The weather is warming up and summer is just around the corner. Soon your little scholar will be out of school and replacing their thinking caps with outdoor explorer caps! Before you let loose your little adventurer into the uncharted regions of the backyard, it’s a good idea to teach them some summer safety essentials and ensure that they are properly provisioned for their voyages and trail blazing romps through the neighborhood.
Before they embark on an adventure make sure:
They are protected from the Sun
Before the advent of liquid sunscreen, explorers would wear extra layers of clothing and large brimmed hats to protect themselves from the sun. So it’s important that your little explorer is protected too! The dangers of overexposure to the sun have been well documented. Sun safety is one of the first elements of summer safety and its precautions are applicable to almost every environment.
Start off teaching your child about the danger of staying in the sun too long. While it is not necessary to scare them with the details of skin cancer and sun stroke, keeping them aware of the potential danger of both heat and sun is vital.
In addition to sunscreen, have your little one wear a hat, especially if they set off into unknown territory in the middle of the day. It’s important to make sun safety awareness fun for them. Before the summer months, get your child excited about buying a new hat and let them pick one out. This will make it more likely that they will wear it during the long summer days.
They have enough water for their trip
Dehydration can sneak up on anyone, especially children. When you are busy romping through the backyard chasing down adventure, sometimes you forget to drink enough. Make sure that your child is drinking enough water during the hot summer months. Most experts recommend that children from 5 to 8 years of age consume at least 5 cups of water a day to maintain hydration. And if they are active, they will need more.
It is also a good idea to watch out for the signs of dehydration. You can find some more info on dehydration and what to do about it here.
They are safe when exploring the open waters
Summer time is pool time! Or maybe where you live it’s beach time! Either way, its important that your child understand the basics of water safety.
Make sure they understand the danger of diving into shallow water, running on wet surfaces and roughhousing in and around the pool.
Always make sure that there is adult supervision in any situation where there are children in or near the water.
Revisiting sun safety, make sure that you reapply sunscreen to your child. Even if the bottle says it is water proof, it is a good idea to add an extra layer every two hours or so.
Summer Safety at Toddler Town
No matter the time of year, Toddler Town in Chicago and Evanston are dedicated to keeping all our children safe. As a childcare center devoted to advancing the rights and welfare of children and their parents, and as an NAEYC accredited institution, Toddler Town of Chicago and Evanston provide children and families the quality childcare they deserve. Come check out our programs and contact us today! We look forward to hearing from you!