What to Actually Pack for a Day at the Seaside
If you childmind, you already know that a day at the beach with little ones is never a case of grabbing a bag and heading out the door. It is a full operation. After years of dragging children, buckets, snacks, towels and roughly half the contents of my house down to the seaside, I have worked out exactly what earns its place in the beach bag and what I never leave home without. So if you are planning a seaside day with your minded children this summer, here is the list I swear by, learned the slow and sandy way.
Let me start with the things everyone remembers, because it helps to see them all in one place before you load the car.
- Buckets and spades
- Food, and then a bit more food
- Water, far more than feels sensible
- Towels and sun hats
- Suntan lotion, reapplied more often than you think you need to
- Mats or blankets to sit on
- Some kind of shade, the wraparound sort or a little sun tent
- Coats, because it is England and you genuinely never know
- A full spare set of clothes for every child, and then one more set on top
- The pushchair
Then come the things nobody tells you about, the ones that quietly save the whole day.
- A big bottle of water, frozen overnight and wrapped in tinfoil. It keeps the picnic cold on the way there and gives everyone icy cold drinks for the journey home. Honestly it is the best thing in the whole car.
- Talcum powder. Sprinkle it over sandy skin and the sand falls straight off. Nothing else comes close, and it makes getting shoes and socks back on at the end of the day so much calmer.
- A potty, even for the children who are mostly out of nappies. Trust me on this one. The beach toilets are always a very long walk away when a small person suddenly cannot wait.
- Wet wipes, and then more wet wipes.
- A mini paddling pool for the little ones who do not fancy the walk down to the sea. They can splash happily right beside you.
- A blow up beach ball, purely for the joy of it.
The real thing I have learned about beach days, after more of them than I can count, is that you very rarely regret taking something with you. You only ever regret leaving it behind. So pack the extra set of clothes, throw in the talc, freeze the water the night before, and give yourself the kind of seaside day where the only surprises are the good ones.
If this was useful and you want more honest, practical bits like it, made by a childminder for childminders, come and have a look around. There is a whole magazine full of it.
About Claire
I’m an Ofsted-registered childminder and the founder of Not Just a Childminder. I create practical resources, magazines and training to make childminding simpler, calmer and more enjoyable.