🗞️ Screen-free summer: fun ways to keep the kids moving

🗞️ Providence Baptist 'Riding in Faith' car show rolls into Kernersville

🗞️ Keeping kids cool and safe in the summer heat

🗞️ An easy 'after the holiday' reset for parents

🌞 Sunny and warm | High: 89°F | Low: 74°F

A touch cooler than the Fourth as the worst of the heat eases, but still summer-hot with plenty of sun. Great morning and evening for outdoor time. Keep water handy and take it easy in the midday sun.

School is out, the days are long, and the tablets are calling. If you are looking for ways to pry the kids off a screen without a fight, the trick is to make the alternative more fun than the phone. Old-school outdoor games still work like magic: kick the can, capture the flag, freeze tag, red light green light, or a simple water-balloon toss in the backyard. None of it costs much, and it burns off the energy that screens just bottle up.

Nature is the other easy win. Send the kids on a backyard scavenger hunt, start a few sunflower seeds they can watch shoot up over the summer, or make a bug-and-bird journal for the porch. When it is too hot or wet to be outside, bring the play indoors: build a pillow-and-chair obstacle course, hang an art gallery on the fridge or garage door and host an opening night, or pull out the puzzles and board games. A little boredom is not the enemy, it is often where the best ideas start.

A couple of ground rules make it stick. In this heat, aim outdoor play for the cooler morning and evening hours, and keep water close by. Set clear screen-time windows so kids know when devices are and are not on the table, and when you can, join in. The goal is not a packed schedule, just a good rhythm and a few summer memories.

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Providence Baptist Church in Kernersville drew a crowd for its "Riding in Faith" car show, held on a recent Saturday at VFW Post 5352. Some 40 vehicles rolled in, from a 1957 Porsche Speedster to a 1940 Ford Deluxe Coupe, with a few owners signing up on site. "I thought it was very successful," church secretary Yolanda Vereen said. "We enjoyed it and we liked it so much that we will do another one."

The show was more than a good time. It helped raise money for the church's capital campaign to build a new sanctuary at 2064 W. Mountain St., with a funding goal of $3.2 million. The 140-year-old congregation has outgrown its longtime home on Nelson Street and has about 80 members with no room to expand. About a year ago the church made a land-swap deal with the town of Kernersville, which will take the current Nelson Street property once the new building is finished.

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Summer heat is harder on kids than on grown-ups, so a little planning goes a long way. The biggest thing is fluids. Have water ready before children even ask for it, and send a bottle along whenever you head out. Pediatricians suggest roughly four cups of fluid a day for ages 1 to 3, about five cups for ages 4 to 8, and seven to eight cups for kids 8 and older. On the hottest afternoons, plan indoor, air-conditioned fun like crafts, reading or board games, dress kids in loose, light-colored clothing, and add sunscreen before they go out. And never leave a child alone in a parked car, not even for a minute.

It also helps to know the warning signs of heat illness: faintness, extreme tiredness, a headache, intense thirst, nausea or vomiting, or a temperature of 100 degrees or higher. If you see them, get the child to a cool place, offer cool water or a sports drink with electrolytes, and let them nibble something salty like pretzels. If a child seems confused, will not sweat, or is not improving, treat it as an emergency and call 911.

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Long holiday weekends are wonderful, and they can also leave the whole house a little off. Late nights, cookouts and a break from the usual schedule catch up with everyone by Sunday. The fix is not a dramatic overhaul, it is a gentle glide back into normal. Ease bedtimes and wake-up times back toward their regular slots over a day or two rather than all at once, and get meals back on their usual clock, starting with a real breakfast.

Give yourself the same grace. Drink some water, get outside for a short walk, and knock out one small reset task, like a load of laundry or a quick tidy of the kitchen, instead of trying to fix everything at once. Go easy on the calendar for the next day or two so there is room to catch your breath. A few small, steady steps will have the family feeling back to normal before the week even gets going.

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