Teach your kids about the sun's power

Youngsters generally love to be outside in the sun, but teaching them to be aware of its power can seem difficult because sunburn can seem like an abstract concept.

Here are a few ways to help them learn that the sun deserves respect:

Black vs. white
On the morning of a hot day, place several ice blocks on a piece of dark paper and several more on a piece of white paper. Those on the dark paper will melt first, while the white paper will reflect the light, keeping the blocks cold for longer.

This will help teach youngsters why they should put zinc oxide ointment on their noses.

The apple experiment
The second experiment takes a little more effort. In the morning, slice an apple into rings of equal thickness and hang half the rings up with pieces of string, in direct sunlight. Hang the other half up inside.

That night, observe the difference between the two sets of apple rings.

Explain that the sun is just as good at drying out the skin as it is at drying out apple slices. Remind them of the apple rings when it’s time for them to put on moisturiser after being in the sun.

Daily UV indexes
The third project involves the use of the media. Teach your child to keep track of the daily UV indexes in the weather section of your local paper. They can plot the fluctuating UV levels on a graph.

(Health24, updated March 2009)