With many bright and sunny days, spring is the perfect season for outdoor games and exploration. However, along with the days of extra fun for your kids, comes the higher risk of injuries, accidents, or diseases.

Here are a few essential tips on how to minimize those risks, and keep your kids healthy this spring season.

Use Sunscreen

Since your kids will be spending a lot of time outdoors, exposed to sun rays, you must take adequate measures of precaution.

The skin grows thicker as we age – the skin of the face, limbs, and trunk in kids aged two to 13 is significantly thinner than in adults and much more sensitive.

A study found that UV exposure during the first 18 years of our lives is the most critical when it comes to premature aging, skin damage, and skin cancer.

To minimize the risks of getting sunburns now, and severe skin damage later, your kids should be protected from UVA and UVB rays even during the cloudy days.

Make sure they have their sunscreen on 15 to 30 minutes before going out. If your kids will stay longer outside, ensure they/you reapply it often.

Using protective hats and clothing during outdoor activities is also advised.

Watch Out for Allergies

When the springtime comes, everything blooms, including our allergies. Kids can have as severe allergies as adults and can develop them anytime.

The most common symptoms of allergies include itchy eyes, ears and throat, heavy breathing, repetitive sneezing, and a runny nose.

There are many ways to keep your kids healthy during allergy season. If they already have a history of allergic rhinitis, they must start taking their medications early, at the end of March, before their symptoms begin to develop.

However, if besides these symptoms, your kid has a fever too, it’s more likely they are affected by the virus than a seasonal allergy. To make your kids’ immune system stronger, as well as ready to fight flu and infections, consider natural children’s supplements so that you’re sure they have all essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients needed.

Beware of Ticks and Insect Bites

Ticks are another risk related to the spring season and spending more time outdoors. They begin to hatch as soon as the ground defrosts, and since they carry and transmit Lyme disease, their bites can be extremely dangerous to kids.

However, to transmit Lyme disease, a tick needs to be attached to the skin for more than 36 hours. To reduce the risk of developing the disease, check your children for ticks before they go to bed. Pay special attention to skin folds and the scalp, as ticks love dark and warm places.

If you find the tick attached to your kids’ skin, have it properly removed.

Bites and stings of other insects, such as spiders, bees, and wasps can be harmful too and require a medical action. Teach your kids to let you or other adults know if they’ve been stung by an insect immediately.

If there are any symptoms of an allergic reaction, such as hives, difficulty breathing, nausea, dizziness, or a tight feeling in the throat, seek medical help right away.

It’s also essential to remove the stinger from the skin as quickly as possible and wash the area with soap and water.

Also, teach your kids how to minimize the risk of getting bitten or stung when they’re outdoors.

Develop Healthy Habits

You should make it your goal to use this spring season wisely, and bring more healthy habits into the life of your kids, and your whole family.

Your kids will best learn by your example, so consider focusing more on:

• Healthy food. Spring is a perfect season to enrich your meals with fruits, veggies, and grain. Try to be more creative and include them in your cuisine the fun way, and teach your kids to like them. The health of your kids and their development largely depends on their nutrition, so try to cut down on the processed food.
• Your kids need to take enough water whole year-round, but it’s harder to stay adequately hydrated during spring and summer. Teach your kids to always have their water bottles with them. Also, remind them to replenish themselves often.
• Active lifestyle. Use the happy spring days to walk with your kids around the park, go jogging, hiking, or cycling. If they see how much you value physical activity, they’ll think highly of it too, so they’ll find it reasonable to engage in sports and lead a healthier lifestyle later on. However, to minimize the risks of getting injured, make sure your kids always have the proper gear.

Washing Up

Kids will be kids, and when they’re back home from the outside, they’ll be dirty.

However, while it’s almost impossible to change this fact, you can do a lot for their health by enforcing a good washing-up policy.

Teach your kids to wash their hands when they’re back from the outside, as well as not to consume food, touch their face, nose, or mouth with dirty hands.

By using the tips above, your kids will be protected this spring. However, if they acquire healthy habits, they will be in good health for many years to come.

Kevin has gone through an extensive home renovation with his son, which he has both

thoroughly enjoyed, and dreaded every morning. He is now the proud owner of half his dream house (the other half has been waiting for spring). You can read more of Kevin’s work on PlainHelp.