Aromatherapy for Kids {a DIY Yoga Spot Project}

The power of SMELL is absolutely amazing. Not only can smells transport us to different times and places in our life, they also have powerful affects on our brain.

{we interrupt the regularly scheduled blogging with a brief science nerd break }

When you take a drop of essential oil and inhale - those molecules actually travel to the olfactory system - which then communicates with the limbic system (responsible for all things feelings, memories, emotions, etc).  Your body can then react to these brain messages with the release of endorphins, seratonin and norepinephrine. This is all a super simplified explanation of a really amazing, scientific process that happens ALL THE TIME in your brain. All that being said - when you smell essential oils, your body can respond to those messages with feeling calm, relaxed, or even energized. Pretty cool, huh? 

Not only is this all really great and useful for us as adults when it comes to mid-afternoon exhaustion, trouble sleeping, or handling a stressful day, the use of aromatherapy for KIDS is an amazing, powerful tool. 

As my kids are growing and starting to deal with and express (loudly) many emotions, I've started to dig in deeper to the science (and into my oil storage box) to see how I can help support them. As I've started to incorporate some KIDS YOGA classes into my wellness business, I've also been working on some fun, easy ways to incorporate the power of smell into our classes. 

I wanted to share with you today a really fun, easy way to use aromatherapy for kids, and a few of my favorite oils for affecting mood. 

Aromatherapy Oils for Kids

I've shown a few of my favorite oils for kids here in the previous picture. When using the yoga spots that I'll explain in a minute, you're using the "aromatic" use of essential oils. That means the sense of smell. Kids like to smell things they are familiar with and that they connect with good things. Cinnamon may remind them of baking cookies with their grandma, Peppermint may make them think of Christmas, and Wild Orange may make them think of summer time treats. When kids make that kind of scent connection, the good feelings that are connected with it, will follow. 

In general, citrus oils like lemon, wild orange, lime, and grapefruit will elicit positive, happy, uplifting emotions. It's just one of the traits of citrus oils. 

Lavender is another very popular oil amongst kids (and their exhausted parents). It has strong calming properties, so it can help settle a wild child or help your kids transition into a calm, peaceful bedtime routine. I love using lavender as a crazy-calmer, especially with these yoga spots. 

Be sure to educate yourself about the QUALITY and PURITY of the
essential oils you use for you and your kids.
We ONLY use and trust doTERRA essential oils for our family.
You can learn more about these oils and watch a FREE Oils 101 class here! 

DIY Yoga Spots

Now, I call these yoga spots because I like to use these with kids yoga, but you don't have to be "doing yoga" to use these spots. Any sort of mindful time will do! Plus, it's barely a DIY - it's taking colorful felt and cutting them into shapes! You can even involve your kids if you trust them with scissors!! 

We made heart shaped yoga spots at Valentine's Day, but I love doing these circles because you can incorporate faces! I got the inspiration behind this idea from the Mudflower Yoga page - an awesome kids yoga program in Houston, TX! 

MATERIALS NEEDED:
Colored Felt
Something to trace (or a really good scissor hand)
Markers
Essential Oils 

You'll want to cut out a variety of colors of felt circles for this project, even more if you're doing this for a group of kids. Once your cutting is done, the DIY part is done! Now it's time to smell and play! 

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You can really get creative with how you uses these spots, but here are a few of my ideas. 

• Let the kids choose the color of spot that makes them feel good. 
• Give them a marker and let them draw the face of how they are feeling. 
• Pass around just a few oils and let them smell them. Let them choose the oil they like the best. 
• Drop 1 drop of their oil of choice onto their spot. 
• Have them look at their color, look at their face, and then take a big inhale smell. 
• Do breathing exercises while holding the spot. 
• Leave the spots on your mat while you're doing yoga as a mini diffuser. Whenever the kids are down close to their spot they can take an extra big breath!
  
• You could also use an oil with a scent that matches the themed of your class. Maybe Siberian Fir if you're doing a camping themed yoga class, or cinnamon if you're doing an autumn themed class. Scents can transport you AND the kids ANYWHERE!  

I want to hear from YOU!

If you make these and try them, let me know! I want to hear how you make them work for YOU! 

Do you have other ways of incorporating aromatherapy into mindfulness for kids?