Teach Kids How to Care for Curly Hair

When I first saw my son take a brush to his curls, I nearly freaked out. When my daughter began styling her naturally curly hair on her own and got a hair tie stuck in her ringlets, I almost lost it. As you can probably imagine, I take my children’s curly hair seriously.

Some may say I’m a bit high strung. But I was born into a culture where you’re taught that “your hair is your beauty.” I’ve since learned that beauty is more than hair – it’s skin deep.

However, I take pride in my kids’ curly hair. After all, it took me forever to figure out how to style natural hair, including my own kinky coily texture. That said, said I’ve decided to teach them how to care for their curls.

 

 

4 Easy Ways to Teach Kids How to Care for Naturally Curly Hair

1. “Save the brushes for your dolls.” Every natural hair expert may have a different take on this rule. I’ve seen many use certain brushes to define curls. But, I think you run the risk of breakage. So I tell my kids to avoid using them. Note: If my husband and I ever decide to get O a short haircut, that rule might change. But for now, we tell him to avoid it all together.

2.”Stop fussing with your curls!” O has a habit of pulling at his hair whenever he get bored or annoyed. Sometimes I actually find debris from toys and food in his hair, and he’s not the only one. His big sis is just as guilty and always somehow manages to tangle her curls. Princess also has a habit of removing her hair tie every five seconds, so much so that it gets stuck and it takes me forever to get the knots out as a result.

3. “Practice, practice, practice.” Despite freaking out whenever they find themselves in a tangled frizzy mess, I encourage them to experiment. Princess enjoys practicing on her little dolls, while O enjoys letting the water cascade throughout his ringlets whenever he takes a showers. Now that Princess is a little older, she’ll shampoo, condition, and rinse her tresses. It’s a work in progress, but I’m sure they’ll have it down pat in no time.

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Check out her recent attempt at style her hair.



4. Show them how to be gentle with their curls. Let’s face it; kids can be rough, even when they don’t mean to. Give them a step-by-step tutorial in how to properly comb and detangle hair with being so harsh.

The bottom line is that educating little ones about their naturally curly hair is key to maintaining healthy curls. I’m sure there will come a time when Princess won’t need me styling her hair, and I’d hate for her to make the same horrible mistakes I made as a kid that led to damage. I was pretty rough with my hair, and I applied heat almost everyday. It’s never too early to teach good curly hair habits.