Living A Full Life

Summer Sanity: Keeping Kids Healthy and Engaged

• Full Life Chiropractic • Season 3 • Episode 30

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Summer vacation brings freedom and fun, but maintaining healthy routines remains crucial for your child's development. Despite school being out, children's brains continue to need stimulation and structure to thrive.

Dr. Enrico Dolcecori dives into evidence-based strategies for creating a summer that balances enjoyment with continued growth. Consistency emerges as the cornerstone of a successful summer—particularly when it comes to sleep schedules. Maintaining regular bedtimes prevents the painful adjustment period when fall arrives and provides the foundation for healthy brain development and immunity throughout the season.

The podcast offers practical solutions for working parents trying to balance professional responsibilities with childcare. Creating dedicated zones throughout your home for different activities (craft centers, reading nooks, game areas) gives children independence while providing structure. Tech-free mornings, weekly themed days like "Water Wednesdays," and accessible healthy snack stations empower children while supporting their development. Dr. Dolcecori emphasizes that summer shouldn't mean abandoning healthy habits but rather provides opportunities to strengthen them in new, enjoyable ways.

Perhaps most valuable is the suggestion to create a family summer mission statement—a collaborative exercise that establishes shared goals and expectations for the season. This simple practice transforms potentially chaotic summer months into a purposeful period of growth, connection, and joy. Whether you're a working parent seeking survival strategies or simply looking to maximize your child's development during break, these evidence-based approaches will help your family thrive through summer and beyond. Share your own summer parenting tips on our YouTube channel to help others create healthy, engaging experiences for their children.

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Speaker 1:

Today we'll cover summer routines, immune-boosting habits, screen time balance, activities that support healthy brain development, and ways working parents can keep kids engaged even with their busy schedules during the summer. I'm Dr Enrico Dolcecori. Thanks for tuning in to Living a Full Life podcast this week. Summer is right around the corner. Now that school's out for some of you. Many parents are wondering how to balance fun, health and sanity. I certainly am. I think most of the podcasts that I do is for my own sanity, to verbalize how to be a good parent. So there you go. That's the inside scoop of living a full life podcast is mainly reflection for myself to be the best parent I possibly can be, and I hope it helps you too. Truly there. But no, all kidding aside, I'm here to help you with tips and advice on evidence-based research and health that helps you grow. This is not opinion-based stuff. This is more evidence-based around neurodevelopment, neuroscience, overall healthcare, physiology and childhood development. So today, why summer matters for kids' development? I think summer can sometimes be like, oh, you kick the feet up and you relax, and you're like, oh, we're going to change all the routines. That's probably the worst idea you could probably follow there. It's a natural thing to be done with scholastics and academic stuff and take a little bit of a break. Some of the homeschool families don't take much of a break. They're in full swing of learning and keep that routine going, which I think is fantastic for brain development. But taking a summer break is great too. Kids' brains don't just shut off in the summer. Stimulation really matters for them and if we de-stimulate them or get them what they call bored, then they can create other issues in behavior and in overall health. So we got to talk about the risks of a sedentary summer sedentary habits, screen addiction, immune suppression that can happen with that if we fall by the wayside. And yes, parents got to work, but we also have to understand that kids need to be nourished during summer as well. So the importance of sunlight, movement, unrestricted creative play is really important stuff and just little things that you should keep in the back of your mind as you listen to this podcast and as you go through your summer. These are probably the focal points of where you should probably prep a little bit and make sure that there is access to all of that. I can't control the weather, but sunlight is important and then summer we get plenty of it and movement and focus on those two things. Summer break shouldn't be a health break. It's a chance to reset and grow even more. I think that's what we do as a family here. So get into some type of daily rhythm and I've got some tips for you on this to keep the summer flowing nicely.

Speaker 1:

Consistent sleep schedule. Don't shuffle this sleep schedule. You know how it is. You regret it every single time as a parent when, when the fall comes around, that first day of school, that sleep schedule, dang man, uh, it's tough, so maintain it. We have our oldest turning 11 this this fall and, uh, I don't think she's ever had a different schedule. She's had the exact same schedule her entire life and I'm like man, this streak is really going. 11 years is good, and it helps that she has younger siblings because they also have to follow that that schedule as well and I noticed it really does help them with that.

Speaker 1:

Maintain the schedule as much as you can. I know the days get longer, there's more sunlight and all that, but that's really important. Try and stick with it. You can deviate a little bit 30 minutes, 60 minutes up and down, it doesn't make a big difference, as long as they're making their sleep time right 10 hours of sleep for kids around 10 years of age, more so if they're younger, and that's what we want to do there.

