It’s the time of year again—kids are out of school, families are taking long vacations to the beach, and people are spending a lot more time in the sun. In short, summer is in full swing! While the summertime sunshine may give you a great dose of vitamin D, it can also cause several skin complications if you aren’t protecting your skin properly.

Both children and adults need to wear sunscreen daily when stepping outside, especially if spending a long time outdoors. Here’s why: the sun produces natural energy in the form of ultraviolet (or UV) rays that can cause harm to the skin. There are two types of UV rays that cause different types of damage if too much exposure occurs—known as Ultraviolet A (UVA) rays and Ultraviolet B (UVB) rays. UVA rays are associated with premature aging of the skin, and UVB rays are associated with those painful sunburns that everyone tries to avoid. Sunscreen acts as a protective barrier for your skin cells and protects your skin from damage. You should be applying about a shot glass worth (or roughly two tablespoons) of broad-spectrum sunscreen to any exposed areas of the face and body. If you’re using a sunscreen spray, you’ll want to apply it until an even sheen appears on the skin.

Now, while you may understand the dangers of the sun—wrinkles, dark spots, burns, and cancer— you’re little one likely has no idea about sunscreen or why it’s important for them to wear daily. It’s sticky, uncomfortable, and no fun to apply—of course your child squirms away from you every time you try and put it on them! Don’t worry, though: Fairhope Pharmacy is proud to offer some great tips for fun ways to apply SPF to your kids so that your child doesn’t head for the hills when they see you coming with the sunscreen bottle!

1. Make it a race - Place dots of sunscreen all over your children’s (or your own) bodies and make it a fun competition to see who can rub in their sunscreen dots the fastest! Whoever wins the competition gets to jump in the pool first!
2. Get rid of snakes - This game takes a little imagination! Draw long lines of sunscreen on your kid’s exposed skin in wiggly forms of snakes. Get your little one to quickly rub away the snakes before they “bite” them!
3. Paint their face - This is a fun one that all kids love and it’s especially good for getting good coverage on their little faces. Draw a shape in sunscreen on your child’s face and have them try to guess it. If they guess it, they get to draw a picture on your face with sunscreen! Repeat the game until all areas of the face are covered.
4. Put on makeup - This one is especially fun for little girls! Pretend you’re applying mommy’s makeup to their face and use a makeup sponge! Kids love the feel of the sponge on their face so much that they won’t even remember that it’s the sunscreen that you’re applying!
5. Sing a song - Most preschool-aged children love to sing, so use that to your advantage when putting on sunscreen! Have your child pick their favorite song and apply sunscreen to them while they sing. It is like the game “Red Light, Green Light,” only you apply the sunscreen while they are singing and stop when they stop singing! Make sure they sing a few rounds to ensure you get good coverage.

Now that you have some great tips for applying sunscreen in a fun way, hitting the beach, the pool, or the splashpad with your whole family is sure to be a blast! Don’t forget to drop by Fairhope Pharmacy to grab a bottle of sunscreen before you head outside this summer! And remember to download our Fairhope Pharmacy App for convenient features including prescription refills, medication reminders, refill reminders, medication information, and so much more!