I don’t know about your family, but when school’s out for summer, my boys and I LIVE at the subdivision pool. The kids wake up in the morning, shovel breakfast in their mouths and then it’s constantly like, “Mom is the pool open yet? Mom, can we walk to the pool yet? Mom…” They sound like a broken record until I’ve got the wagon loaded and we are rollin’ out the driveway.
Since my wild animals kiddos live at the pool from Memorial Day to Labor Day, I kinda feel like I have my pool bag packing skills down to an art. Wanna know what’s in my pool bag? Have no fear; I’m here with all of the essentials…
1. Sunscreen is a MUST!
My kids have inherited ridiculously sensitive skin from their Mama so we have to tread carefully in the sunscreen department. This year we have been using Blue Lizard sunscreen on the kids and their skin seems to tolerate it well. It’s easy to rub in and it protects my fair-skinned babies. I have been loving Rodan and Fields’ mineral sunscreen on my face before hitting the pool. Mamas: PLEASE PUT SUNSCREEN ON YOURSELF. Skin cancer is a very REAL THING and it can happen to YOU! Don’t forget to take a few seconds to protect yourself, just like you do your kids. You matter!
2. Towels. But not just any towels…HOODED towels are where it’s at.
Toss these bad boys over the kids’ heads and you don’t have to worry about them screaming and crying that their towel is falling off. We have a minion towel and a Mickey towel that are both hooded. Totally worth the investment! The minion came from Target and Mickey came from the Disney Store online.
3. HATS!
Bring a hat for yourself and bring them for the kiddos too! Last season I scored this adorable fedora on clearance at the J.Crew outlet and it has been my go-to hat for any outdoor excursion we take. Costco has some wonderful waterproof hats for the kiddos right now that are under $10!
4. Sunglasses!
Because, well…squinting accentuates your eye wrinkles and nobody’s got time for more wrinkles girlfriend. Slap on the shades.
5. A good book.
I’m in the stage of life where I fantasize about reading at the pool, but it just doesn’t happen with small kids. You better believe I still throw a book in my bag, “just in case.”
6. Swim Cover Up.
Costco had the BEST O’Neil brand cover ups last year. Lightweight, cute and totally covers ALL ‘dem goodies so when you’re bending over to serve snacks to the kiddos, you aren’t flashing the teenage lifeguard all your lady bits.
7. Water bottles!
I consume A LOT of water and try to encourage my kids to drink water as much as possible. Did you know that the daily recommended dosage of water is half of your body weight in ounces of water? AND we should drink MORE water than this recommended dosage if we are sweating, working out or drinking caffeine or alcohol!
8. Snacks!
Sometimes we pack a lunch and sometimes we just bring snacks. My boys work up an appetite when they have been playing in the water. Some of our favorite healthy snacks, that are easy to grab on the way out the door (or to just keep in the pool bag), are: Jerky, fruit cups, apple sauce packets, coconut chips, nuts, trail mix or pretzels.
9. Water balloons and squirt bottles are my two new favorite things this year!
These water balloons connect to the hose and you can fill around 100 balloons in 60 seconds…I’m not kidding. I want to kiss the person who invented these things. They are super fun to play with at the pool and easy to clean up. The spray bottle can serve two purposes: Mommy can use it to cool herself off and the kiddos can use it in lieu of a water gun.
10. You won’t see this Mama lugging giant inflatables to the pool this season, but you will see squirt guns, dive toys and water cannons.
These are some of my kids’ favorites and usually other kiddos at the pool come over and play with them too. The B. Symphony brand has some great dive toys that come with a cute little net.
, to snacks, towels, pool toys, and so much more, these suggestions are awesome! So, enjoy the pool this summer, knowing you came prepared!){kind=link}
Our pool bags are packed pretty much the same! I love the Knox Moms Blog pool bag too. Very cute!