Turn the Sunshine into a Science Lesson

It is so hot.  It's hot in the sun, it's even hot in the shade.  We hear repeatedly that we need to help our little Ones stay cool by dressing them wisely in light-colored clothing, but why not let them explore the "why" behind that idea?  In other words, turn the daily clothing battle into a learning experience that's meaningful to them.

Here's what you can do. Have your kiddos grab one black (or dark) sock and one white sock.  Ask them to make a hypothesis (prediction) about which sock will be hotter, when left in the sun.   (And, yes, use the word, "hypothesis" -- they can handle it).  Ask them why they predicted what they did.  Put the socks side-by-side in the sun and place a thermometer inside each one (use outdoor thermometer or regular household thermometers).  Have your child check the temperatures of the socks periodically (they may need help reading the thermometer, so keep that in mind as another valuable life lesson).  They should see that the dark sock is significantly hotter than the light/white sock.  Now ask them if they'd rather wear light-colored clothing on a hot day or dark clothes.  With any luck, the experiment's results will transfer and they'll realize that white is much better.

In a nutshell, the reason for this is that dark colored clothes ABSORB light/heat which make the person even warmer.  Light/white clothes REFLECT light/heat and therefore keep a person feeling relatively cooler. 

Now, see if your child really gets it by asking him which color clothing he should wear outside in the winter!