Supporting your child’s mental health this summer.
July 18, 2025
Written by Andrew Lyon, MPH, CPS, McCall’s Director of Prevention Services.
Summer can be a time of great joy for families. School is out, the weather is warm, and the pools are open. Summer is also a time when it’s more important than ever to check in with our kids.
The shift from the structure of a school routine into unstructured summer schedules can be stressful for some kids. The absence of friends, support structures built over the school year, and changes in daily activities can lead to isolation and the development of unhealthy behaviors.
As McCall’s Early Childhood Consultation Partnership (ECCP) consultant Patti Palermo, LPC-A, has observed, “Even something as fun and exciting as summer break can be a source of stress and difficulty for some youth. Parents, guardians, and other supportive adults play a critical role in reducing these challenges experienced by kids—challenges that sometimes go unnoticed by those around them.”
Tips for a health, happy summer.
Here are some useful tips for setting your kids up for success during the summer months:
- Keep a routine. Structure and routine throughout the summer helps to establish a sense of security, inspires self-confidence, and provides stability for young people. Setting expectations and maintaining a sense of normalcy from day to day helps to lower anxiety and stress for children. This is not to say that every single day needs to be meticulously planned out and strictly scheduled. However, strategies such as making sure that sleep schedules stay consistent and creating simple daily rituals (like having family meals together) can go a long way.
- Manage screen time. As schedules tend to remain busy for parents during summer months, it can be tempting to depend on screen time and digital devices to keep their kids occupied. Unfortunately, screen time can easily become all-consuming for many young people and can lead to several unwanted behaviors and outcomes. Instead, limiting screen time and encouraging healthy activities such as reading, hobbies, and outdoor play can promote continued learning, growth, and healthy socialization for youth.
- Encourage healthy social interaction. Summer break can create distance from friends and social groups that provide connection and support to children throughout the school year. This itself can be a significant source of stress and other mental health concerns. By encouraging healthy social interactions during summer months (such as supporting continued contact with friends or signing kids up for summer activities and programs), parents can maintain social connections for their kids, which are so important in providing support and healthy development.
- Keep an eye out for mental health concerns. Regardless of routines, activities, and opportunities for social connection, it’s still important to continually watch for signs of mental health concerns in your child. Frequent tantrums or irritability, drastic changes in behavior or personality, sleeping too much or too little, and a loss of interest in activities that were previously joyful are just a few of the signs to look out for. Being aware of potential changes in your child’s mood or overall mental state allows you to intervene early.
Tailored support based on a child’s individual needs.
While the impact of each of the above tips may vary depending on a child’s age, developmental stage, and access to resources, they all offer valuable guidance for promoting healthy growth and well-being all summer long.
If you’re concerned about your child’s mental health or if you’re looking for helpful tools and support, visit our Prevention Services Resources and Support page. These resources include the Early Childhood Consultation Partnership (ECCP) to support the social and emotional needs of children up to the age of five years old. McCall also offers comprehensive Child & Adolescent Outpatient Services for young people ages 8 through 17.
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