Top 10 Tips for getting Toddlers to the Beach and Enjoying it Too!
Living close to the beach we spent a lot of time there when the kids were very young. My youngest was a few weeks old the first time we headed there and by the time she was 1 she was as happy on the sand as I was. But… there was a vast difference between getting ourselves pre-kids to the beach and even when we just had 1 baby and getting to the beach with toddlers in tow. The first few times we visited you would have thought we were going for a week the amount of stuff we took. But as we got more and more used to it we discovered how much you could stream-line the process and with that came a much more enjoyable trip than before. So we here we go my Top 10 Tips for Getting you and your Toddlers to the Beach and ENJOYING IT TOO!
Top Tips for Getting Toddlers to the Beach
- Apply sun cream (factor 50+) before heading out – kids do not like sand coated hands for cream application.
- Use reusable swim nappies for non-potty trained toddlers – no rubbish on the beach and can put them in a wet bag to return home for washing
- Sunsuits are brilliant – if you need to reapply sun cream then you have less space to cover
- Set up a “camp” with a sun shade (we use a sun tent) so there is always some shade and a tarp to sit on.
- Bring double the amount of towels that you will need – keep 1 dry set in the car with a change of clothes – that way there won’t be any problem when the toddler can’t wait and runs into the sea fully clothed (yes that has happened)
- Bags to put all the essential finds in from the trip to the beach – shells, sea weed, bits of crabs!
- Take a lunch with you – toddlers will not want to the leave the beach and getting everything off the beach and then back is not fun at all – tomorrow I will sharing some sandwich making for toddlers and preschoolers to get them involved in the preparation
- Pack so that you can hold hands/carry if needed a back pack for your toddler is great you can put in their drink, some sand toys and then they feel like they have a role in going to the beach
- A kids trailer is great – it works for transporting everything over the sand and is also great fun when you are on the beach
- If you can get hold of them wrist bands for the kids are great put your phone number on and surname then if they wonder off and you loose them you can be contacted (remember to have your cell phone with you) – some of our popular beaches supply them in the UK
Activities and fun for Toddlers at the beach
Discover our Favourite Beach Games for Toddlers that the whole Family will Enjoy
Toddler Approved has some fun sand castle and cake posts to get your toddlers having some sandy fun at the beach.
The Educators Spin On It kept to the same routine and took their normal Tot School to the beach with lots of ideas for educational activities that are a lot more fun when you take them outside.
When you have your nature finds it’s always a “what do I do with it” moment – No Time for Flash Cards has a great easy to make on the beach nature jar which will also help limit the amount of the beach that you bring home as well.
This is something I have never thought of doing but looks a lot of fun – some coloured sandcastles on the beach from A little learning for 2.
Beach Themed Activities for Toddlers when you Return
Try some of our Beach themed crafts – I want to make the sand handprints with my kids this year.
Create your own Vacation Memory Jar to look back on and remember the best bits of the trip.
Use the shells you have collected and make a seashell wind chime or why not colour them and then use them in pictures or make other items out of them.
Making a fish diorama is great fun – Learn with Play at Home has some fun fish and an underwater scene to make.
If you managed to escape the beach without taking half of the sand from it with you then The Imagination Tree has some cloud dough sandcastle building with glitter and shells (what more could a toddler/preschooler want).
The Imagination Tree also has a wonderful beach small world play and some sand play dough as well.
More Tips and Advice for Summer Vacation and Holidays with Toddlers
Tips for Camping with Toddlers
How to Avoid Toddler Meltdowns when Travelling – Coming Soon
Top Tips for Summer Holiday Travel with Toddlers
Pin these Top Tips for Heading to the Beach with your Toddler this Summer to help you later
Share these Top Tips with Parents of Toddlers over on Facebook
Wow a post packed with great ideas and suggestions. We just love the beach, reading your list it does remind me how much easier beach trips become as they grow older and can be responsible for packing their own things for the day, though I am still in charge of lunch or it would just be crisps and cake!
I’m glad it gets easier – it’s a millitary operation at this moment – one of the reasons that we haven’t had a holiday for over 2 years – just a day trip is planned in fine details
Great list of ideas! We just moved to a town on the ocean that has a town beach. I had visions of myself plunked down in a beach chair reading novel after novel this summer, but my adventurous toddler son has other plans. I spend most of my time chasing him all over the beach. He loves to walk up to random families and sit in their beach chairs. It’s kind of embarrassing, but I have to admit I have met a bunch of people this way 🙂
-m
We bring eleven month old twins to the beach along with their friends…Best tip ever is a blow up baby pool. (We have a battery powered pump)
Tip # 2 is a huge baby fence, when you have lots of babies to watch it really helps to keep them together and you can have a big area for them to play.
Tip number 5 simply made me smile. Our toddler, who was so excited going to beach practically ran to the water without getting changed into beach apparel.
The best beach tip I’ve heard is to bring talc with you. Its great for getting sand off hands. Dust the wet sand encrusted hands with talc and rub until the sand falls off, then you can use a wipe to get the talc off. Then lovely clean hands for eating sandwiches without the added sand.
What a great idea – I will add that to our packing list for next time we go