Safely make memorable summer stories
6/29/2026 by Chelsea Willson, APRN, C.N.P., D.N.P.
As a child, there is no comparison to the feelings of joy and excitement that can be experienced by summer weather and activities. You finally can run outside without a million layers of clothing, providing a sense of freedom and adventure that is exhilarating. Summer experiences often develop into core memories that last a lifetime. Follow these tips to ensure the summer memories your child makes are not only fun, but safe.
Prevent heat exhaustion
Children under the age of 4 are at increased risk of heat exhaustion, or overheating.
Help your child beat the heat by:
- Avoiding scheduling activities during the hottest part of the day, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Encouraging your child to stay hydrated by drinking water or a flavored electrolyte drink.
- Offering frequent water breaks to children on extremely hot days, roughly every 15 minutes. Children under 6 months should only be given breast milk or formula and monitored closely for heat exhaustion.
Spark joy, not burns, this Fourth of July
Fireworks bring wonder and awe to a child's world, enhancing the magic of summer celebrations.
Help your child safely enjoy fireworks by:
- Watching a professional fireworks show from a safe distance.
- Ensuring adults light or hold fireworks for a home display.
- Supervising children ages 8 and older closely while using sparklers. While sparklers may seem like a safer way to enjoy fireworks, they are the leading cause of firework-related injuries. Sparklers should not be given to children ages 7 and younger.
Avoid insect-borne disease
Spending time outdoors is a hallmark activity of the summer, and insects are more than willing to enjoy the outdoors with and on you.
Try these tips to ensure you’re protected:
- Prevent insect bites by applying bug spray, or insect repellant, with 10% to 30% DEET.
- Choose the lowest percent of DEET needed: 10% DEET lasts for 45 minutes and 30% DEET lasts for five hours.
- Do not apply bug spray to children who are 2 months or younger.
- Spray the bug spray on the child’s clothes, rather than on their skin. Also avoid spraying a bodily surface an infant could easily put in their mouth, such as their hands.
- An alternative insect repellant includes products that contain the oil of lemon eucalyptus and can be applied to children over 3. These products contain 10% to 30% of the oil of the eucalyptus and should be registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
- Have your child wear long-sleeved shirts and pants when walking in wooded or areas with long grass, which is where ticks like to live.
Lawnmower safety
Having a lawn with mowed grass is a perfect space for summertime activities for children. Each year, over 8,000–9,000 children sustain lawnmower-related injuries, with a portion of these children sustaining an amputation injury.
To prevent injuries:
- Keep children away from the lawn when you are mowing, preferably indoors or at another distant outdoor location.
- Never let a child ride as a passenger on a lawnmower.
- Teach your child how to safely operate the lawnmower. Children 12 and older may operate a push lawnmower, while children 16 and older may operate a riding lawnmower.
- Require your child to wear appropriate closed-toe shoes and protective eyewear while mowing.
- Clear debris from the lawn prior to mowing to prevent injury from projectile objects.
Bike and scooter head injury prevention
All children and adults should wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle, bicycle or scooter. The helmet should fit properly and meet Consumer Product Safety Commission standards.
Water safety
Swimming is a fun, easy to exercise and cool down on hot summer days. However, drowning is the leading cause of death in children between ages 1 and 4.
Help keep your children safe by:
- Closely supervising your child around open bodies of water, such as kiddie pools, bathtubs, raised pools and lakes
- Ensuring children always wear a properly fitting life jacket approved by the U.S. Coast Guard when they are near an open body of water or while riding a watercraft.
- Enrolling your child in formal swimming lessons to teach them how to swim and provide them with water safety education.
- Surrounding your home pool by a fence that is at least 4 feet high and is separate from the house. Additionally, ensure the gate to the fence latches and closes on its own and is out of reach of children.
- Using alarms for your pool and doors.
- Installing a pool cover to prevent children from falling into the pool.
Soak up the sunshine without the burn
Preventing sunburn in children protects them against skin cancer in adulthood.
Help protect them from being in the sun too long by:
- Limiting sun exposure by seeking a shady spot.
- Applying sunscreen 15 minutes before going outside, regardless of whether it’s sunny or cloudy. Choose a sunscreen that is broad-spectrum, water-resistant and has an SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 30. Reapply sunscreen every two hours or sooner if your child is swimming or sweating.
- Having your child wear sun-protective clothing, swim gear, hats and sunglasses.
- For children under 6 months, avoiding sun exposure is the safest way to prevent sunburn. Avoiding sun exposure may include seeking shade, using an umbrella, wearing light clothing that covers the legs and arms, wearing hats and sunglasses or using a stroller canopy.
- If it's not possible to avoid sun exposure, children under 6 months may have a zinc oxide baby-safe sunscreen of at least SPF-15 up to SPF-30 applied to their skin. A small amount of sunscreen will not harm your infant.
Chelsea Willson, APRN, C.N.P., D.N.P., is a pediatric nurse practitioner in Primary Care in Rochester and Kasson's Division of Community Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine (CPAM) at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.