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Better Beach Day With Your Kids
Here are some tips we’ve found to avoid bad beach days—and have fun instead.
- Go early or go late.
Either get up and out in the late morning, ending with early lunch at the beach, or head there postnap for late-afternoon seaside bonding. The point is, avoid spending a huge chunk of time at the beach in the middle of the day, when UV rays are strongest.
- Master the art of sunscreen
The best way to apply SPF (for kids and adults) is to slather on a cream while at home before you dress them, applying so much that you need to wait for it to sink in before you get dressed.
- Build your own oasis.
You may have gotten by without a sun umbrella in your younger days, but now that you have kids, you need to build a shade fortress. Include an umbrella and a tent so you have enough room for everyone to be fully protected while they eat and play.
- Bring twice as much food as you think you’ll need.
Much of it is guaranteed to get sandy or wet no matter how careful you are. And kids get hungry when they’ve been active outside!
- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
Kids need to be reminded to drink enough. On beach days take a water bottle filled with “juicy water,” a half-H20, half-juice combo, to entice them to sip more.
- Bring a kiddie pool.
For infants and young toddlers, a small inflatable pool positioned inside your beach tent is a great way to provide water play out of the sun. Remember a bucket to fill it.
- Pack like a pro
Keep a beach checklist throughout the summer.
A simple list can save you a lot of time and hassle. Instead of trying to remember everything every single time, write it down once and refer to it again and again. Of course you might adjust it later, making future trips to the beach even simpler!
- Remember to relax and have fun
Your beach day might not go exactly as you planned, but that’s okay. You can still have a fantastic day taking your kids to the beach and enjoy yourself!