I grew up in southern California just a couple miles from the beach and we also had a pool nearly my entire childhood. So spending long afternoons running along the shore or swimming in the water was pretty normal for three quarters of the year. My family might live pretty far away from the ocean now, but I love that we live in a lake community and have easy access to great beaches right here, as well as a neighborhood pool. With little ones a great beach blanket is a must so today I’m sharing a DIY beach blanket that you can easily make from two beach towels! This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. This post is sponsored by Huggies Little Swimmers. All opinions are completely my own. Links contain affiliates.
With four kids age six and under, two of which are still in swimpants, you can imagine that there are quite a lot of things that I need to bring to the water with us to ensure a good time is had by all:
snacks and water
This is number one because my kids always get hungry and thirsty while building sandcastles and splashing around. I like to bring snacks like grapes that won’t get soggy with wet hands reaching for them. Water is important too because I have those kids that will drink the lake water once they get thirsty… yeah, that’s never good.
sunscreen
Even if you apply sunscreen before you leave the house you should bring some to reapply. According to the CDC you should actually be reapplying every 30 minutes! As a good rule of thumb, I just always keep a small tube in my purse year-round.
extra swimpants and wipes
Nothing is worse than getting all the kids to the water to then realize that you are in need of some extra swimpants… but you forgot them. For worry-free water fun in the sun, look for Huggies Little Swimmers with new Disney•Pixar Finding Dory characters at a retailer near you. I like to make sure to bring an extra one or two for each of my kiddos, just to be safe. Huggies Little Swimmers have these great easy open sides that make changing diapers pool side or at the beach super simple. Their absorbent material doesn’t swell in water, which helps keep my babies happy! We also always bring Huggies Natural Care Wipes with us, which are so handy to have!
sand toys
The first thing my kids like to ask for when we get to the beach is the sand toys. On the rare occasion that I forget them at home they are always quick to express their displeasure with me. They always end up playing for longer and being much happier when they have toys to play with. Plus it’s a great way for them to make new friends at the beach!
life vests
Whatever open body of water you might be taking your little ones to this is not the time for your children to practice their swimming skills. In addition to being vigilant, make sure that any of your children that might need extra help have a life vest or swimming floaties of some kind. Save the swimming practice for a pool where you can control the environment better, and hopefully there’s a lifeguard nearby.
towels and beach blanket
Towels are necessary for drying off of course, but as a mom patrolling the waters with my eagle eye I also like to have a nice place to sit. I prefer a beach blanket to sit on rather than a bulky beach chair. It makes for a great place for changing babies if need be! I used to bring a blanket, but it wasn’t very beach friendly. Finally I realized that what I really needed was a large, thick towel-like blanket. I couldn’t find one so I decided to make my own DIY beach blanket! It’s super simple and if you can sew a straight line, you can make one too.
make your own DIY beach blanket
To make your own towel beach blanket, all you need are two large towels that are the same size. You’ll also need some thread and a sewing machine. You could also buy some batting to layer in, but I opted to leave it out because it would have taken so long to dry.
- Lay the towels out flat on top of one another, front sides together. You’ll be stitching a seam around the sides, then flipping right side out—just a heads up. I would suggest that you pin the towels together—I did not. It turned out fine in the end but it meant more tugging and straightening out as I was going along.
- Sewing a straight line, stitch up 3 1/2 sides with a 5/8″ seam. Basically, start about a quarter of the way on one of the short sides, continue around the other three sides, and be sure to leave a large enough opening on the last side (or rather, the side you started with) that you will be able to turn the towel right side out.
- Once your towel is right side out, either hand stitch or machine stitch the opening shut. As a finishing touch I also ran another straight seam all the way around about four inches in. That way when I wash the towel it will stay in place.
And that’s it! Just a bunch of straight seams so this DIY beach blanket is pretty simple to make. If you want to be an over-achiever you can also sew in some ribbon tabs to attach little baby toys or even your keys.
It’s the perfect DIY beach blanket for our lake days (so, pretty much every day in the summer). It’s nice and thick but still absorbent since it’s just made from towels!
22 Responses to water fun must-haves & diy beach blanket
Love it! Looks like you had a blast at the beach, and that blanket is fantastic!! 😀
Sunscreen is so important! I read that you’re supposed to reapply every 2 hours, which most people don’t do.
Alyssa @ Feathers and Stripes
This is so cute! I love the blanket you made 🙂
Great idea for a blanket! Swim diapers are also a must for our family because the twins are still not potty trained. We always use Huggies. They are the only wipes I use too.
Sunscreen is so important!!
What a fun day! I love the blanket idea, it seems like this would help keep some of the sand/dirt off alot better than just thin beach towels do!
Those little swimmers are definitely a must-have that many new parents underestimate. There have been countless trips to the lake or beach where I have seen children in regular diapers that are sagging from being saturated in water. Those little swimmers were a blessing to have when my kids were learning how to potty train during the summer. Loved them!
Great list and I love the idea of a beach blanket using towels! So glad you had Huggies Little Swimmers on hand, makes water fun much easier! #client
Aw your family is so cute. Thank you so much for sharing!
XO Amanda | http://www.glitterandspice.com
What a great list. I wish all of these things were available when our kids were young.
The stuff they have nowadays make life so much easier, lol. 🙂
Thanks for sharing the beach blanket tutorial — that is a great idea! I need to find some toys for my daughter (16 mo) when we go to the water park, because all she wants to do if run around constantly 🙂
Yeah, that makes life a lot more exhausting, doesn’t it? We spend so long wishing our kids would walk, then forever wishing they would stop running.
OMG such cuties! I love the DIY beach blanket, they’re so fun to have and making your own and having tons is the best!
Thanks for your sweet comment Adriana!
I love it all!!!!!!! You did a great job!
Thank you so much Brittany!
Baby powder or cornstarch to remove sand. Sprinkle it on sandy little people then dust it off and the sand comes off too. Alternatively, sprinkle it on a dry cloth and use that to wipe the sand off.
Yes, I’ve heard of this trick but haven’t tried it yet! Thanks Teresa!
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