Want Your Child To Wear A Mask?

Source: The Indian Express

The ongoing pandemic has been difficult for kids, confusing even, given that many adults are also figuring things out every day. Children have been asked to stay at home and stay safe, something that goes against their very nature. 

Among other things, children may also be confused about wearing masks. But, to help parents with this, many companies have come up with kid-friendly ideas to help and encourage them to wear masks.

Natasha Mehra, of the Natasha Mehra Label, who has been designing, manufacturing and selling masks worldwide, tells  that the pandemic caused a humanitarian crisis, which motivated her to gather resources, fabrics, karigars, etc, to make thousands of reusable masks to be donated to daily wage workers and underprivileged children in Delhi.

“We distributed our first batch of 1,000 colourful masks with the support of an NGO called Project Annapoorna (an initiative supported by the Art of Living Foundation).  With their support, we were able to raise funds for another 3,000 masks distributed among vulnerable communities. Some of the masks have become very popular and we have even received orders for personal use and for their kids,” says Mehra, who is based out of UAE.

“We do three sizes — kids, teenagers, adults — and have great prints for women, men and kids. There also options of having these with or without respirators,” she adds.

“The masks are for both kids and adults, and are available in crochet, too, but for kids we are customising them based on their age groups — 2-5 years and 5-10 years — and those are made with kid-friendly prints. We have many varieties for kids, like baby prints with alphabets, tiger face, cat face, animal prints, etc,” Chakraborty says.

But, why must there be separate masks for kids?

“It is important for children to wear masks to prevent the infection from spreading, as droplets coming out of the mouth during sneezing, coughing and talking can spread infection, and especially since we have to be in close vicinity of children.

Kids have different face shapes, as the bones and tissues are still growing, and hence to find a perfect fit is not possible every time. This can be taken care of by cloth masks. Masks for children should have strips to tie rather than elastic for two reasons — one, that it gives a better fit and hold, and two, the elastic around the ear is painful even for adults,” she adds.