Is Your Student Going to the Beach for Spring Break? Help Them Prepare

If your student is a freshman or sophomore in college, they may be taking their first friends-only/no parents Spring Break trip to the beach. When mom and dad have loaded up the car for them for years, will your students know what to take with them?

There are lots of things they may not think about – they’re just thinking swimsuits and beach shoes and sunglasses. At the very least, you can remind them about things like sunscreen and beach towels, as much as they don’t think they need the reminders.

Some things to remind them about:

• Beach towels

• LOTS of sunscreen

• Aloe vera gel for the inevitable sunburn

• Sun hats to shield their faces

• Back-up sunglasses in case they lose their first pair

• Water toys, like floats, water guns, and a foam football

• Jacket or sweater in case it gets cold on the beach in the evenings

• Beach bag

• Refillable water bottle to stay hydrated

• Books or a Kindle to relax on the beach

• Portable charger to keep their phones working all day

Because I have a care package company, I have an easy excuse to send some of these items for my daughters and their friends to take to the beach with them. (Remember, I have girls – they’re not only open to taking a lot more but will actually do it. Guys? Not so much…)

I’ll be sending, specifically:

• Several spray bottles of sunscreen, face sticks, and aloe vera

• Turkish Beach towels – lightweight, large towels that can easily fit in a beach bag

• A mesh beach bag

• Water toys, like blow-up floats, beach balls, water sprayers and a SkipBall game

• A bubble-blower

• A foam football to throw on the beach

• Silly temporary tattoos in a meaningful theme (Owls for the group of Chi Omegas; Taylor Swift for the Swifties)

• A big bunch of secure hair ties to pull their hair back on the beach

• Some Liquid IV, in case they’re feeling dehydrated on the beach and need a little pick me up.

Some other ideas are a packable beach hat, koozies and an extra pair of cheap sunglasses that they can wear in the waves without the fear of their expensive sunglasses getting lost. I also plan to Venmo some cash for them to make a grocery run to get snacks, sandwich fix-ins, drinks, and maybe go out to a nice dinner together.

For me, even though I won’t be at the beach with them, helping them prepare helps me feel a bit more involved. Plus, they are also still learning about how to “adult.” It’s my way of helping them learn to make decisions and prepare for activities and events. They’ll certainly forget things and make mistakes – that’s part of their learning process. But hopefully, I can help them with the process, at least a little bit.