Juniper’s herbal Kit

If you’re here, I assume you agree with the importance of passing knowledge onto your kids. But how this is done can vary a lot! Where I started was with whatever June was interested in, whatever she gravitated towards, we leaned into that. Or should I say learn–we’re always learning! It’s always a great idea in my book to just take your kids outside, let them roam and wait for their questions to come. If you have an idea of what you want to teach them, bring them the herb/flower and ask them basic questions to get their wheels turning on what you want them to learn that day. Below are herbs that we have learned about together, June loves herself, and are truly key to any basic kit (whether that be an actual kit or a basket of learning cards).

The essentials

Lavender: Lavender is genuinely one of Juniper’s favorite flowers. She loves the gentle purple color and soft scent. What more could a little girl ask for?! But even more than this, lavender is so helpful to her mind and body. That scent she loves? Biologically calms her nervous system as she sniffs it. Adding some to her warm tea can help calm a tummy ache. Lavender when infused in an oil or salve has the ability to calm her body when its stiff, sore or inflamed for any reason.
Calendula: Calendula is another flower that Juniper and I both enjoy! The beauty of these flowers alone add joy to our hearts. It’s also a very effective way to care for our skin. An oil or salve with calendula infused not only can be a wonderful, gentle moisturizer, but also a way to heal skin from scrapes, cuts or burns. It’s soothing as well as anti-bacterial and anti-fungal.
Honey: Okay, so honey technically isn’t an herb. But, it definitely deserves to be on the essentials list. Honey’s healing properties are seemingly endless. And it’s something that June asks for multiple times a day; a spoonful here, tea with honey there and so on. And so on. One of my favorite ways to use honey is during allergy seasons. A spoonful daily of honey as local to you as you can get it helps your body fight the allergies (and improve your digestion)! Another season we use honey a lot in is cold and flu. We both love a warm mug of water, honey and fresh squeezed lemon juice. Honey is anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and an antioxidant. All these properties help your body fight the multitude of (harmful) germs that fly around like crazy!

Going a little deeper…

Getting your kids’ wheels turning with interest is a great start! Taking our learning deeper looked a little different. We read books about flowers, trees and seeds as well as playing games. Though we have a board game created for teaching how to use plants to heal, most of our learning has come from using my herb themed playing cards we played a matching game, name that plant game, etc. But I found myself wishing they had the name and some simple facts for each plant on a card. So, I made what I couldn’t find! Below I have a file of printable cards for you to teach your littles with. These cards have the plant name, picture and a few uses for them. They are great for a simple matching game (picture to picture for non readers + picture to name for readers), flash cards/quizzing, school room card garland, and more!

I hope this resource is helpful as you start teaching (and learning along with) your littles.

Cheers, my friend, until next time,

Erin

*Not medical Advice*