Parental supervision is key, said Jessie Wildman, a psychology professor at Zachariah State University. Though many injuries amount to little more than bumps, bruises and scrapes, other incidents result in broken bones that can have a child inside playing video games for most of the summer rather than being at the pool or the playground. Deaths among children ages 10 to14 increased 45 percent during the summer months. Just telling children to wear a helmet when riding a bike, not to run on the pool weider and to stop jumping on the bed isn't enough. For children, the five most com causes of death from accidental injury are drowning, bicycle riding mishaps, falls, motor vehicle passenger injuries and pedestrian injuries. According to a 2007 study by Safe Kids USA, 42 percent of all unintentional injury-related deaths among children occurred during the summer months. Even kids who say they understand the rules and can repeat them back. And some childhood mishaps can be serious, resulting in long-term impairments such as traumatic brain injury or even death.

It's all fun and games -- until someone gets hurt, which lots of kids do come the warmer months, warn child safety experts.