Summer is here! We all love to be outdoors after a long, cold winter and the sun's rays warm on our skin.

But before your kids hit the beach, or park or even your own backyard — remember too much sun can cause irreparable damage to their skin.

Read on to find out how you can not only prevent painful sunburns this summer, but how you may also significantly reduce your children's risk of developing skin cancer when they become adults.

It is so easy to protect your family form the sun! Your kids can still have a great summer — while keeping their skin healthy.

The sun is the main cause of skin cancer. Thanks to our love of a suntan and our outdoor-oriented lifestyles, skin cancer has become a significant and growing health problem in Canada, with more than 50,000 new cases of the disease expected each year.

Our kids now face a one-in-seven risk of getting skin cancer during their lifetime.

Although the sun emits various types of radiation, it is the ultraviolet range which most affects our skin.

Ultraviolet rays damage the skin's DNA and cell function, and from a child's first sunburn or suntan, the damage just keeps on adding up, resulting in wrinkles, dark and unsightly blotches, leathery skin and possibly a skin cancer years later.

Most skin cancers can, if left for a long time, cause disfigurement and pain but are rarely fatal.

However, melanoma, a less common but potentially-deadly form of skin cancer, will be responsible for more than 500 deaths in Canada this year. A worrying trend is that the incidence of melanoma is increasing at a very high rate and is in fact doubling every 15 years.

Most of us do not realize just how long children are out in the sun, and the more sun we get, the more likely we are to develop skin cancers.

During the long summer holidays, while adults might be at the office or indoor at home, kids are outside for hours on end. Most of our lifetime sun exposure occurs before the age of 18.

It is especially important to avoid sunburns during childhood since the development of melanoma has been linked to severe sunburns at a young age.

Although no one is immune to skin cancer, some kids face a higher risk than others of getting this disease later on in life.

Children with fair skin, who usually burn and never tan when out in the sun, or kids with blonde or red hair, freckles or many moles, are at greater risk.

Dermatologists advise using broad-spectrum, SPF 15 or higher sunscreens to screen out as much as possible of the sun's ultraviolet rays. Look for the Canadian Dermatology Association logo on sunscreen products to be on the safe side.

Use waterproof products for swimmers and beachgoers. Waterproof sunscreens are formulated to stay on in water for up to 80 minutes.

Apply and SPF 15 lip balm to the lips.

Children over the age of six months can wear a sunscreen.

Always test a small amount of sunscreen on your child's inner forearm. Do not wash this area for two days and then check to see if there are any signs of an adverse reaction.

Remember to apply a sunscreen at least 15 to 30 minutes before your kids go outside. Use generous amounts of the product and don't forget the ears, nose, tops of the feet and backs of the knees. Apply carefully around the eyes. Reapply the sunscreen frequently and liberally.

A word of caution:  No sunscreen offers complete protection from the sun's rays. Try to limit the amount of time your family spends out in the sun, especially during the peak hours of 11 am to 4 pm.

The SPF or sun protection factor refers to the protection offered against the sun's ultraviolet B rays, known to cause both sunburn and skin cancer.

The SPF of a product relates to the time it would take for your skin to burn when wearing a sunscreen compared to the time it would take for your skin to burn without any protection.

In theory, you could stay out in the sun fifteen times longer without burning your skin if you used an SPF 15 sunscreen.

In practice, people often don't use enough of the sunscreen or don't reapply it and its effectiveness is therefore limited.

Bearing in mind how people use sunscreens and the products' ability to screen out ultraviolet rays, sunscreen with an SPF or 15 or higher are recommended.

Most sunscreens are now labelled "broad-spectrum" and that means they offer protection against a wider range of the sun's rays, including part of the ultraviolet A rays. Recent research suggests that ultraviolet A rays contribute to skin aging, wrinkling and probably the development of skin cancer.

You can get young children involved in sun protection by showing them how to do the shadow test.

It's important to stay in the shade when the sun is directly overhead and its rays are strongest (between the times of 11 am to 4 pm).

While your toddler might not be able to tell the time, an easy test is to see if a person's shadow is shorter than they are, and if so it is time to come in or get under some shade. When the shadow is longer than the person, it is safer to go out and play.

When you are packing backpacks for summer camp, don't forget to put in a hat, protective clothing and an SPF 15 sunscreen.

Remind your kids to stay in a shade as much as possible on outdoor trips. This will not only protect their skin but will also keep them cool and will avoid dehydration.

For babies under one year old, a sunburn should be treated as an emergency. Call your family doctor.

If a child one year or older has a sunburn with severe pain, headache, blistering, lethargy or fever, call your doctor.

To treat a mild sunburn:  Give plenty of fluids. Acetaminophen may be given for pain. Cold compresses can be applied to the red area. A mild cold cream or hydrocortisone ½% may also be used.

If your children are on medication, check with your doctor before allowing them into the sun. Adverse reactions to sunlight, such as a rash, redness or swelling, can be a side effect of various drugs.