Print This PageAdvocare Advice for Age Seven to Eight Years
Immunizations:
- All children should receive a flu shot every year.
- Children who have not received a second Varicella vaccine should get it now.
- Children who have not completed vaccines for Hepatitis A should do so now.
Safety:
- Use an approved car seat in the back seat of your car. If your child weighs more than forty pounds, use a booster seat with a high back. All children should stay in car seat devices until they weigh 80 pounds or have reached a height of four feet nine inches (4'9"). Seatbelts alone are unsafe and illegal for seven-year olds.
- Teach your child how to swim; always supervise children near water.
- Use sunscreen whenever your child is outside.
- Provide a helmet that fits correctly and safety gear for biking, skating, skiing, snowboarding, and horseback riding. Children playing team sports should wear appropriate safety gear.
- Make sure your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are working, and practice an emergency plan with your children.
- Keep your home and car smoke-free.
- Avoid having a gun in the home. If you must have a gun, store it unloaded and locked with the ammunition locked-up somewhere separately from the gun.
- Teach children about street safety. Children are not ready to cross the street alone until at least age 10.
- Know your child's friends and their families.
- Teach children about safe behavior with other adults:
- No one should ask children to keep a secret from their parents.
- No one should ask to see private parts.
- No one should ask for help with his/her private parts.
- Teach children their address and phone number.
- Teach children when and how to dial 911.
Staying Healthy:
- Children should eat a healthy breakfast every day.
- Eat together often as a family.
- Buy fat-free milk dairy foods; encourage 3 to 4 servings each day.
- Offer 5 servings of vegetables and fruits at meals and for snacks every day.
- Avoid candy, high fructose drinks, and high-fat "junk" foods.
- Help children brush their teeth twice a day, floss daily, and visit the dentist every six months.
- Encourage at least an hour of active outdoor play every day.
Development:
- At seven to eight years old, children should understand the connection between responsibilities and privileges.
- Give your child chores and expect them to be completed.
- Help your child to become independent with schoolwork and homework.
- Help your child establish a homework routine, with a set time and a quite space in which to work.
- Limit TV, videos, and computer games. We encourage no screen time on school nights, and limit weekend screen time to two hours per day.
- Children should not have a TV or computer in their bedrooms.
- Help your child select age-appropriate books; encourage reading.
- Allow for "down time." Don't over-schedule your child.
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