Are you a teacher or a homeschooling parent? Check out our guide to using essential oils in the classroom for great tips and ideas.
Essential oils have become more of a standard household item for many families these days. Many of us use them for a wide variety of uses in our homes – everything from supporting optimal health for our family to cleaning with them. Another great area to think about is using essential oils in the classroom.
Whether you are a parent or a teacher, or maybe you’re a homeschooler who wears both of those hats, you can benefit in more ways than one by incorporating essential oils into your daily school routine.
Essential Oils in the Classroom to Protect Against Seasonal Threats
First of all, we all know seasonal threats are a major issue we all face when it comes to a room full of kiddos. Even in our homes, we want the environment to be as clean as possible. Essential oils can be a huge help in this battle.
Make your classroom or study area at home safer from seasonal threats by investing in an essential oil diffuser. Get a good one that covers a nice amount of square footage and use oils like clove, orange, peppermint and lemon to start off your day and help keep the air fresh and clean. Our favorite oil to use for this purpose is Germ Fighter essential oil from Plant Therapy.
If you don’t have a diffuser, you can make a room freshener spray in a nice glass spray bottle with your favorite essential oils and distilled water. Use it multiple times a day if you choose to, and you can even spray it on chairs and desks as well to give your cleaning an extra boost.
We also like to apply Germ Destroyer to the bottoms of our feet every day to support our immune systems. Make sure you’re using properly diluted essential oils.
DIY Essential Oils Recipes to Protect Against Seasonal Threats
Room Freshener Spray
Make a room freshener spray to keep the air fresh and clean by combining the following in a small spray bottle:
- 8 drops peppermint essential oil
- 5 drops clove essential oil or cinnamon essential oil
- 10 drops orange essential oil or lemon essential oil
- Top off with distilled water
Natural Hand Protective Gel
Making your own natural hand protective gel is another great way to use the oils to help protect your children from seasonal threats
Here is a recipe for you for hand cleanser.
- 5 to 12 drops of pure lavender essential oil
- 20 drops pure melaleuca essential oil
- 1 tablespoon witch hazel
- 1 cup aloe vera gel
- Small lotion bottles
Combine all ingredients in a measuring cup and blend well and then put into the bottles. Shake well before each use. Use on your own hands or your students’ or children’s hands as well.
Essential Oils in the Classroom for a Calm, Focused Environment
Using essential oils in the classroom to create a calm and focused environment that is conducive to learning will help your students achieve academic success.
You can start by diffusing some great combinations in the diffuser such as:
- Lavender oil and peppermint oil
- Grapefruit oil and sweet orange oil
- Bergamot oil and lavender oil
- Fir needle oil and bergamot oil
One of my favorite essential oil blends to diffuse or use topically for increased focus A+ Attention blend from Plant Therapy. I love the smell of it and it really works!
You can also help students improve their focus by diffusing any of these combinations:
- Sweet orange and peppermint
- Vetiver and patchouli
- Patchouli and orange
- Bergamot and vetiver
- Grapefruit and vetiver
- Frankincense and orange
- Patchouli and frankincense
Diffuser Necklaces
Make a clay pendant for your child if they have trouble focusing while at school or doing homework and use it as a personal diffuser for them. If you don’t want to make your own, many websites or essential oil dealers now sell diffuser pendants and bracelets as well that can be purchased for this also.
If your child does not like the scent of essential oils on them and won’t wear them in that way, one thing you can do is place the oils on the bottoms of their feet before school and then have them put their socks on. No one but them and you will know they are there and they won’t have to worry about the scent!
Focus Roller Bottle Blend
Make a roller blend bottle for focus and concentration by combining the following oils in a 10 ml size rollerball bottle:
- 10 drops patchouli essential oil
- 12 drops lime essential oil
- 6 drops frankincense essential oil
- 12 drops vetiver essential oil
- Top off with a carrier oil such as fractionated coconut oil
Roll this on their temples, wrists or bottom of the feet before school homework or a test. Instead of making your own blend, you can buy the A+ Attention blend from Plant Therapy as well. It makes it easy peasy.
Skin Soothing Ideas
We all know that kids tend to need some extra skin soothing for a variety of reasons. Keep a bottle of melaleuca essential oil and a bottle of lavender oil and apply a drop of each when skin soothing is needed.
Teacher Tension Relief
Essential oils in the classroom are for the teacher too! To help relieve tension for the teacher, make a roller remedy blend in a 10 ml rollerball bottle by blending the following oils:
- 12 drops lavender essential oil
- 10 drops peppermint essential oil
- 8 drops wintergreen essential oil
- 7 drops cilantro essential oil (or coriander oil)
- 7 drops basil essential oil
- Top off with a carrier oil such as fractionated coconut oil
Roll this on areas of tension, such as on temples or wrists and inhale deeply as needed. You can also diffuse any combination of these oils to help relieve tension for the whole classroom as well.
Another great choice is the Tension Relief synergy from Plant Therapy. I like to apply it to my temples, forehead and back of my neck – it takes the tension right away!
Upcycling Classroom Projects
Another idea is to upcycle your oil bottles and jars for different classroom projects. You can use them in art projects, like using the bottles for small paint jobs, or larger bottles to store erasers, crayons, paper clips and other supplies. Ask your artistic kids to get creative with them!
Another way to use old essential oils bottles is to add Epsom salts to your empty bottles and put the lid on for a few days. Then use the salts for a personal diffuser or scent pack.