Speaker 1:

Hydration and whole foods, fruit water, smoothies, protein-rich breakfasts. You got to stick with this all summer long. Keep that stuff going, prep for it and be ready for it, and then supplements. Nothing really changes here. It's summer, folks, it's the same thing as the fall and the winter. Probiotics, omega-3s, vitamin D make sure we are giving our kids the proper amount of that on a daily basis to supplement healthy development.

Speaker 1:

But what I encourage to maintain is is the daily, the habits that we had during the school year as well reading, making reading time a daily thing 15 to 30 minutes, whatever you feel comfortable with. Minimum per day of just hey, do we do our reading for the day? Are we doing any readings today? Or if they ever say I'm bored and say, well, go read. And of course that's when they don't go read. They don't want to read because you gave them an answer to being bored. So those times is really important Before bedtime, midday, first thing in the morning, whatever creates a routine for them and they tally it somewhere. They have to put a checkmark or a sticker on something saying that they did their 30 minutes of reading every day.

Speaker 1:

Creative activities like building art, puzzles, blocks, whatever, crafts, whatever it may be, having that almost on a daily basis or access to it anytime that they want. And then having boredom zones. Another parent told me about this. We have a boredom corner where, if you're bored, go to the corner. It's a room, it's not a corner, but to stimulate independent thinking. So they have access to crayons, paper, paintbrushes, journals, pens, whatever they want to do there and get a little creative through their origami paper. They can start trying to make some origami stuff with origami books. Those are great little things and you'd be surprised how long they'll sit there and do that stuff, for that's great for all ages over the well, origami probably over the age of six or so. Little tips like that, hopefully giving you little tips as well as parents. That's the whole point of today.

Speaker 1:

Movement and outdoor activities play a big role, and summer what a great time to do all that in the summer. If you live in a cold area in the winters, you know how much tougher it is to get out there when it's really really cold or really if there's a blizzard out there or anything like that, winter activities can be hindered as well. So get kids outside daily. The daily walks, the bike rides, the scooters, the nature hunts, the sprinklers, the sidewalk chalk all that stuff keeps them outside getting some sunshine and getting some fresh air. It really works well in the summer. What you can do is a couple tips. You know family stretch session every evening, or a family go for a family walk after every dinner. Uh, during the summers, enjoying the summer nights. Uh, obstacle courses in the backyard, just throwing out some of the extra stuff that's been sitting in the garage and make obstacle courses where they have to climb over, run around, toss things through, whatever it may be. Make it fun for them.

Speaker 1:

Kid-friendly workouts using youtube you know the youtube kids and get them doing 15-minute workouts and having like tech-free mornings. What a great way to start off the day. You know, not just jumping on the sofa watching a show, but saying, hey, we don't turn on the TV until you know 11 am, closer to lunchtime and you guys just can do a bunch of stuff around here. So tech-free mornings. As working parents, which most of us are, we work. That doesn't stop. We don't get our summers off unless you're a teacher create a weekly activity plan. Each day has a theme water wednesdays, library fridays, whatever it is to keep that routine going over the eight weeks of summer break or whatever it is for you, uh, consistent. And then it gives you a blueprint for every week. Are you going to follow it every single week? Now things happen. You may take an actual vacation and go somewhere, which is great, or get away from the routine a little bit, which is also great, but it keeps a little blueprint for you for the summer.

Speaker 1:

Batch healthy snacks and prep them for the week. Fruit skewers, you know, having those ready, those are great. Veggie sticks last a few, you know, a few days. You can have a veggie tray out there that'll last almost Monday through Friday. In there, where kids have access to on a lower shelf, they are more than welcome to open the fridge, open up the tray of veggies and go ahead and grab as many as they want. And having maybe a trail mix center in the pantry or somewhere around there where kids know they have like a little Dixie cup where they can like scoop out a Dixie cup of trail mix if they ever feel hungry. They've got little snacks that are healthy for them and they're and they're more than welcome to help themselves during the day. It doesn't have to be monitored because those are all just healthy foods. You can't complain about fruits, can't complain about veggies, can't complain about good healthy fats through nuts and seeds, so that's great as well.

