Tick Safety for Kids

Kids and Ticks: What NJ Parents Should Know

Children are bitten more often than adults — they play low to the ground, in grass, at wooded edges, and around playsets, exactly where ticks quest. The encouraging news: tick-borne illness is largely preventable with a few consistent habits. This guide turns tick safety into a normal part of your family’s outdoor routine, not a source of anxiety.

Dress for Defense

• Light-colored clothing makes ticks easier to spot before they reach skin.
• Long sleeves and long pants when playing in or near woods, tall grass, or brush.
• Tuck pants into socks for hikes, nature walks, and wooded play — it looks funny and works.
• Closed shoes rather than sandals in grassy or wooded areas.
• Consider permethrin-treated clothing for frequent outdoor kids (camp, scouts, hiking). Permethrin is applied to clothing — never to skin — and stays effective through multiple washes when used as directed.

Repellents Appropriate for Children

• Use EPA-registered repellents and always follow the product label — including its age guidance. The label is the law.
• Common options families use include DEET and picaridin-based products at concentrations appropriate for children.
• Apply repellent to clothing and exposed skin, avoiding hands (kids put them in their mouths), eyes, and mouth. Never apply under clothing.
• Do not use insect repellent on infants under 2 months old. For babies, rely on clothing, stroller netting, and avoiding tick habitat.
• Spray in an open area, and wash treated skin with soap and water when back indoors.

The Full-Body Tick Check Routine

Do this every evening during tick season — ideally after bath or shower, when skin is easy to scan. Make it quick, consistent, and matter-of-fact. Check:

• In and around the ears — a favorite hiding spot
• Scalp and hairline — run fingers through the hair
• Under the arms
• Inside the belly button
• Around the waistband line
• Between the legs and groin area
• Behind the knees

Then: shower within a couple of hours of coming indoors — it washes off unattached ticks — and tumble outdoor clothes in the dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill any ticks you missed. (Washing alone may not kill ticks; the dryer’s heat does.)

What About School and Camp?

• Ask about their tick policy: where do kids play relative to woods? Are play areas in full sun? Is there a tick-check routine after outdoor time?
• Field trips and nature days: send kids in long pants and closed shoes, apply repellent that morning per the label, and do a thorough check that evening.
• Camps: pack a tick-removal kit (fine-tipped tweezers, antiseptic, small sealed bags) and make sure counselors know your child has it. Share our resources for schools & camps with directors.
• Sports fields at wooded edges deserve the same after-practice check as a hike.

Teaching Older Kids to Check Themselves

Around age 8 to 10, most kids can learn to do their own tick check with a quick lesson: show them the hiding spots, have them practice in front of a mirror, and check their work for the first week or two. Teens heading out for hikes, sports, or jobs like landscaping and lifeguarding should know the routine cold — and know where the tweezers are. The habit you build now is the one they will carry into adulthood.

Making It a Habit, Not a Fear

The goal is calm consistency. Frame the tick check like brushing teeth — just something your family does. Kids take their cues from you: if you are matter-of-fact, they will be too. And if you ever do find a tick, you will already know the drill from What to Do After a Tick Bite: Step by Step.

For the furry members of the family, see Tick Safety for Pets — dogs are often the ones bringing ticks indoors.