Favorite picks for the beach and pool

The pool opens and swimming lessons begin next week for my kiddos. I’m busy packing the bags and double checking our beach and pool gear! Here’s my favorite picks for the beach and pool with kids!

Sun protection three ways!

Starting with the most important – UV Protective Clothing! Since one in five American get diagnosed with skin cancer at some point in their life, we definitely want to make sure we protect our skin from the damaging rays of the sun. Because it’s easy, fast, and provides generous coverage, we love sun protective clothing for the kids, and ourselves. Our favorite brand for years has been UVSkinz. I’ve written about this brand many times and how their clothing gives you natural sun protection.

UVSkinz clothing gives UPF 50+ sun protection and blocks over 98% of the sun’s harmful UVA and UVB rays. UVSkinz offers men’s, women’s and children’s clothing and swimwear. All the colors and prints are summery and exciting to wear. My favorite is this beach dress that you can wear all day, anywhere! The kids have fun in their swim suit sets complete with hats. Children’s swimwear retails between $26.95-29.95. 

Safe Sunscreens are the next line of defense – well, actually, clothing and screens should go hand in hand. You can’t completely cover your skin with clothing. Face, neck, hands, feet at the least are always exposed. Look for safe sunscreens that are non-nano particle (can’t breath in the particulates), contain no oxybenzones, and no parabens. At minimum, use 30-50+ UVA/UVB protection.

Finally, use a sun shelter. Whether you set up an umbrella, park your chair in some shade or have a beach tent, just don’t be in full sun for the majority of the day. Sometimes being in the sun is unavoidable, and for the littlest ones joining you at the beach, I love the PeaPod by Kidco. The PeaPod is a mini pop up baby tent that gets anchored to the ground with stakes just like a regular tent. It has breathable mesh for airflow and UV Protection on the top and sides. Perfect for letting baby enjoy the day but stay safely away from the water, sun, and stay in one spot. Plus, much more lightweight than toting the playard along! Retails for $79.99.

Having fun at the beach

Every kid loves to bring their beach toys along, right? Of course, the beach provides it’s own fun, but kids love to dig and build with sand toys. Melissa and Doug makes an amazing line of beach and pool toys for kids. The boys took their beach totes on our Florida trip and filled them with all kinds of games for the trip. Now, we’ll be packing sand toys and other gear for the pool and beach. These nifty totes feature sea creature designs like Clicker Crab and Flex Octopus. They have mesh sides to let loose sand fall out. Plus, four outside pockets for little gear like water bottles, sunglasses, or a snack. Retails for $14.99.

And Melissa and Doug sand toys are just as cute! They make a line of sand baking sets: Sand Baking, Sand Cupcakes, Sand Cookies, and Sand Ice Cream Cones! Adorable fun! My boys used kinetic sand the other day to scoop out ice cream with their Speck Seahorse scoopers to create swirly cones for each other. It’s such a creative way to incorporate life skills and fun times at the beach or sandbox! Find the sand baking sets here, starting at $14.99. 

I can’t resist a good book at the beach. Can you!? Well, now babies can enjoy a good read with Indestructibles – 100% washable, chew proof, non toxic, and rip proof! Their latest title is, appropriately, Beach Baby! This picture book sweetly recounts a baby’s day at the beach. When it gets dirty, just wash it off! Just $5.95 from Workman Publishing.

So there you have my favorite picks for the beach or pool. Keeping it simple – a little sun protection, some cute totes, and a few creative sand toys for exciting summer memories!

What’s your favorite thing to bring to the beach or pool!?

Products were sent to facilitate this post. All opinions are my own.