Activities For Parents To Do With Their Children

You can help your child learn even more about skin, hair and nails, and how to take care of them, by doing fun activities together. These activities can include family outings or things you can do at home or with others in your community. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Family Outings

• Take your child to the zoo to look at the different types of animal skin, such as the smooth, sleek skin of dolphins, the dense fur of polar bears, or a parrot’s feathers. Talk about how their skin protects them, too.
• Take a walk through your neighborhood and have your child point out the different examples of places to seek shade, such as umbrellas, porches, under a tree or a shade structure.
• Visit your local library with your child to find books about skin, hair and nails.
• Take your child to the local science museum to check out exhibits on skin, hair or nails.
• Take your child shopping and let him or her pick out products to keep skin, hair and nails healthy, including a mild cleanser, sunscreen, bug spray, shampoo and other products.

Home and Community

• Play It's A Skin Cell's Life with your child to see how the interactive game lets kids learn how to practice good skin care virtually, or risk the consequences of pimples, greasy hair, a poison ivy rash and sunburn. You and your child also can search for words about skin, hair and nails, and color scenes from the game by downloading activity and coloring sheets at www.aad.org/forms/MediaRequest/posters.aspx.
• Purchase UV-changing beads (beads that change colors when exposed to the sun's rays) from a craft supply store. These can be made into bracelets or backpack zipper pulls. The beads are a useful and fun way to demonstrate the effects of UV rays on the skin.
• Place a dark-colored piece of construction paper on the window sill with a solid object placed in the middle of it. Leave the object there for several weeks. Have your child look daily or weekly at the construction paper, lifting the object to see how much the paper exposed to the sun is fading. Explain to your child about the damaging effects of too much sun and the importance of proper sun protection.
• Select a sampling of t-shirts from your child's closet. Hold each shirt up to a light so the child can see how much light shines through (e.g. dark colored shirts vs. light colored shirts; thin vs. thick fabric; etc.) Ask your child to pick the shirts they think provide the best sun protection. It's important to note that darker colored shirts and heavier fabrics will provide better sun protection and are an important way to be safe in the sun that also includes wearing sunscreen and seeking shade.
• Decorate hats that will provide sun protection with fabric pens and paints, iron-on patches and other items to encourage your child to wear the hat in the sun.
• Take turns giving each other a manicure or pedicure. Pick out fun nail polish colors. Be careful not to cut the nails too close — and never cut or push back the cuticles. Take the opportunity to teach your child about safety tips to keep in mind if he or she has a manicure or pedicure at a salon.
• Help your child create a UV meter to keep track of how dangerous the sun's rays are each day and how much protection is required. Develop a poster that shows the UV level and what sun protection steps to take. It can look a bit like a thermometer and you can use different colors to mark the UV levels. You can get information about the daily UV index at www.epa.gov/sunwise, along with instructions about which sun-protection steps to take at each level. Your child can talk to the school principal about posting the meter at school or on the school's Web site.
  
• Encourage your child and a friend to create their own posters or videos to educate the public about sun safety and the importance of taking care of your skin, hair and nails.
• If your child is in Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Campfire or Indian Guides, help him or her start a service project to educate kids in the community about sun safety, and the importance of wearing sunscreen and covering up.