Beach Tips

Beach Tips
A successful beach day involves good planning and timing. Thanks to many friends for suggestions during our quest. Before you go, check the tide schedule. Some of our area beaches have little or no beach area at high tide. Consider parking and how crowded the beach will be in choosing a location. Invite friends!

Our beach packing list includes:
1. Foldable blanket or chairs (for sitting) ^
2. Towels (for drying off and brushing sand off)
3. Plastic bags (for trash and for wet stuff) and quart sized ziplocs (for things like phones)*
4. Easy to eat snacks (plus small cups or bowls for sharing)
5. Water bottles with closing lids
6. Wipes*
7. Sand toys^
8. Wagon to haul it all
9. Gallon of water (see sand removal below)
10. Umbrella
11. Sunblock
12. Baby Oil (see below) *
*Stays in our beach bag always
^Stays in our car (along with a Bjorn potty at the moment)

Tips for sand removal  
1. Gallon of water: Leave a full gallon of water in your car when you arrive at the beach. It warms up in the car. When you are finished at the beach, rub sandy bodies with a towel and then pour the warm water to get most of the sand.
2. Baby powder: Dump baby powder on the sandy bodies and rub to get rid of the sand. This isn't my favorite. It is messy and takes a lot of baby powder. Friends also use corn starch or arrowroot starch which is a similar method.
3. Hudson sprayer: Using a Hudson Sprayer is quick and effective according to one friend. She simply keeps it in her car all summer, refilling as necessary. We have been trying to minimize stuff, so we use a simple option (1).

Tips for Tar removal: 
1. Baby oil: Rub the baby oil with a cloth on the tar. It still takes elbow grease to get it off.
2. Citrus oils, coconut oil, olive oil (really most any oil works with the method above)
3. Avon Skin So Soft 

(We favor #1 on each of these removal lists.)

Other #MomLife Posts:
Road Tripping with Kids
Beach Tips with Kids
Hiking List with Kids
Travel Packing Lists