These Kids' Face Masks Keep Glasses Steam-Free All Day Long

Parents are facing the reality of sending their children to school in a face mask for another year after officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reverted national health guidelines to once again recommend masks in public. In some areas, families may already be seeing resumed mask mandates from local health boards after this update, in cities within California, Nevada and Massachusetts, among others per ABC News' report.

Even if your child is old enough to be vaccinated, it's likely they'll need face masks in school to limit the spread of COVID-19. Kids who wear prescription glasses or other eyewear during the school day have likely experienced fogged lenses from warm breath while wearing a mask — but short of switching to contact lenses, finding a long-term solution to prevent foggy glasses for your child often requires a second look at his or her mask.

What's the best mask for kids with glasses?

Whether it's a disposable mask or a sewn cloth mask, design is crucial to keep hot breath from collecting on a pair of glasses. The best kids' masks for those who wear glasses incorporate the following design features:

• A nose bridge: A bendable metal clip that sits on the bridge of a child's nose and cheeks works to push hot breath out of the front of the mask, not up.
• Head ties or adjustable ear loops: These allow your child to ensure their mask isn't too loose on their face, which can definitely redirect airflow up towards their eyes.
• A flat folded front: It's always best to have the bottom lenses of a pair of glasses sitting on top of the mask itself, rather than on the cheek, as it helps weigh the mask down.
• Chin fit: If the mask doesn't comfortably sit beneath your child's chin, it can shift and move while they're speaking, and easily flood the lenses on their face.
• Wicking fabric: Masks can become damp throughout the school day, meaning it'll be too saturated to keep hot breath from passing through the top of your child's face mask. Look for a wicking fabric that pulls moisture away from skin.

The Good Housekeeping Institute's Textile Lab regularly tests surgical and cloth-based face masks to see how construction holds up in real-world environments after multiple hours of use. We also work with tester panels to test out masks in day-to-day life. While we haven't expressly tested each product on this list to see how they interact with bifocal lenses, we've chosen products made in line with current CDC construction recommendations for kids and young adults.

These are the best face masks for children wearing prescription glasses or any other lens, according to textile professionals and health editors on staff: