On a beach holiday, a day on the sand with the kids should be as simple as it sounds. However, as so many parents know all too well, it’s often not. Juggling sun cream applications, sandy lunchboxes and keeping them entertained seems an impossible task that leaves you exhausted and wanting to leap back in the car and head for home. However, with these tried and tested tips, you might just survive a day at the beach – who knows, you may even enjoy it! Gather Your Equipment The key to a successful family beach holiday is preparation. If you get together a few handy bits and bobs before you leave, the day will at least begin smoothly. A small pop up tent is worth investing in, both to shield your little ones from the sun and to provide some entertainment. Whether they want to take a midday nap or pretend they’re in a secret den, you won’t regret bringing along one of these cheap, foldaway bits of kit. However, if you don’t fancy buying anything new, there are plenty of useful things you’ll find lying around the house. An old duvet cover is a perfect alternative to beach towels –big enough to fit all the kids on, but easy to stuff into the car. Other lifesavers worth a mention are plastic bags, which will no doubt come in handy for dripping swimming costumes and sandy toys. Get There Early Arriving before noon not only means you’ll beat most of the traffic, but you’ll be able to pick a great spot on what will inevitably become a very overcrowded beach. A good choice to set up camp is near the lifeguard, as it’ll make an easy-to-find meeting point for kids in case you lose sight of them. Another benefit to getting there early is that the brood can get a good few hours of playing in before the sun is at its strongest, which means you can avoid the risk of sunburn for your little ones. Keep Them Entertained There’s only so much sandcastle building and paddling a child can take before the whines of ‘I’m boreeeed’ come into play, which is why it’s handy to have a few beach-ready tricks up your sleeve. A fun idea – which you can watch over from the comfort of your deckchair – is to create a beachy treasure hunt, where the kids have to find items you’ve hidden in the sand: a spade, a shiny seashell, a plastic fish, etc. Just remember to keep them covered up with t-shirts, hats and plenty of sun cream whilst they’re playing. Time for Lunch Lunch at the beach can be a military operation when you’re there with kids. Avoid the uproar over warm, soggy sandwiches by packing foodstuffs into separate containers, so that if one falls foul to a bucket of seawater, the rest will be fine. Snacks like carrot sticks and grapes are fun and easy to chomp away at, as well as little treats like mini bags of crisps. An excellent tip is to freeze bottles of water and yoghurt pouches before you go, which get rid of the need for heavy ice packs. Just place them inside your cooler bag and you’re good to go! How to Get There Travelling with young children is stressful enough without having to hail a taxi in another language when you arrive, tired and grouchy, at the airport. With drivers in countless European holiday destinations, Shuttle Direct are at the top of the airport transfer game. You can book a private or shared vehicle if you want to start your beach holiday in style, or take one of their reliable shuttle buses if you’d like to save some of your pennies for ice creams. Lukas Johannes is a driver for Shuttle Direct, the number one provider of shared and private airport transfers all over Europe and northern Africa. If you’re heading off on a fun filled family beach holiday Lukas and his colleagues can make sure that you and your luggage get to and from the airport swiftly and safely.
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