Ahh…’tis the season for bug bites and scratches and maybe a good ‘ole splinter. We see all sorts of “injuries” at Farm School each day. It seems our Boo-Boo Basket is in constant motion all day long. At the risk of sounding dismissive, I want to tell you that the increase in bandage use at our school the last several weeks (and every summer) is not on our internal list of “areas of the business that need improvement”. To me, it means that a whole bunch of children are actively using their bodies to explore the farm and its play equipment despite the heat of our Texas summer. Consider this short blog post over at Free-Range Kids.
These kids are having amazing adventures! They are fashioning bows out of a piece of yarn and a stick, then hunting buffalo and storming the castle/fort for three weeks straight, every chance they get. That’s way cooler than sitting inside in the a/c playing video games about knights and hunters. They are swinging on a rope, screaming with delight when they can go as high as they dreamed. They are balancing on logs, even running something like this. And, when they slip or trip, encountering real bark, and grass, and dirt, they are comforted by a loving teacher and encouraged. Maybe the focus of whispers from teacher to child becomes more about their amazing bravery instead of the scratch. And, if the boo boo warrants it, they are sent in to Nurse Andrea and the Boo-Boo Basket. More often than not, they accept the teacher’s comfort and head off to do it all over again!
The Farm School Boo-Boo Basket…maybe you’d like to make one at home.
Ingredients: calendula cream, arnica cream, bandages of various sizes, guaze, medical tape, tweezers, thermometer, colored washcloths (white shows blood easier, can alarm the child unnecessarily)
In the freezer: teething rings and bags of frozen veggies to ice injuries…wrap in a cloth first.
You may also like to add an antibiotic cream or preferrably a bottle of tea tree oil or tea tree cream, some homemade boo-boo spray (purified water, lavender oil), and/or Bach’s Rescue Remedy.
General Farm School Rules Regarding Injuries That Aren’t Serious
Give a hug, comfort, encouragement when there is an injury…usually children need acknowledgment of the injury vs. treatment. Don’t be the “coach” that makes it seem like the child just needs to just toughen up and get back in the game. It’s a balance.
Remain calm and confident…the child looks to you to see if the injury is serious or not. They look to you for strength and leadership.
You gotta have blood for a bandage, or at least an open blister that warrants the protection of the bandage. Otherwise, we’d be handing out bandages all day long. To some children, bandages = stickers.
Wash it! Hand-washing and the washing of scratches is a first rate way to prevent illness and infection.
Ice plus arnica cream really helps prevent bruising and knots (big black horn buds in the center of their forehead). And…kids don’t usually like to accept ice! They generally hate it if they’re under three years old.
Have some fun out there!
~Leslie
