The bad news: Those lobster-red sunburns many of us experienced as a childhood summer rite of passage are connected to the emergence later in life of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. The good news: It’s not totally impossible to get your kids to wear sunscreen if you start young, and make it part of your daily lifestyle.But first, the facts: Just one blistering sunburn in childhood or adolescence more than doubles your chances of developing melanoma later in life, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation. And a new June 2014 study from Brown University found that five or more blistering sunburms during your formative years is markedly more dangerous in the long run than one.Your takeaway: It’s vitally important for parents (or anyone around kids) to impart safe sun habits from a very early age. Pediatric dermatologist Ana M. Duarte, a consultant to Coppertone’s Making the Sunscreen Grade program, which provides parents with resources to help keep their children protected while at home, at school and at camp, says young children are especially receptive to learning lasting habits. Here’s where to start:1. Be a role model for your child—wear your sunscreen!“Making sun protection a priority for yourself will help children understand its importance,” says Duarte, the division director of dermatology for Miami Children’s Hospital. Before you head out, put your sunscreen on along with your kids, and show the importance of reapplication by doing it every two hours while in the sun or after swimming and sweaty sport activities.2. Turn sunscreen application into a game.Anyone with toddlers know what it’s like to chase yours around the room while he or she is screaming bloody murder. Try turning your daily application into a game to make it fun. Buy sunscreen sticks and let your kids “paint” each other.3. Bribe your kids.In this instance, it’s worth it! Tell them that cooperation with sunscreen application will get them five extra minutes of outdoor playtime. Or create a sunscreen reward poster, granting them a sticker for each whine-free sunscreen application session.4. Teach them to be sun-smart outdoors.“Help your children identify shaded areas during outdoor activities, like shade structures at the school playground or trees in the backyard, and teach them to play there,” advises Duarte. Explain that reflective surfaces like water, concrete and sand intensify exposure and heat—up to 85 percent, according to the dermatologist.5. Protect their eyes.The delicate skin around eyes is very susceptible to the damaging effects of UV rays, according to a recent column by YouBeauty’s Dermatology Expert, Jeanine B. Downie, M.D. But children’s eyes are more vulnerable and can even incur damage to the eye itself, says Duarte.6. Wear sunglasses—both you and your kids! “Wear sunglasses so that your kids will want to wear them too, and you can even involve them in picking out a pair that is labeled to block out 99 to 100 percent UV rays in what I call ‘playground-ready’ styles like plastic lenses that are impact- and scratch-resistant with bendable frames,” advises Duarte. Bring your kids to a store and let them pick our their gear so they feel ownership.7. If your school is not cooperating, take charge.Recent news surrounding some school bans on sunscreen—usually because of administrator concerns over sharing products and potential allergic reactions—has put the issue of children getting dangerous blistering sunburns while out on field trips and on the playground in the spotlight. Coppertone offers parents downloadable resources to help engage school districts about their sun protection policies, and to change bans if needed.With these sun safe habits put in to practice, it’s our hope that a nostalgic love for things like summer ice cream cones and building sand castles at the beach are the only parts of childhood that have lasting lifetime implications for today’s kids.MORE: Are you safe in the sun? Assess your sun habits with our Safe Sun Quiz.

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