Comments on: Child’s beach bag can help contain beach toy clutter

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 03:24:41 +0000

I purchased a small red plastic mini-wagon from Target one day and now we put the buckets and shovels and such in that. My 4.5 yr old is responsible for pulling that wagon, while I carry a bag with our snacks and towels and my cheapo $10 beach chair. The wagon’s handle is the perfect height for him and it rolls on the sand and across the street, etc… Ideal!

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 04:34:11 +0000

“[Water noodles are] roughly five feet long and are unforgiving when it comes to storage and transportation.”

True, but they make awesome quarterstaves when you want to bop somebody on the head.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 21:27:16 +0000

Along with the One Bag of Toys rule, another trick my mother used to limit what I’d bring to the beach was the Put It Away Yourself When You Get Home rule. After lugging toys I didn’t play with, and then having to put them away immediately upon returning home, I lost interest in packing beach toys.

By: Kris

Kris — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 06:26:02 +0000

We learned this lesson the hard way many years ago. Now we go to the beach with fold up chairs for the adults, one towel per person (the smaller kids share ours with us) and one bucket. Shells make fabulous digging implements, as do empty cups. I also agree with the other poster about the kids carrying their own stuff. We actually were lucky this year. We vacation ocean front so only had to walk a few dozen yards to the water. There were days when my 5 year old and I just brought one towel, a drink for each of us, and one bucket. And stayed for hours.

By: Denise

Denise — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:53:59 +0000

I think this is a great idea!!! And not just for the beach!

By: Mary Jo Rulnick

Mary Jo Rulnick — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:56:47 +0000

Back packs/bookbags are great carryalls for the kids to use at the beach–better than beach bags. Back packs are easier to lug to and from the beach and leave the hands free. Buckets can be hooked onto the side of the bag. Additional toys (shovels, small cars and so forth), towels, tee shirts and such can be tucked into the bag itself. We like the backpacks that are made from parachute fabric–lighter and can stand up to multiple washings.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:03:48 +0000

The poster is absolutely spot-on. Our four year old carries her own toys to the beach. My wife and I carry the other kid (1yo) plus chairs and blankets and the bag o’ food’n'drink but she carries her own toys.

She’s already figured out that the more she puts in the basket while we’re at the house, then the harder it will be to carry when we’re at the beach. That’s an excellent lesson in cause/effect or delayed consequences, or whatever. It doesn’t matter because she gets it.

I disagree on the buckets. Three is just about the right number for a beach excursion. If you’ve got two kids you don’t need six. But they need one or two for bringing water from the ocean and another for sand. Just make sure the buckets all nest together.