[icedcoffee]

I send 2 per day. 1 in the pocket of their backpacks and one on their face. In the (very rare--usually because he has a runny nose) instance they go through both the school just gives them a disposable or two. They typically just use 1 per day.

DS1 used to have a school provided lanyard, but it disappeared one day. I bet the school confiscated them because they became an issue with the kids. LOL

I used iron on mabels labels to tag them and those work fine. I started with 10 per kid. I think I've lost 1 or 2 of DS1's so I bought him another 3 pack at some point.

[preppy]

Aug 26, 2021 9:30:30 GMT -5 hocus2 said:

Wear a mask and have 2 back ups. My kids usually wear 2 per day but sometimes 3. My kid also reports that gym specifically is best in a paper disposable.

That’s good to know - I will throw in a paper one on gym days!!

[preppy]

Aug 26, 2021 10:57:00 GMT -5 lessel said:

Last year and this year DS1 is wearing 1 to school with 2-3 in his bag as back-ups. Most days he just wears the one, but randomly he'll go through more in one day (like gets sweaty at PE or gets paint on it during art class). I have two bags labeled "Clean" and "Dirty" in his bag. I used to just have one bag, but he would put the dirty masks in the same bag when he pulled out a clean one and that would make the clean masks (and bag) smelly.

I like the idea of a clean bag and a dirty bag.

[sporklemotion]

We did a mask and sent two backups in the bag. DD1 usually wouldn’t use hers, but DD2 seemed to go through at least one backup each day. I think she liked to switch after lunch, but I am not sure if she did this just because or if her mask got dirty.
My kids may not be the norm, but we ran through them way faster than I’d expected. So I’d get more than you think you need in case some get lost, ruined, etc.

[tarajane]

Generally they take 2 to school and change to a new one at lunch time. They also have a few backups in their backpacks that are the masks they don't like as much.

[pooh8402]

I sent 2-3 per day for E1 last year, and I think he has like 5 total. Most of them lived in the front pocket of his backpack. I washed once a week.

[noodleoo]

DD1 always used 2 a day in K last year. She would change it at lunch. I kept a ziploc full of clean masks in her backpack, usually 3-4 so she had extras if she needed them. She put the dirty ones in a different pocket and I'd take them out for laundry every day/check to make sure she had enough clean. I buy enough masks to only have to wash once a week.

She is also a mask chewer, so we've been going through a lot of masks because they get little holes after a few weeks. Teacher friends have told me this is not unusual for kids.  I buy a LOT of masks.

[macmars45]

This has been helpful to read. My DS starts kinder (sort of) next week and for real after Labor Day.
I already have a bag ready to go for extra clean masks but hadn't thought to provide a dirty mask bag. I also like the idea of putting a clean mask in his lunch bag every day. I hadn't planned on using a lanyard but I could see it easily & quickly becoming a huge distraction for him.