30 Beach Hacks to Survive a Family Beach Day
Are you planning a family beach day or headed on a beach vacation? Make it a stress-free and fun day out with these 30 Easy Beach Hacks for familes.
You'll be surprised at how these simple beach tips and tricks can make such a huge difference in your family's day out. Follow our list of fun things to take to the beach to be ready to enjoy your beach day with kids.
You'll learn what to do before you go to the beach, what to pack for the beach, a cool fitted sheet hack to keep sand off your blanket, how to hide your valuables, and more. Don't just survive your next family beach day have a great time making fun family memories.
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30 Beach Hacks to Survive a Family Beach Day
How to Prepare for Your Family Beach Day
Pack The Night Before
To make your beach day less crazy before you go, start packing up what you'll need the night before. This way it's one less thing to do when you're trying to get your kids dressed and fed in the morning.
Pack Lunches and Snacks
Get your lunch and any healthy snack made the night before. Then in the morning add them all to your cooler with ice packs, water, and cold drinks.
Get to the beach earlier in the day
The beach will be less crowded so you'll get a great spot plus the kids are less crabby when they're not as tired later in the day.
Stake out your spot
Now that you have arrived earlier in the day, you can stake out your spot on the beach with blankets, towels, and chairs. This way, when it does get crowded, you'll still have some space for the kids to dig and play.
Decide if you would rather be near the water so you can see the kids easily swimming or further away so they can't run into the water too quickly.
Bring a Blow-up Toddler Pool
For toddlers and babies, bring a small blow-up pool or use a blow-up boat as a small pool.
Fill the pool up with the lake/ocean water and place it under an umbrella for shade. This lets smaller children splash in the water, and you won't have to worry about them being in the ocean waves.
Keep Cool
Use a spray bottle to mist your kids and keep them cool.
This is great for when they are so busy playing in the sand and not interested in running in the water or when the water is too cold.
We love using one that has a fan on it. This O2Cool spray bottle worked great for us. (pictured in green below)
You can also freeze water bottles the night before so you have cold water to drink at the beach.
Ice Pop Frozen Hack
An easy way to bring ice pops and keep them frozen is by adding a few small ice pops to a Yeti or insulated cup with ice. Then put the Yeti in your cooler.
Cell Phone Protection
If you plan to bring your phone to the beach, make sure to put it in a waterproof case to protect it from sand and water. You can use a simple zip lock bag or we love the Moko waterproof cellphone case.
You can hang it around your neck and bring it in the water with you to take pictures of the kids. The Moko allows you to still use your phone's touch features and takes clear pictures.
We take it on every vacation and even use it when going to our local pool. It's shown in the picture below.
Wear flip flops
Make sure to wear flip-flops that can get wet so you can easily wash off the sand at the showers on the way out of the beach.
Bring a Change of Clothes
If you want to wash off in the showers at the beach and head out to restaurants or shops after your beach day, don't forget to pack some extra clothes.
Bag for Wet Bathing Suits
Bring along an extra bag to throw your wet bathing suits in. This can be just grocery store plastic bags, zip lock bags, or a clean trash bag from your hotel room.
What to Pack for a Day at The Beach
Beach Blanket Hacks
There are so many different beach blankets you can find. We like to find a beach blanket that folds up into a bag so you can easily transport it and that dries quickly.
This one below is great because it has pockets for your stuff and has stakes to hold the blanket down on windy days
Fitted Sheet Hack
Use an old fitted sheet as your blanket to keep the sand off your blanket. You can place your cooler and bags to hold the sides up inside the fitted sheet. The sheet will go up higher and help keep the sand out. Which is pretty cool plus cheap.
Baby Powder Hack
A great beach hack to get rid of the sand in between your toes and other areas is sprinkling on baby powder. Wait until your body is dry, then sprinkle on baby powder where the sand won't come off.
Beach Bag
It's a great idea to bring a big beach bag on your beach trip. You'll want one that can hold beach towels and beach toys but also has pockets to hold smaller things like your keys.
I love this beach bag because it folds up easily to pack in a suitcase and has tons of pockets.
Sand Toys
Save money when traveling by picking up some beach toys at the local dollar store or grocery store when you get there. While at the Dollar Store, grab some dump trucks or miniature figures that your kids can use with their Sandcastles.
If you have room in your suitcase or are traveling by car, consider bringing your own beach toys with you. Check out my Dollar Tree Travel Activities to find great beach items.
Beach Hack - Put the toys in a mesh bag so that all the sand falls out. I often pick up a mesh laundry bag from the dollar store and throw all the beach toys in there. It's a cheap and convenient way to hold all your beach toys.
Collapsible Sand Bucket
Another great beach toy hack is getting collapsible sand buckets. They fold down flat so you can fit them in a suitcase on vacation or easily in your beach bag. No more bulky sand buckets to carry to the beach.
