Social distancing restrictions are starting to ease up, but this brings a new set of worries for many parents. It’s important to educate them on how to socialise safely. Make sure they know how to socially distance themselves and be careful back out in the sun. While you’re at it, educate them on how to stay safe online as well. Here are simple tips to keep your kids safe this summer.
If your children start going out more, make sure they are prepared with a social distancing “kit”. Pack some rubber gloves, hand sanitizer, and a couple of face masks. Teach them to thoroughly wash their hands. to keep your kids safe, make sure they do this at least once a day and every time they come into contact with other people.
Children have so far been proven to be lower risk than adults but it’s still necessary they take precautions. Make sure they know they need to stay two metres apart from their friends and family and aren’t allowed out in groups. Organise activities between parents to ensure that an adult is always present.
Staying safe in the Sun
Keep babies below 6 months out of the sun, either under a canopy in their pram or seat. With small children make sure you apply sun cream 15-30 mins before they go swimming. Use a high factor of 15 plus SPF. Make sure your kids are aware they need to take precautions. Explain to them that not only is sunburn a risk but heatstroke as well.
It’s important to educate kids about how to stay safe in the sun. Older kids and teenagers should know better by now. Make sure they take care of any moles or sensitive areas. If they have any new piercings, ask for advice at the piercing shop on how to take care of them.
Staying in touch
If your child is of an age where they are starting to go out and about by themselves, you will by then probably want to ensure they have a mobile phone so they can keep in touch with you. Not only will a phone help them get in touch to update you on their whereabouts with a quick text or call (in an ideal world, at least!), but it also means they will be able to contact you easily in case of any unforeseen emergencies.
The bottom line is – if this summer, your children are eager for more independence, then giving them a phone may give you peace of mind about their whereabouts while allowing them their freedom.
Staying safe online
When you first set up your kids’ devices make sure you have put parental controls in place to keep your kids safe. This means covering the browser and filters. This should prevent unwanted content from appearing even if they search for it. Many sites and apps designed for kids will have these controls already in place which is handy, and you can set age limits as well. Check out some examples of safe apps for kids. There is a range of options both educational and fun.
To help keep your kids safe, learn to be a little more tech-savvy and find out how social media works. It will reassure them that you know best if you are able to explain any dangers from real knowledge of the apps. You’ll also benefit from knowing how to block and report users if they behave inappropriately. There are plenty of tutorials available online with tips and tricks for parents.
To keep your kids safe, the best way to motivate your kids is to lead by example. Keep the rules in mind especially in front of them and be vigilant this summer. Be cautious and respectable at all times and they will be more likely to follow in your footsteps.
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Some great tips here xx
We’ve put a lot of weight on this year, need a little exercise and a little fun xx
Some great tips thank you, social distancing is hard when little ones want to play it’s great to hear that transmission is low in younger children but the main thing is to keep everyone safe
Very informative!
Great tips Its just so awfully horrid that grandparents can visit grandchildren but still have to keep at a metre distance. Really silly rule !
Great tips we have parental control on my daughter’s Amazon tablet, but still have to be wary because she can chat to people on games
great tips , i too have put on weight as I am not at actives as I was
The big issue is keeping children away from their grandparents.It has to be done but it’s so hard.
Being sensible with social distancing – keeping him in touch with friends via gaming and FaceTime because as an only child he is lonely
Great tips!! Thank you ❤️
Also keeping their mental health safe is just as important as physical health, talk often, reassure them, answer any worries about the virus what seems trivial to us adults can become a huge issue for a child
Lovely tips here. I’m the same with my weight gain. It hasnt helped me having to go on the contraceptive pill during lockdown, but I certsily have eaten more and excersised less.
I’ll be protecting skin from the sun, avoiding bug bites and making sure they drink enough water.
Balancing good mental health with safety will be a hard task this summer. Need to have plenty of activities planned!
We try to keep an eye on what our daughter watches and time her screen time and set limits on it.
Fantastic!