Speaker 1:

Set up independent activity bins around the house. You can have your Lego center, your board game center, your craft center, just audio books that they want to listen to and just kind of prep for the summer and having these, and go go to the activity centers. Which activity do you guys want to do? And then they can go do that and it gets you time to work from home and get your things done as well. And then for some of you, if you need the extra help, you know there's high school kids that are all off for summer. They're more than happy to come. And do you know a babysitter thing or a tutoring thing or one or two afternoons a week to help you out? If you can handle that or if you have the means to do that, that can be great as well. Mother's helper or a high school student that can come help your younger kids those are all great little tips too. You know the parent's survival guide for summer. I guess we should have called this one right.

Speaker 1:

And then getting sick. It's kind of funny how sometimes kids are get sick. This year I've noticed already here in the South, in Florida, kids are done for school and already that first week there was a lot of kids that were sick just getting over it. Um, right at the end of the school year I think it's because everyone starts traveling, everyone starts as excited for summer they're, they're seeing other relatives and you know things are being spread. I'm not sure. But how do we minimize this to enjoy our summers? If everyone's sick all the time, all summer long, it's going to be a long and painful summer.

Speaker 1:

So, hand washing clean water bottles I find the water bottle thing kind of falls by the wayside During the school year. You're good at washing the bottles, steaming them using hot water, cleaning them because they're going to school and they've created a routine. Once we break that routine and kids still use water bottles those water balls with the silicone straws and the silicone toppers and all that can develop mold bacteria and build up in there we can maybe let those go a little bit longer. So, or switching to cups in the summer where kids have, you know, their plastic cup that's washed after every use or something along those lines, to help prevent mold and bacteria overgrowth and, of course, sunburn prevention and those are the things that we use their sunscreen and all those things because they're going to be playing outside and the sun is definitely stronger in the summer. Those are little things to do there.

Speaker 1:

But when it comes to diet, less sugar just equals a stronger immunity. So if we get exposed to too much sugar during the summer you know ice cream and all the treats that can happen, popsicles all the time what you'll end up seeing is immunity starts to decrease a little bit and they become more susceptible to getting sick, more stuffy, and we can sometimes blame the allergies, but really it could be that the lack of outside movement and daily play can also lower our immunity as well. So daily movement and outside play plays a huge role in that Adequate rest and hydration, making sure that they stay, the sleep routine is there and the hydration is there, and then support gut health with fermented foods. Keep the same rules going all year long. If you guys have barbecue night or a hot dog night or hamburger night, bring out the sauerkraut, have that on the side, make your kids say, yeah, you have to eat a, you have to eat a spoonful of that. Like at least a spoonful, whether they like it or not. Fermented pickles, fermented cabbage, fermented just whatever is out there just gives them a huge boost of pre and post or probiotics that really help them during the summer as well, cause the summer can be a lot of fun and we can get into some. You know, hot dogs are a little bit more routine, or or some of the summer staples become more routine and maybe not be fully the best nutritious sources of food, but they eat more ketchup. You know what it is. I sound like a parent, right? You got it so.

Speaker 1:

And a cool, fun thing we did with our kids, you know, is just the summer mission statement. What's the objective of the summer? What should we get out of this? It's fun. Let them create that and just kind of stick it on the motto there, maybe on the weekly to-do list. You put it on the top and they've created it. Can have some fun with this this summer. We're committed to fun connection. Use it for your family as well. Create that mission statement. Keep everyone on point for the summer. Hopefully it brings you some organization, some less stress, some less chaos. Uh, good luck with all that. And uh, maybe go to our YouTube channel, find this podcast and just comment on there on some of the tips that you're doing with your family, because other people read this and they're like, oh, that's such a great idea.

Speaker 1:

And this, because I didn't cover it on the podcast, doesn't mean that your ideas are not just as good or even better to help have a healthy and fun summer there as well. So, share your favorite summer recipes, share your favorite summer activities. How do you keep your kids busy as you work full time? How do you keep your kids busy? For some of you, that gets your summers off, maybe your teachers. How do you keep your kids busy? How do you keep them engaged while you have time off? These are all stuff that people have questions for. Maybe your answers could help them as well. But, either way, enjoy your summer.

Speaker 1:

This was more of a PSA about summer coming up and maybe getting some things organized around the house the play centers, the creative zones, the snack centers. Just getting zones, the snack centers, just getting those ideas going on, where you're going to set them up, how you're going to set up the fridge, maybe keeping the bottom shelf clear for them and their veggies, just little things where you're like that's a great idea, I'm going to do that. Then that's a win for the podcast. That would be absolutely great for you and your families. And short and sweet this week.

People on this episode

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Dr. Enrico Dolcecore

Host
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Dr. Christine Hafer

Co-host
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Dr. Crystal Corona

Co-host