Hide Your Money
When you're ready to head to the water, do you get nervous about leaving your purse or wallet on your beach blanket? Nothing ruins a beach day like having your money stolen.
Beach Hack - Hide your money, keys, or credit cards in an empty can of Pringles or a Chapstick holder. Thieves will think it's just food and ignore it.
Bring a Bag for Trash
Make sure to bring with you a bag to throw out all your trash. If you plan to picnic or even just bring snacks, it's nice to have a small plastic bag to throw out all your trash.
Beach Clothes
If you plan to be in the sun all day, it's a good idea to wear a protective swim shirt or rash guards and a hat with SPF. This will help keep the sun and harmful rays off your skin.
Our whole family wears rash guards to the beach and it has been a huge help in reducing sunburns.
Sun Tent and Beach Umbrellas
Keep your kids out of the sun and cool on your beach vacation with an umbrella or beach tent. Our favorite beach tent pops up and is set up in minutes, which is great when you're keeping an eye on excited kids at the beach.
On hot summer days, this is a game changer in giving your family some much-needed shade. It will allow you to stay at the beach the whole day.
Baby Pop-up Tent
For young kids, you can also do a small pop-up tent to keep them out of the sun's rays. I love the versatility of this cool Baby Beach Tent. It's the best baby beach hack.
There is a large pouch in the bottom of the tent you can use to make a baby pool, unzip it to let your little one play in the sand, or leave it flat for an afternoon nap.
Beach Umbrella
If you want an umbrella, I suggest you use one that you can screw into the sand to make sure it doesn't fly away in the wind. We like a fold-out handle to help you twist down the sand anchor on this beach umbrella. It makes the umbrella much more stable and easy to install.
Life Vests
If you have younger kids, I like to bring a swim vest for safety. It helps them stay afloat and makes it easier for you to swim with the kids.
I like that the one below has a handle at the top so you can easily grab your kid out of the water if they are struggling to swim.
Travel Potty
A smart idea if you have small children is to bring a travel potty that they can use in the tent. Often, there are no bathrooms close to the beach, which can be a challenge with potty-training kids.
Use this foldable travel potty with plastic grocery bags, which you can throw out when you're done.
Bring Baby Wipes
Use baby wipes to get sand off your hands before you have a picnic lunch or snack.
Cooler on Wheels
Get a cooler that you can also use as a table. Try to find one on wheels that you can pull over the sand and has indentations for drink holders.
Beach Cart
It's hard to carry all your beach supplies and your kids to the beach. Even if the kids can walk, they are not a big help in carrying your stuff. I suggest getting a beach cart if you are going to regularly go to the beach.
Make sure you pick one with big wheels that can easily be pulled over the sand and look for one that can hold your beach umbrella, too. I like the one above because it's well made and has a plastic holder for the beach umbrella which is more sturdy than the velcro ones on other carts.
Beach Wagon
Another great option is a beach wagon that you can throw all your stuff in.
We found a great one that folds so it's easy to pack up in your car. It fits all your beach chairs, beach umbrellas, boogie boards, ice chest, and more.
You could also give a tired kid a ride in it on your way back home. Here's what ours looked like.
The only thing I would change if I buy another one is to get larger all-terrain wheels to glide over the sand like this one below.
Beach Games
Keep your older kids happy at the beach with some fun beach games. Think of yard games that you can play at the beach like the popular Slamo game or Yard Pong.
A great hack for making your own beach pong game is using the sand buckets you brought to the beach already. Then just bring a couple of tennis balls or whiffle balls to make your own DIY version of Beach Pong.
Did you find a great beach hack for your next beach vacation? I hope these tips will help you have a great beach day with your kids! If you have any questions or your own beach hacks, please share in the comments. I love to hear from my readers.
Fun Beach Vacation Ideas
We love taking beach vacations in Florida and North Carolina. They all have beautiful beaches and tons of fun activities for the whole family. You just need to decide if you want to be on the Gulf or the Atlantic Ocean.
Our Favorite Beach Vacations
Topsail Island, North Carolina
Midwest Beaches on Lake Michigan
Travel Hacks to Keep Kids Busy on Family Vacation
Keeping kids busy on a family vacation is the difference between us all going crazy and having a great trip.
My favorite place to pick up cheap travel games and gadgets is Dollar Tree. You save money and if you lose it on vacation no big deal.
If you don't have time to shop before vacation, check out these great Amazon Travel Gadgets for Kids.
We love the travel tray for the kids to play on in the car and kick mats to hold the kids' iPads and games on a road trip.
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I love your beach ideas especially hiding your money in a pringles container!
Thanks!! I love the pringles can tip too. Hope it helps you out at the beach this summer.
Great tips for planning a day at the beach! A bit of preparation always makes taking the kids easier.
Yes a little preparation really does make the whole day easier and more fun. Have a great time at the beach this summer!