Sunscreen Facts for Kids

A picture of a woman applying sunscreen

This web page contains sunscreen facts for kids and is an excellent resource for anyone of any age looking to learn about sunscreen. Our goal is to provide you with accurate, up to date facts about sunscreen. In addition to facts about sunscreen, we provide additional resources to help you with your research on sunscreen and its benefits.

The sunscreen facts below will help you learn about who invented sunscreen, what sunscreen is used for, how sunscreen protects your skin, the affects of not using sunscreen and other sunscreen related facts. We hope these sunscreen facts are interesting and help you learn more about this skin protection product.

If any of the below sunscreen facts are inaccurate, please contact us and let us know.

22 Sunscreen Facts for Kids

  1. Sunscreen is a topical product that protects your skin from the sun’s UV (ultraviolet) radiation.
  2. Sunscreen is what protects your skin from getting sunburn.
  3. Sunscreen is also known as sunblock or sun lotion.
  4. Sunscreen can come in the form of a gel, foam, lotion, spray or stick.
  5. In ancient times, oil extracts from plants were used to protect the skin from the sun.
  6. There are 17 active ingredients that are approved in the USA for use in sunscreen.
  7. Sunscreen can contain one or more of the 17 approved active ingredients.
  8. Two of the most popular active ingredients in sunscreen are zinc oxide (ZnO) and titanium dioxide (TiO2).
  9. Sunscreen protects your skin from getting sunburned and certain types of cancer.
  10. Sunburn is a type of burn caused by radiation from the sun in the form ultraviolet radiation.
  11. Sunscreen can potentially help prevent two types of skin cancer, melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
  12. Sunscreen is rated using the SPF rating.
  13. SPF stands for sun protection factor.
  14. SPF measures how much of the sun’s radiation will reach your skin.
  15. An SPF 30 sunscreen means only 1/30 of the sun’s radiation will reach your skin.
  16. A common myth is the higher the SPF rating the longer the sunscreen will continue to protect your skin.
  17. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends you reapply sunscreen every two hours.
  18. A common myth is you don’t need sunscreen on a cloudy day.
  19. Clouds only block some of the suns UV rays, you can still get sunburn on a cloudy day.
  20. It requires a good amount of sunscreen to fully protect your skin, a little over a shot glass of sunscreen is required to properly cover and protect your entire body.
  21. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends everyone to wear a sunscreen that is water resistance, has a SPF 30 or higher rating and has active ingredients that protect against both UVA and UVB rays.
  22. There are many popular brands of sunscreen sold on the market and a few of them are Banana Boat, Coppertone, Hawaiian Tropic and Ocean Potion.

Additional Resources with Sunscreen Facts