We live 5 minutes from the beach and growing up by the beach was a real highlight of my childhood. However, I married a man that hates the sand! One of my favourite ways to spend the summer is at the beach with the boys and these great beach hacks will make a day at the beach a dream.

So I am going to share with you my top beach hacks for families that make a beach day much more fun for all involved. You will find that a little preparation can go a long way and make the day fun for everyone and take the pressure off you as a parent and as we all know most of the planning and organising always falls to Moms and they deserve some relaxation too.
I find preparation key when planning a beach holiday or beach vacation. As we live near the beach we have all our stuff in the garage in a plastic container just to pop straight in the car.
Beach Hacks for Families
My top tip is to take along some baby powder or talcum powder, you cover the sandy area in baby powder and then leave it a couple of seconds before brushing it off. No more sand scratches. The baby powder absorbs the water in the damp sand, making it easier and softer to remove sand. As we live near the beach this is something that I always have in the back of our car – PS it works on the dog too! Our local beach doesn’t have showers so this is an invaluable trick.

Keep your water cold. By filling up water bottles to about a third and then freezing them in their side. Once frozen, fill with cold water and you will have cold water for most of the day. Also instead of using cool blocks in your cooler, use extra water bottles. We also freeze tubes of yoghurt too.
Turn an empty suncream container into a place to store your money and valuables. Alternatively, put them inside a nappie and fold it as though it is used and pop it in a nappy sack (nobody is going to look in there)! Have a secret stash of spare cash rolled up in an empty lip balm tube
Use a fitted sheet instead of a beach towel to lie on, place a heavy item in each corner (like a beach bag, cool box or even large stones as DIY weights), and pull the corners up over them. Viola, No more sand in your sandwiches!

Take a small paddling pool or kiddie pool. This is a brilliant way to make corral younger children. We just add some sand and some water and just let them play near us. It always feels safer than letting them in the open water with the waves.
Turn your steering wheel, Parking in the sun? Turn your steering wheel 180 degrees. That way when you’re ready to leave, the part of the steering wheel that you use won’t burn your hands.
Go early or late. We love going to the beach later in the day. The car parks are usually emptying and the sun is not as strong.
Do not take a good camera. Use your phone camera, but also take a zip lock bag and pop it in. Trust me the touch screen works through the ziplock. Same for your Kindle, but nothing beats a book on the beach.
String bags (or pop up mesh bag – like a mesh laundry bag) are great for beach stuff, we store all our beach toys, buckets, spades and balls in them, As they dry out and you are carrying the bag all the sand falls off before you store it in the car.
Sun protection is key. There is nothing worse than reapplying sun cream and getting sand on it (urg to scratchy cream). Instead, use once-a-day sun protection or a sunscreen spray on one that doesn’t need rubbing in and wear UV surf suits. Prevention is always better than cure and you don’t want anyone getting sunburn.
Take a trolley. A trolley is great for getting all your gear to and from the car to the beach and also perfect if one of the kids falls asleep. I always found a trolley much better on the sand than a stroller.

Take a small pop-up tent or beach tent. We live by the North Sea, it can get really windy, so our inexpensive pop up tent is a must not just for the wind but also as shade for kids naps. It is also perfect for storing all our stuff in.
Pack all your food and snacks in separate small bags. There is nothing worse than getting sand in your food. So limit the chance of this by packing each sandwich separately.
Be prepared. As we live by the sea and good weather is not always guaranteed I have a basket in the boot of my car with everything we need for a short trip to the beach.

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Activities for Beach Visits

oooh some really great tips, especially love the baby powder one, we have used that for years 🙂
great ideas! I never knew that baby powder could get rid of wet sand- definitely going to buy some for the summer!
Your Comments
We live over two hours from the beach but I hope we can visit this summer to take in your tips.
Some very good ideas I have to say good for the summer.
What some great ideas, I need to remember baby powder next time I go! x
I love all your ideas having a beach bag prepared sounds like a super idea.
Such great tips, I didn’t know any of these before!
Great ideas – I just posted about the beach too yesterday 😉 You can tell we’ve had some rare good weather if we’re all thinking about the beach can’t you? x x
Brilliant tips! We have a beach 5 minutes walk away too and I have a bag with a blanket and all our buckets and spades hanging up ready to go. A pop up tent is on my list of things to buy asap so that the baby can stay protected, I need to get a good UV one
Some great tips! Would never have thought about the baby powder!
Great tips – I just wish we lived closer to the sea 😉
I have always lived by the seaside and never heard the baby powder trick – thank you x
Ooh I never knew baby powder removed wet sand, what a great tip x
I’ve only just heard about the talc one, can’t wait to try it out. Your tips are great, well worth noting down.
Thanks for the ideas, Jen. We are going on holiday soon and plan to spend a lot of time at the beach so this is really handy x
These are really useful, I can’t believe in all the times I have been to the beach I never heard about talc! What a fab tip, will try it next time I am beachside x
We are actually printing off your checklist!! So brill!! X
Wow some great hacks.
These are pure genius Jen, I’m booking marking this to read again. I love the valuables in a used nappy one! Mich x
Thanks for the beach hacks. They are really practical if you are planning to go to the beach with your twins. (my case).
Thanks, Jen! These beach hacks are genius! Very practical 🙂
Oh, so many good tips there, we are heading off to Greece in a couple of days and I am very grateful to you for putting this great list together, I will come back to it time and again!xx
This post is brilliant! I LOVE the beach – we go most days in the summer – but I hate the sand! I am so sharing this post! Kaz x
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