5 Things To Consider When Choosing Shade At Home for Your Children

Nothing is worse than having to chase shade for your children in the middle of a long, hot summer day. A decent shade solution for your outdoor area could be one of the best investments you make for your family. Here are five things we believe are important to consider when choosing your shade at home to suit the whole family. 

Sun Shelters: What do your kids need? 

A summer day outdoors is a perfect way to spend time with friends and family. However, for some, the sun isn’t always a pleasant experience. It can cause irreversible damage to our skin if we don’t take care of it properly. Children are particularly susceptible to the sun’s rays. Mainly as we now know, you still need to be careful even on cloudy days. This is because the sun’s UV rays can still penetrate through clouds, inferior quality fabrics, and even the foliage around your property.

Here are the 5 Things To Consider When Choosing Shade At Home for Your Children 

1. Determine the Area Which Requires The Most Protection 

It’s essential to consider your children’s needs when buying a sun shade for your home. They may have an area that is the most popular hangout or where they spend the most time playing. It might be where the children easily run in and out to get toys or food.  

It could also be where they play on the swing set or slide. Do you have shade there already? Be aware that those harmful UV rays can penetrate even if trees shade them. 

You might want to consider where and when your child spends time in certain areas of the property/deck/courtyard so that you can observe their choices. This might indicate where they tend to spend most of their time.  

2. Figure Out The Amount of Space You Have For The Furniture And Still Leave Room For The Children to Play

Choosing the right sun shade option for your family and your children depends on how much space you have for furniture, leaving enough room for your children to play on the deck, patio or other designated outdoor area. 

You may wish to consider the area you have and what you plan to do with this. How many children could potentially be playing there? When it comes to your downtime, how can you make it comfortable for them while still allowing yourself to enjoy it?  

Take into account your children’s needs when placing a sun shade in an outdoor area. Do they like the comfort of having walls around them, or are they a little too wild while playing outdoors? 

 If they prefer to play inside, consider getting an outdoor shade solution with sides or screens with enough room to cater for a play table for games. Creating an enclosed space with our Ziptrak® outdoor blinds could be an excellent solution. 

3. Look at when your children will be outside most often. Will they need shade in the morning, afternoon or both?

For a parent, especially with a toddler or younger child, there’s nothing worse than peeling your kid off the ground and taking them inside in the middle of a fun playtime outside when you know the temperature will get dangerously hot.  

Think about where your children will be most often and what time of day that will be, and use this information to help you decide what kind of shade/shelter is best for your situation. For example, do they play outside in the morning or prefer to go out later in the afternoon?

If you manage to create a space that also lets through a nice breeze, you could find yourself saving on the power bills from running an AC all day. Furthermore, if it’s a windy area, what protection have you got in place for them to still continue with their play? 

Does the area include any sources of water which your children might need to access as part of their play? You don’t want them running back and forth from exposed areas, as it kind of defeats the purpose of keeping them sheltered.  

4. Think about the best fabric options for UV protection and water resistance 

Summer heat is no joke, especially for children who aren’t prepared to handle its rays. The right shade could protect them from overheating, sunburn, melanoma, and other skin conditions later in life.  

To make sure you’re getting the best protection for your children, consider the following:  

• For the best possible protection, you should consider which canvas to choose for a shade sail: whether it should be light or dark, and what UV protection rating it has.
• As well as determining the appearance of your shade sail, your choices will affect the functionality of the sun shade.
• Lighter fabrics will absorb more heat, keeping you cooler under them. Shade sails in lighter colours reflect the sun’s rays, making them popular choices. Darker fabrics, however, offer more UV protection. 
• There are also different degrees of water resistance in coated fabrics, which is why we offer a variety of textile choices. Shade sails can be built from extra-strong fabrics, which can also provide complete rain protection and reduce the need for taking them down in the windy season.

View some of our shade sail projects to see if these could be a good solution for your space.

5. Go for quality over price

When buying a sun shade for your family, it is important to go for quality over price. Purchasing an inexpensive sun shade may seem like your first choice, but your savings will only be temporary. 

It is more likely for a cheap, inferior quality sun shade to rip, tear, or fade than a quality one. You could find yourself replacing the sun shade before the summer is over. For this reason, we engineer, design, and stand by every sun shade weather protection solution we install, and all our textiles are backed by impressive UV warranties. 

Knowing ahead of time what features you want in a sun shade can help you from making impulse purchases that aren’t effective. Take a look at the options, observe your children’s outdoor play habits, and come up with a list based on your observations. This will determine what is best for you and your family. 

We hope these tips have given you insight into what to look for when buying a sun shade. Remember to go with your budget, but don’t be afraid of investing in a quality product that will last. Because nothing is more precious than protecting your family from the harsh elements

Thinking of sorting a shade sail or other custom NZ made sun shade solution?

Our bespoke shade solutions offer far superior results compared to any off-the-shelf alternatives.  

By working with Sunshade NZ, you will benefit from the extra investment in our expertise, quality fabrication, and bespoke design solutions that will provide excellent protection for the whole family and add value to your property. 

If you’re planning to get your outdoor living shade solutions sorted before summer, we hope these tips will be helpful.   

Talk to your local expert, or fire us a quote request today.