Make sure they understand the need for sun tan lotion
My little boy is just under 2 so social distancing has been difficult for him to understand. I’m always careful with him when it comes to being in the sun, especially with how hot the weather has been recently. I always make sure he has sun cream if needed, make sure he is dressed cool enough with shorts and he has to wear a hat and drink plenty of water 🙂
These are great tips!! we have kids in the family with ADHD who we are worried about! We have him a mask and he thinks he is very cool!
Great tips, been very strict in keeping to all the instructions, Grandson now back at school as he is in Year 1. In the habit now of social distances, face masks and continuous hand washing.
keep doing what we are doing
Great tips – we welcomed a new indoor kitten to our home and she has really helped us all stay calm, safe and playfull!
Some useful tips there. I have another – if you get to the beach and the car park is full, go elsewhere or go home because social distancing is going to be impossible.
Fab tips… Protecting exposed skin from the sun is foremost of importance to us to prevent skin cancer…
Making sure that my children and grandchildren keep their distance and wash their hands often. Also a bit wary of my grandchild on the internet so have made sure all parental stops are on their iPads
great advice. I really enjoyed reading this post.
Good advice
washing hands and keeping our distance.
My children will ALL get mobiles and will not be allowed anywhere unless we know where and who they are with, and we will physically check, more extra work but they should be safe
Some great tips I always get paranoid about sun damage but lots of sun cream is always applied as well as some breaks in the house
Keep them close, don’t get distracted.
Lots of sunscreen on my two daughters and more than likely have hats of some sort on them too
great tips – H is 6 so she doesnt go out alone but she has her outdoors bumbag now – face mask, hand sanitser, tissues, sunscreen and a poncho (we live in wales a poncho is often more necessary than sunscreen hehe)
Great tips, my kids have adapted to these times very well and understand the importance of hand washing, using sanitser etc. They are also great at letting me put on sun cream as we talk to our kids about why these things are important and answer their questions.
Great tips here it has been rather difficukt at times
An all day protection sun cream and regular communication
Talking to them to get them to understand why we have a new normal and allowing them to talk to you about how they are feeling.
My next door neighbours little one has been facetime my other next door neighbours little one, then at 4pm everyday , they ‘meet’ on the steps and have a social meeting, it’s very sweet!
Sunscreen is so important!
i’m gonna make sure my kids know the rules for social distancing ect, i think we are more worried about our son with adhd as he doesn’t seem to understand the world so well and doesn’t seem to understand dangers. x
Good advice! My son has autism, so I’ve made social stories (cartoon-like instructions) about hand washing and social distancing. They’re used with people with special needs, but actually they work great with all children!
A lot of good tips. Kids depend on their parent(s) to keep them safe until they are adults and can make their own choices.
Some great tips here, my two know the do’s and don’ts, they are a little older now and hopefully more sensible.
Social distancing is hard but on the up side, number 3 grandson seems to prefer me (Grumpy Grandad) on video chat.
I’m not sure whether to be offended or not!
Lots of running around and lots of quiet time, drawing crafts or reading,in the shade to cool down.
it’s good to have this as kind of a guideline if needed 🙂 thanks!
Some great tips there! Thanks for sharing!
great price
I sometime worry that we have so many things that we NEED to control now. Online access, whether the children can go out alone or with friends, what they can share on social media, etc. I do think it’s a shame that we seem to have had much more carefree childhoods than our children are allowed. I would love to be able to let the girls go out with their friends or chat to them endlessly on social media, but we obviously have all the necessary safety precautions in place and I think it’s a shame that we have to restrict them so much just because there are dangers out there that we didn’t have to worry about.
I think the most important thing is to be able to have sensible conversations with them about why there are so many controls in place. We want to impress on them the need to be careful without scaring them to death!
Great tip and information….link emailed to all the parents I know
I am lucky in that I will be able to see my grand daughter now because we are forming a bubble with them but we are still enforcing strict hand washing and reminding her about how dangerous coughs and sneezes can be hoping that she will carry these safety measures with her when she hopefully returns to school in September
Teaching social Distancing and good handwashing techniques. Good healthy eating and activities to promote healthy mental wellbeing
Some very good advice!
