Beach Day Trip with Kids: Stress-Free Tips & Must-Have Essentials for Family Fun

Ever thought about taking the kiddos on a day trip to the beach but got overwhelmed by the idea of getting everyone out the door? Trust me, I totally get it! With three kids 3-and-under, the idea of going anywhere can be pretty daunting. Even the idea of planning a whole week-long vacation seemed too much for us this year; however, there was no way I wasn’t going to get my beach fix. So, enter driving onto Delaware beaches with a surf fishing permit! You can definitely still use these tips & tricks to drive into and park at any beach town for the day and honestly, you could use these tips for any day trip with littles.

Here's my most important rule it took me a while to accept – don't sweat the naps! If you know me, you know I tend to be a bit of a dictator when it comes to the boys taking their naps. However, I had to release that control in order for all of us to enjoy these days. I’ve able to get to a place where if they snooze, that’s a bonus! Just mentally prepare yourself there will be no napping on this day, everyone will survive and have a great time, and you can get back on schedule tomorrow.

We base our beach day trips on the weather, so we have to be ready to roll at a moment's notice. To make life easier, we keep all of our beach stuff hanging in the mudroom. One bag full of beach toys. One bag full of towels, fans and sunscreen & bug spray. Our two trusty beach umbrellas and our beach chairs. We even take a portable potty along for the ride – it's a real lifesaver! We have one smaller cooler we pack with snacks and one bigger cooler we fill with ice for our lunches & drinks. Having everything hanging in one spot means we can pack the car in 15 minutes.

We hit the road as soon as we wake up - we don’t even bother to change the kids out of their pajamas. We warm up some breakfast for the car ride and get everyone loaded up. Leaving early in the morning is key – the kids are content for longer, and we get to the beach faster!

The two and a half hours on the road can be a bit of a rollercoaster with these littles, but we've figured out a pretty decent approach. We start the ride with them eating breakfast and waking up. After a while, when we feel the energy level rising, we turn on some tunes for us to sing along and dance. I also love to use invisible markers and water pen tablets during this time. Eventually we’ll play some car games (our favorite right now is I Spy). Hopefully this gets us to at least halfway where we make a pit stop for coffee and a bathroom break – gotta stretch those legs and let out some of that steam, you know? For the second half of the trip, we’ll usually put on a show we have saved on a device. I love this headrest holder so the kids don’t have control over the device.

Honestly, the toughest part of the whole day is when we get to the beach parking lot and we need to deflate the tires to drive on the sand. The kids can feel we’re close, they just want out of their car seats and the 5-10 minutes it takes to deflate the tires definitely tests their patience.

Once we're on the beach, it's game on! We set up our beach tents - yes, we bring two on purpose. I learned this lesson after the first trip. I bring one tent that has a bottom (this one is for the baby). The other tent doesn’t have a floor and it’s the one I tell the boys is their fort. Because there’s no floor, they’ll spend time out of the sun, digging in the sand. We put their towels in there for them to sit during lunchtime. And the best part is they stay out of the baby’s tent, cutting down on the amount of sand that ends up around Connor.

After the tents are up it’s time to bust out the shovels, buckets, bulldozers, dump trucks, and excavators for some serious digging action! The two things that keep the boys the busiest are jumping in the waves and anything that digs - hence all the construction toys. Once the boys are all set up, we finish unloading the rest of the truck - fans, towels, chairs, sunscreen, bug spray.

Lunchtime at the beach is a breeze. We keep it super simple with subs from the grocery store, along with fruit pouches, applesauce pouches, animal crackers, goldfish, and cheese sticks. And of course, we pack tons of water, seltzer waters, and juice boxes for the kiddos to stay hydrated.

We usually end up getting on the beach by 10:00 AM and play until about 4:00 PM – that's when we start to pack up. We let the kids keep playing with a toy or two while we pack - it usually takes us about 20 minutes to get everything back in the truck. Once everything has been loaded, we change the kids out of their wet clothes and into comfortable dry clothes for dinner.

Now, here's another tip – we pick a dinner spot within 10-15 minutes from the beach. This is super important so the kids don't doze off before we eat. Personally, our favorite spot is Crooked Hammock at Cape Henlopen – the kids get some extra playtime while we wait for our food.

After dinner, we change the kids into their pajamas for the car ride home. Usually, within 15-20 minutes of driving, they're all snoozing away. This lets us drive straight through, and we're usually back home by 8:30 PM. Each of us grabs of one of the bigger boys and they go right from their car seats into bed – easy peasy!

Unpacking is a breeze too. We empty the coolers, put away the drinks and snacks, toss the used towels and clothes in the washer, and hang the bags up for next time. Voila!

So, what's holding you back from a day trip to the beach? It's all about keeping it fun, being prepared, and going with the flow. Beach adventures with the fam can be a blast, so give it a shot and make some awesome memories together!