Free Printable Beach Bag Packing List

You’re totally going to dig this sponsored conversation which includes a free printable beach bag packing list and tips for organizing yourself for your trip to the beach or the pool, pinky swear!  This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Huggies, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #HuggiesSwimmers  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.

I’m a happier person when I’m organized, and in my dreams everything in my house has a place, and a place for everything.  Except when it comes to reality, and I have a 3-year-old playing peek-a-boo in my folded laundry and a husband who for the life of him (bless his heart) launches a search for his keys each morning before work.  To stay sane, I’ve adopted several tricks for organizing our beach and pool tote bags– including consulting a packing list each time we get ready to go (the free printable version of which is available below).  That way before we head out to the pool or beach I do a quick check… because there’s nothing worse than being stuck on an island without, say, SWIM DIAPERS.  Or a non-pink beach hat, poor kid.

Both of which totally just happened to me.  Trying to pack every single item we needed for two weeks at the beach in the midst of an end-of-school-year whirlwind of special events and teacher gifts and birthday parties to plan, I tried to remain calm.  I repeated the mantra: “If I forget something, I can buy it there.  I can buy it there.  I can buy it there.  I can buy it there.”  Totally chill of me, right?  Until we actually go there, and THE ONLY THING WE NEEDED WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND IN A 50 MILE RADIUS OF OUR BEACH HOUSE.  What was this ‘thing’?  Huggies Little Swimmers swim diapers for Bee.  He couldn’t use the pool or go in the water at the beach without our favorite brand of swim diapers.  Which we didn’t have.  Oh, noooooooooooo.

BFF to the rescue, however.  She was joining us at the beach for a few days, and I frantically texted begging for swim diapers.  She’s a mom too, and knows that Huggies Little Swimmers Swim Diapers are the very best brand– easy to put on, cute colors and designs, comfortable for the kids, and easy to take off a wriggly soaking wet kiddo.  The very next day, she came to our rescue with two packs of them and our sweet boy could finally hit the pool!  If only I’d known about this $1.50 off coupon for Little Swimmers at Target… but don’t worry, I have it in my hand now and used it today to buy more since we go through them like hotcakes.

Click Here ——–> Huggies Little Swimmers Target coupon

Now you won’t be stuck without swim diapers or sunscreen or towels (yup, that happened one time too) again.  Click here for a printable beach and pool bag packing list.  You can save it to your computer or print it from that screen using your computer’s ‘file’ menu.  Once printed, you can even laminate it to use with wipe-off markers if you feel the need to physically check off each item (hey, I feel you– those tiny stars are begging to be checked off).  I now keep our list on top of our bag, and our bag in the same spot in our house, to making heading to the pool a breeze.  No more mental lists as I attempt to wrangle two kiddos, my actually list makes sure we don’t get to the pool lacking sunscreen or, heaven forbid, GOGGLES.

I totally just typed Googles by mistake.  Oh how the world has changed!

Plus, here’s my top tips and tricks for organizing all those items– which I admittedly stole by watching my super-organized BFF– so you can spend less time looking for things or wiping up spilled sunscreen and more time playing in the water:

Tip #1: Keep sunscreen and snacks in large ziplock bags.  Not only does it make it super easy to find in your bag, but it’ll contain any spills and crumbs– huge lifesaver!

Tip#2:  Have a wet bag to hold dripping bathing suits and such so that all the wet items stay together and can quickly be dropped into the laundry when you get home– they sell them on Etsy, and I’m sure many other places as well.  I also throw in an extra plastic bag to collect shells and driftwood so I don’t get everything else sandy.

Tip #3:  Wondering why baby powder is on the list?  It’s a magic trick, actually.  If your kids have sandy hands, make sure they are dry and then sprinkle with baby powder.  The sand magically dusts right off!  Of course, you’ll end up with a little baby powder residue but that’s way better than crunching into a sandy sandwich.  We also use this trick when we head back to the car to lessen the amount of sand we track inside.

Tip #4:  Packing a change of clothing for your kids in large baggies (one per child) keeps everything together and free of water and sand.  It feels great to change into dry clothes after a day of swimming, and having the outfits prepacked means you won’t forget that pair of undies or necessary diaper.

Tip #5:  Don’t forget to bring along a few spare Little Swimmers if your child isn’t potty trained.  They can’t use pools without swim diapers, so if they ‘go’ in the one they are wearing you’ll need a spare.

Tip #6:  Label toys, goggles, and kickboards with your name.  If you’re at a busy pool they tend to get mixed up with other toys, and no one wants to leave without a favorite plaything.  Also, one pair of pink goggles looks like the next so you’ll be thankful for labels should the question arise of who’s goggles are whose.  {try saying that five times fast!}

Tip #7:  A key fob attached to your bag means no lost keys in the sand or digging through a mountain of stuff to find your car keys when it’s time to go home.  Because neither of those scenarios are very fun.

Your beach packing list is printed.  Your bag is packed.  It’s time for some summer fun!  Go get ’em, tiger.  Just don’t forget the swim diapers.  😉

There you have it– my complete {free printable} list of what to pack for the pool or beach.  What do you pack that I’m forgetting?  Any helpful tips for keeping organized and sane when it comes to making sure you have everything you need for the beach or pool?