Some useful tips. We’re just trying to work out how to spend time with the grandparents without being able to play together 🙁
Keeping our distance when out a walk, using hand gel is important too. And trying to keep my son busy
Some great tips its always good to have good communication and I try to research sunscream levels before purchasing and just reapplying regularly.
Social distancing has been tricky but children have adapted well to using technology. I am still working at stopping the hay fever sufferers sneezing over everyone.
Great tips and very interesting too. Thank you for the time you took to help us all.
Some fab tips!
Don’t forget to let them have a little sun at the beginning or end of the day when burns are less likely as it help metabolize vitamin D and prevent rickets. However in the middle of the day slather on the sun cream!!
Sunscreen for when outside! even on a cloudy day, but make sure they get the vitamin D
We go for daily walks, usually takes over an hr and we take kids on cycling trips too. They are still very young to own electronic tablets, but they do use my phone to ring their friends about couple of time a week.
Great tips
Lots of indoor and outdoor activities, regular handwashing and keeping our distance from others as best you can
Lots of helpful tips.
Very informative
I think you’ve just about covered everything anyone would need to know to keep your kids safe!
Have lots of fun in your own garden, keep them busy
some sensible ideas here
Great tips, it’s a strange time and so important to keep our kids safe
Sunshine and fresh air is the best medicine. I always take hand sanitiser out and a couple of wipes as you never know when you might need them. I make sure everyone puts sun cream on before hand and ensure we alll know the importance of having plenty to drink on a hot day. If you make this routine, kids are pretty good at remembering this themselves
We live near a quietish beach so we will be spending lots of time down there but safely social distancing and will not go there if it is too busy. Obviously applying lots of suncream too
Getting them outside as much as possible will be important and continual reminders about how to keep safe!
It’s going to be really hard social distancing in the summer, especially as we live in a small town where the kids know everyone. They still don’t quite understand what’s going on.
what a great read, some fab tips x
They need to spend more time playing outdoors
We have tried to spend as much time outside as possible as a family. We are lucky enough to live near the Lake District so we have been spending time there in the quieter areas.
My kids are very young still so they are always with me. I teach them the green cross code. Reward them when they do it correctly without me reminding them.
I’m so bad for remembering sun cream for any of us – I must get better!
Some great tips! Weeks in lockdown has made us slightly lazy!
Great advice, thank you
Great advice, thank you, fresh air always does kids some good
Sometimes when sun up and down easy to forget the sun tan lotion. A cap on is always a good idea.
Sun cream, lots of
My foster son wants to play with other children in the park, I try to encourage them all not to touch each other, and wash hands regularly, it’s the best I can do
Lots of crafting, baking and homeschooling the best we can
This is brilliant advice thank you for all your tips,.children definitely need fresh air
Some great advice thank you
taking hand sanitiser when out walking or exploring parks
I use high SPF and high star rating sun cream as that provides UVA and UVB protection.
My eldest is a red head, we are very big on sun protection, including hats and long sleeves as she burns in the blink of an eye. Make sure your sun block has uva and uvb 5 star protection is great advice as well as making sure you top up during the day. 🙂
I’ve gained weight and am. Hoping to walk some off, over the summer getting outdoors with the kids to parks and our local beaches.
Fantastic advice,always need a boost.
Some great advice here on the different ways to keep kids safe.
All great advice but difficult if you have a son like ours, he’s 10 but with profound learning difficulties, so developmentally he is 3 year old, he does not understand social distancing so we just have to do our best to keep him safe, we’ve been shielding him because his immune system is very poor so he has been kept safe as much as we can although his older brother returned to work so he has to isolate when he comes home which has been extremely difficult for both boys to cope with as they are very close. You just have to do your best.
We have started allowing our daughter to have her friend around as I worried she was becoming so isolated. We still adhere to social distancing rules and limit it to once or twice a week but I feel it’s important for her mental health to have social interactions with peers
Thanks for all the great tips. They really help..
I spent many summer holidays smarting from sunburn and my skin’s permanently damaged as a result, plus I’m at increased risk of developing skin cancer. Suncream is really important!
My main thing is making sure to keep in touch!