Whether they're biking or hanging out at the pool, you can be sure the kids are going to soak up the sun all summer long.

At the same time, parents want to make sure their children are safe. If you're sending them out to play, Amanda Lencyk, Trauma Injury Prevention Coordinator at Mercy Health, says you have to know the basics.

"Do they know how to ride a bike? Do they know the rules of the road," said Lencyk. "If they can understand all those basic safety principles and they understand the importance of wearing a helmet, then yes, it's safe to go out. I would stress with a group," she said.

While having it on is essential, Lencyk says making sure the helmet fits is most important.

"Sometimes you can create more of a hazard if it's not correctly fitted," said Lencyk. "Just a quick Google search, 'how do i know this is the right helmets,' But it fits securely over the ears, the strap underneath the chin, and it shouldn't wiggle too much, so that means when they come in contact, that it stays nice and secure," she said.

Lencyk says it's also important to teach your kids not to ride in between parked cars and to remain seen.

"That's the key thing here is to make sure you're visible. So whether it's making sure reflectors around the back of the bike, or even keeping a flashlight with you," said Lencyk. "So if it gets a little bit darker than you anticipate, you have a way to keep yourself visible," she said.
If they're going for a swim, Lencyk says a lesson or two could save your child's life.

"Drowning is actually the number one cause of unintentional death in children ages one to four. So it's really important that we as parents and adults have good supervision of kids that age. I'm a strong proponent of swim lessons, making sure that your kids know how to swim," Lencyk said.

Lencyk also says it's important to keep your kids hydrated, so they don't get heat stroke and wear plenty of sunscreen.

"One of the easiest things to do is making sure that we have sunscreen at least SPF greater than 30," said Lencyk. "Just be aware of the application if it's waterproof. So if you're going to monitor, you want to make sure it's waterproof, but then also making sure that you know how long it's going to last, making sure you're wearing light breathable clothing. If it has SPF in the clothing, that's even better," she said.