Summer is the perfect time to be with your family, relax a bit, and spend time on the things that are most important to you. In order to make this warm season run a little more smoothly, it’s important to get your loved ones and your home prepared so that everyone can have a safe, fun time in the sun. This includes cleaning up the yard and making small repairs, summerizing your home to make it more energy-efficient and help it stay cool, and finding fun activities that your loved ones can do together.
With so many families going green in recent years, you may be looking for ways you can reduce your carbon footprint, and summertime is one of the best seasons to do that. Warm weather means you can walk or bike instead of driving to get around, which reduces emissions, and warm weather also means you can take advantage of the local farmer’s market for fresh, healthy food and seasonal items.
Keep reading for some great tips on how to get your family and home ready for summer.
Clean up
Since many kids love to play outdoors when the weather warms up, it’s important to make sure the backyard is prepared. If you have pets, go through the grass carefully to look for droppings; make sure swings and other play equipment are in good working order; clean up the pool and make sure all accessories are in good shape; and look for the growth of plants that could be toxic to kids or pets. If you have a garden, consider using natural pesticides to keep the bugs away.
Talk to your kids about the rules of safety
Summer has a few different rules of safety than other seasons: there’s water safety, fire safety, and sports safety to think about on top of the everyday things to watch out for. Talk to your kids about how to handle an accident at home (such as when a sibling gets hurt) and when they are at a friend’s house. Let them know how dangerous grills are and keep fire extinguishers handy both outside and in the kitchen. If you have a pool -- or if your kids will be visiting one this summer -- make sure everyone knows how to stay safe. Remind them that pool toys are not flotation or life-saving devices, and make sure everyone has a life vest that fits. Also, don’t forget to underscore the importance of wearing sunscreen. Everyone should liberally apply sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher before going outside, and sunscreen be reapplied every two hours.
Find some fun activities
Most kids around the U.S. have quite a bit of time off during the summer, so it’s important to find fun activities that you can do as a family. These don’t have to be expensive or take a lot of time. There are plenty of fun, simple things to do in your own backyard, such as camping, making a bird feeder, creating a treasure hunt, or playing a game like Frisbee-golf. For some great ideas on how to have fun this summer, read on here.
Shop local
As stated above, one of the great things about summer is the ability to get outside and explore your community. Whether it’s to check out the farmer’s market or to find some boutiques for all your kids’ chic summer needs, it’s important to shop local and support small business owners. This is also a great way to help the environment, as shopping online or at big chain stores creates a need for packaging, energy use, and delivery truck emissions.
Getting your family and home geared up for the summer can be a big job, so make a list of all the things you want to take care of and enlist your loved ones to help you. Working to get everything ready together will help you all stay motivated to keep things clean and will give you some extra bonding time in the process. Have a great summer and stay safe!
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