UofMom Student of the month - July 2008

Now that the kiddos are out of school, the beginning of the summer chaos has begun to settle into something that more resembles a routine. Of course, now that it’s light later, getting the children into bed at the usual time is a bit more of a challenge, but the goal is to tire them out during the day so that bedtime isn’t so much of a… a… an interesting exercise in seeming futility.


To begin, let’s go over some common sunscreen bloopers so that we don’t have burned children this summer:


1) Did you know that the average person uses less than half the recommended amount of sun block when they do apply it on their kids? Apply a thick layer to each section of your child's body. You should find it challenging to work it all in.


2) If your children are like mine, then they’re not crazy about the whole sun block thing in general. This can make applying sun block quite a challenge, which in turn makes it easy to miss a shoulder, thigh, or nose.


3)Even sun block that is waterproof should be reapplied often- at least once every few hours, even if they’re not in the water or sweating a lot. If your child IS swimming a lot, then try to remember to reapply on their nose and under their eyes often, as it gets rubbed off quickly. The sunblock sticks work amazingly well for this one!


4) In order for sunblock to be effective, it should be applied about 30 minutes before your kids go outside. If you wait until your kids are already outside, they will be unprotected for about 30 minutes until the sun block is most effective- more than enough time to get a sun burn.


SO, here are a few suggestions for fun (and tiring) activities, which will also preempt the inevitable cries of “I’m BOOOOOORRREEED!”



Go for a “nature walk.” Collect things that you and your children think would be interesting to look at under a magnifying glass. Pick flowers, press them, and turn them into a card to send to a relative. Sleep under the stars. Build a fort. Set up a treasure hunt. Turn on the sprinklers. Slip and Slide. Lemonade stand. Wash the car. Wash the dog. I do not recommend trying to wash the cat, but it would be interesting to try. Build a baking soda and vinegar volcano and watch it explode. Play kick the can. Experiment with ice- how fast does it melt in the sun? In the shade? How long does it take juice to turn into a popsicle? Make a shoe box treasure chest. Look for rocks- put them in the shoe box treasure chest. Go to the pool. Go to the park. Ride bikes. Fly a kite. Go to the library. Blow bubbles. Add paint to the bubble mixture and see what happens. Sidewalk chalk. Chase butterflies. Watch the clouds. Go to a matinee.