There’s nothing like the beach. The beautiful sound of the waves crashing and the hot sand in between your toes. I have always loved going to the beach. Once we started bringing kids to the beach, I realized it was a little more challenging. Over the years I’ve figured out some tips that make beach life with kids much easier. Here are some easy beach hacks for kids before you go on your next beach vacation.
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- Water shoes: They may not be the most fashionable but water shoes are a life saver. The sand can get VERY hot so water shoes will protect kid’s feet in and out the sand. I even wore them too so I never had to worry about stepping on a crab or a sharp shell.
- Baby Powder: This was a trick I tried this last summer and it worked great! Sand tends to stay all over your legs and feet area. When you are ready to go inside you don’t want sand everywhere. Sprinkle on some baby powder and the sand will disappear!
- Flashlights/Nets: Don’t forget these! Flashlights are great for night time crabbing and nets are too. They are a beach must have! Glow sticks are fun after hours too!!
- Cooler/Ice chest Hack: Freeze some water bottles and use those as ice packs for your ice chest to keep drinks cold. This is better than ice and will keep drinks colder longer. It works for Gatorade and water too. Another idea I saw was to fill water balloons and freeze those to use as ice packs too. Then as to those melt, the kids can use those to play with later. Be sure and pick up any balloon pieces~ we wouldn’t want any of that to end up in the water to hurt the animals! A great idea would be to bring a big rolling collapsible wagon to hold all of your stuff!
Beach Fun
- Shampoo/dry clothes for kids: Most beach resorts/houses have an outside shower/rinse. Take advantage of this by bringing some baby shampoo and dry clothes. Have your little one take a shower and get out of their wet clothes. It will save so much time and they will feel better. (He could have stayed in this shower all day!)
- Laundry bag for sand toys: Buy a mesh laundry bag ($1 store) to keep sand toys in. After beaching it all day, simply rinse the entire bag off with the hose and the sand will be gone. Works great.
- Baby Creamy Oil: This is awesome!!! It fights mosquitoes and smells great and has none of the other harmful chemicals in other sprays. It works great for pools too. I’m usually attacked by mosquitoes but this works!
- Turtle Backs: This hack really isn’t for kids but for adults. These are the best! Turtlebacks keep your drink off the sand, genius!! They come in so many fun colors too. I even use them around our pool!
Beach time can be fun with kids if you plan ahead and just take one day at a time! We always bring lots of snacks and drinks to keep their bellies full. The easiest snacks are prepackaged snacks and no chocolate! You don’t want anything that melts!!
Water almost always gets in big and little ears so I always make up a batch of this DIY After Swimming Ear Drops to take with me. It’s the best!
What is your best beach hack?
Great tips and you are the second person who has written about baby powder at the beach, something I never thought of all these years. Our kids are older (teens) so are pretty much sunscreen and food, towels and now they like to bring their phones for music to listen to while at the beach. LOL
Lots of food! Food is a must for everyone 🙂
So many good tips! We love the beach. Will definitely do these.
We just got back from a beach trip today and I definitely forgot the baby powder trick. AHH! I would have loved to have had that!
Oh too bad, maybe next time?? Hope you had a great trip!
I love your tip about the creamy oil. I’m trying that next time we go camping or to the beach!
That would be perfect for camping! It smells so great! I use it on myself too 🙂
Just pinned this to my travel tips board. Great ideas!! I have never tried using baby powder, but I am going to now! 🙂 Have a great day!
Great! It does work!!
When the ice cream man rings his bell it means he’s out of ice cream but would love a wave!
Those are great tips. Please do not use balloons at the beach. Turtles and other creatures may try to eat them thinking it is a jellyfish.
Thank you for letting me know! I love the sea turtles and would never want to hurt them!
Baby powder is great but a new fertilizer type sprayer filled with fresh water is a must have. It’s great to get sand off, wash out eyes, wash hands to eat, etc.