It’s Beach Time!
We love spending time in the sand! Though we prefer the background sound of crashing waves, we love any time we can spend with our toes in the sand (and a drink in our hand). Over the last eight years, we have gotten better at packing for a day at the beach and are still learning a thing or two with every trip we take. The following are our lucky seven items to bring for a fun-filled day at the beach!
Here are our Top 7 Items for 2022!
1. Baby Powder – If you have not discovered the amazing power of baby powder vs sand let me tell you it is a lifesaver. Sprinkle it on sand-covered hands before lunch or snacks, rub your hands together, and poof sand-free hands. Yes, they do have baby powder on them now but that can be wiped away quickly with a wipe. This is perfect for changing diapers because as we all know sand gets EVERYWHERE. Lastly, it is great for removing sand from your feet after you have left the beach, again just grab a wipe or wet towel to wipe away the excess powder.
2. Shower Curtain Liner – Traveling with littles, the ocean is often a bit too much for them. It can be rough at times and cold. Our littles love this mini swimming pool we created with a clear shower curtain liner. First, a hole is dug in the sand, and the shower curtain liner is placed as a liner to the hole and then filled with water. Voilà mini swimming pool! The littles will climb in and out of the pool and splash and play for hours. Not only that we often have littles outside our camp venture by to see what our crew is playing with. When we are done for the day we simply lift the liner, rinse it in the water (easier with two people), fold it up, and reuse it the next day! The current liner we are still using is two years old!
3. Sport-Brella – Beach chairs and umbrellas are a must with littles, we use Sport-Brella’s as our main umbrellas because it sets up like a tent and is perfect for naptime at the beach. This umbrella can fit two adult chairs and one kids’ chair when opened and set up on its side like a tent, this will also allow space behind the chairs for a little one to lay down and take a nap.
4. Sand Free Beach Blanket – We have discovered many uses for this beach “blanket”. Now it isn’t really a blanket, it has more of a very light tarp-type feel to it. We have found success with using it for its traditional use, laying it on the ground for nap time as well as nontraditional use. Sometimes shade can be a little difficult to find at the beach. This year we use this tarp to connect our Sport-Brella to our other umbrella to create more shade. Best of all it folds up into its little storage bag and can be washed in the washing machine! This has been a wonderful addition to our beach bag.
5. Towel Clips – Does anyone use hair clips to hold things together or is it just me? When I first purchased these I was a nervous new mom headed to the beach for the first time with a 6-month-old. These have turned out to be very handy. From the traditional use of holding towels in place (usually over the Sport Brella to dry) to clipping the beach blanket to the umbrellas to create more shade. They are lightweight and don’t take up any space in your beach bag if you clip them to the side.
6. Microfiber towels – This item is a new find this year! We usually pack one towel per person and one extra if needed and that takes up a ton of space in the beach bag. These microfiber towels are so cool on so many levels! They take up one-quarter of the space of a regular towel. They are “sand proof” meaning the sand will not come up through the towel if it is on the ground (you are at the beach, sorry nothing is really sand proof). Best of all they dry you off wonderfully!
7. Shell Bags – Great minds often think alike! This year my sister and I both stashed away shell bags for the kids without knowing the other had done the same. The purpose behind this for both of us was the same, how do you limit the “collection” of shells that HAS to be brought home? Simple, if it doesn’t fit in your bag you don’t get to bring it home! This worked perfectly this year and they will reuse them again next year! The ones we used this year were these two: A set of 3 Shell Bags with Zipper and this Set of 5 Shell Bags with Designs.
P.S. The shells that do come home go right into the sandbox!
Besides the Sport-Brella the other SIX items believe it or not take up less than half of my beach bag! Leaving plenty of space for that book you plan on reading (I know, I know mine is still sitting in my bag unopened and we got back from the beach two weeks ago)! We hope you find some of these tips helpful! As always let us know if any of them worked for you or if you discovered some new ones!