Updated June 25, 2025 at 1:17 PM EDT
The heatwave baking millions of people across the country has some parents asking this: Is it safe for my kids to play outside?
With school out, children are spending more time at home or at summer camps.
Plus, there's always youth sports and younger children going to daycare.
For Dr. Jess Weisz, a pediatrician at Children's National Hospital in Washington D.C., keeping kids safe in the heat comes down to adults using their common sense.
She gets more concerned on weeks like this one, when temperatures go above 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
"Certainly with this current heat wave, we definitely want to be paying attention to kids being outside," Weisz told NPR's Morning Edition.
There are ways to keep your kids safe in the heat, though.
"Taking lots of breaks, especially if they're being physically active, drinking a lot of water, also using sun protections," said Weisz. "That may be a hat. That should be sunscreen."
The main reason to keep an eye on children while they're outside in the heat is one that many parents will be familiar with.
"Honestly, kids are more likely to play than to be disciplined enough to take breaks. So some of that is where your parenting has to come in and the adults and caregivers have to come in," Weisz said.
The youngest children's bodies also have a harder time regulating their own temperature, so Weisz recommends that "itty bitty babies" stay in the shade.
Daycare and summer camps
Dr. Weisz urged those looking after children this summer to think about changing their schedules during the heatwave.
"The easiest advice is keeping outdoor time outside of those really hot hours between 10am and 3pm. It's harder for daycares where that tends to be dropoff time and pick up time," Weisz noted, "but for schools and camps, if they're able to do more outdoor activity first thing in the morning or in the later afternoon when it's less hot, [that] can keep kids safer."
That's exactly what's happening at Curiosity Preschool and Childcare Center in Silver Spring, Md., where director and preschool teacher Jawairia Royle has shifted outdoor playtime to first thing in the morning.
She's also helping the children get plenty of water.
"As a teacher, I have to constantly remind them, you know, your body is like an engine. It can overheat. So you need to fuel yourself with water," Royle said.
The heatwave has been a happy coincidence for the daycare's learning theme this week — safari.
"We're talking about how animals outside keep themselves cool. So one of the things we're talking about is how elephants have these giant ears and they keep themselves cool by waving their ears back and forth," Royle said. "And I think the kids are doing a very good job at taking it in and understanding it."
That doesn't stop kids like five-year-old Mila Zudic from being disappointed about having to stay inside for most of the day.
"I like to go on slides outside and I also like to go to the parks," she said.
She'll be waiting a little longer for a day out to the park — the current heatwave is expected to last into next week.
This digital story was edited by Obed Manuel. The radio version was edited by Olivia Hampton and produced by Lilly Quiroz.
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