Children in summertime (Phoenix, Mesa, Prescott: middle school, to live, safe)

[cptndavis]

For those of you that have kids, what do you usually do with them during the hot summer months?? I am assuming it is to hot to go outside and play?? Is summertime primarily spent indoors?? Do kids need massive amount of sun block if they want to go out and ride there bikes for a little while??

[roundball]

Maybe we are in the minority. During the "winter" we sleep until 6:30. During the hot months we switch our schedule around and wake up at 4:30-5. That way we can go for a walk or to the park before the sun has a chance to suck us dry.

(3 young girls)

[JDish2000]

I'm a native and growing up here we were not aware as kids that it was too hot to play outdoors...

We just did it!

[Climacus]

When I was a kid, we spent a lot of the summer outside either swimming (the middle school opened its pool to the public in the summer) or running through the sprinkers in the back yard, or shooting squirtguns at each other, with sunblock of course. Of course we did more of this in the morning and evening, the afternoons were always spent inside resting. Generally temperatures under 110 are bearable if you have shade and water and a place to cool down if you need it. It's only when it gets over 110 that being outside starts to get painful.

Besides that, my parents would take us to the library, and to Mesa's Museum for Youth, and sometimes sign us up for summer arts/crafts classes; my brother also played in an indoor basketball league. I imagine the number of activities like this hosted by the cities or schools have increased over the years. Of course Peter Piper Pizza was a popular if not especially healthy place to eat and play games.

[aj661]

Not again! Either teach them how to drink out of the hose or leave a bowl of water out for them.

I'm with JDish2000, except there was no sunscreen when I was a kid. Nor bottled water or computers or heat advisories for that matter. We were always outside almost all day year round. Playing in the coccidioidomycosis infected dirt, basically have a great time. The only thing that kept us inside was school and cartoons on Saturday mornings. I'm over 50 and it's safe to say I'm not going to die of skin cancer or valley fever. Take some precautions but don't be paranoid about the heat. Let 'em play outside if they want to and get a pool.

[miz mac]

I just moved to NC from a smalll town north of Phoenix..I lived there for 5 years..it was my experience that people did a reverse season thing..hibernate inside with the ac in the summer and come outside in the winter...fall and spring are too hot too! I got out to the mts of NC where spring and fall are long and winter is short...just an ideal temp for being outside...in AZ I always said that God NEVER intended for people to live there just lizards and snakes!! ANd don;t leave your dog outside during the day or your pets or kids in the car for even 5 minutes as they can die! (unless you live in the mountains that is! PAyson. Flaggstaff and Prescott can be very pretty...if you can affford to live there!