Welcome to #BareFeetontheBeach week here at Bare Feet on the Dashboard. Our family has traveled to the Florida panhandle for a family beach vacation almost every year since I was a toddler. After more than three decades of beaching it, we have it down to a science. Today I’m sharing our best beach tips for your family beach vacation. A family beach vacation can be pure magic if you take the time to plan ahead and be prepared. Read on to find out how we do it and get ready for a great beach trip.
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20 of the Best Beach Activities for Kids and Families #BareFeetontheBeach
Welcome to the #BareFeetontheBeach series here on Bare Feet on the Dashboard. We’ve been taking family beach vacations for over 30 years (since I was a toddler) and are now taking the third generation on beach trips. I’ve compiled a list of 20 of the best beach activities for kids and families for your vacation or staycation this year (some are perfect to do at home). Read more below and don’t forget to pin this post to find it later.
Easy Firework Finger Painting for Toddlers and Preschool Kids
Finger painting with toddlers and little kids may sound like a total disaster waiting to happen, but I promise it can be fun and painless. All you need is construction paper and washable paint. For this project, I offered the kids a red, white, and blue palette and asked them to create fireworks. Pearl girl obviously had no idea what I was talking about, but Bear knows what they are and went for it immediately. You can read more about stress free finger painting with toddlers here, and read on to learn how we made this project flow with minimal chaos and only a minor mess. 🙂
This was the Pearl Girl’s first foray in to finger painting, and she did well for about 10 minutes. I feel pretty great about that for a 14 month old. She really liked the feel of the paint on her fingers and patting it down on the paper. I set out four color options on a disposible paper plate. Only put out as much paint as you think they’ll need for one painting at a time. I gave each child a piece of paper and had Bear show PG how to do it. I guided her first few strokes and then she got the hang of it quickly. The Bear will paint happily for about 20 minutes now at age 3.
Let go of any image of Pinterest perfection and let your kids have a blast being creative. We’ve been reading a book about Franklin the Turtle being an artist, so the Bear believes he is one. I think every kid does until someone tells them different. Artistic expression is important for development and doesn’t have to be difficult for parents and caregivers to execute.
Clean up is so easy during the summer. I turn on the hose and let the kids splash the paint away, then turn the hose on our mini picnic table to wash it down. Leave the paintings out to dry and head in for a snack. You can find one of the ways we preserve kid art at no cost here. Happy Independence Day America!
Our Absolute Favorite Baby Products for the First Year of Life
After two babies we’re up to our elbows in baby gear at the Eby house. We tried so many great products (and a few that we didn’t love). Today I’m sharing my absolute favorite products for baby’s first year strictly based on what worked best for us. These may not end up being your favorites, but they were ours’ and we highly recommend them. Jed will chime in and share his thoughts on a few items as well. This post is not sponsored in any way, and all opinions are our own. It does contain affiliate links, and purchasing through those links costs you nothing but helps support the Bare Feet on the Dashboard blog and family. Our favorite cloth diaper products are not on this list, but you can read more about those here. You can read our ideas on saving money with a baby here.
All I’ve Learned About Cloth Diapers {After Three Years}
After almost three years using cloth diapers on two children, I’ve learned a lot. We’ve tried 14 different kinds of cloth diapers and found our very favorites. You can read my post about what I learned the first two years here, and my great cloth diaper trials here. Read about our cloth laundry routine here. Our cloth diaper preferences and routines have evolved as we’ve adjusted to two kids, potty trained the Bear, and moved in to a new house. Today I’m sharing our favorite diapers, our simple laundry process, and my favorite things about cloth diapers.
Frugal Living: Our Top Five Tips for Saving Money with a Baby
We live debt free on a tight budget and don’t do debt or credit cards (thanks to Dave Ramsey‘s Total Money Makeover). When each of our two children came along, we knew there would be added expenses but did our best to minimize them. Jed and talked through our favorite frugal tips for saving money with a baby to share with you today. You could easily spend a fortune on baby gear and clothes, but you don’t have to. Having a baby will completely change your life, but it doesn’t have to break the bank. We are not experts, just a family thriving on one teacher income and living life to the full without spending a ton.
Simple Ways to Bring Jesus in to Your Marriage
Marriage is the best, hardest, most challenging, and most fulfilling life relationship. My husband is an amazing man and his love is a blessing to me every day of my life. We’ve been married six years, so we are still total beginners in the grand scheme of things, but we’ve picked up a few habits that help keep our faith in Jesus in the center of our marriage that I’ll share with you today. Much like my post about Simple Ways to Bring Jesus in to Your Child’s Daily Routine, I’m not coming to you from a place of having anything figured out. I write this more as a fellow traveler on this journey of marriage who wants to share and encourage and protect marriages. Everyone wants their marriage to succeed, and I think that best happens when both partners are on the same page about faith, money, and family goals.
Create a Discovery Garden for Your Kids to Explore
My kids love to explore and play in our yard. We’ve been hard at work on our massive yard project trying to get our yard to look better and be more functional. On a whim I decided to dedicate a space for the kids so they could dig in the dirt and play without destroying any of our new plants. This little discovery garden has become one of our favorite daily play spots and it cost nothing to create and took about ten minutes. Â Both kids love it and it gives them a sweet little place all their own that has become a home for all the treasures they find as well as the perfect spot for imaginative play.
Kid Art: Make and Paint Baking Soda Dough Easter Egg Ornaments
Recently we experimented with making dough from baking soda and corn starch, and ended up with a ton left over after we created hand print ornaments. I Â thought it would be fun to create a few Easter egg ornaments with the Bear and let him paint them. The boy loves a good project, and every time we get the paint out he gets so excited. This ended up being a really fun craft to do with him and would work for kids ages 2 and up. I’ll share the details of our process along with a few things we learned and would do differently next time.
Simple Ways to Bring Jesus in to Your Child’s Daily Routine
One of the most important roles we play as parents is as the spiritual guide for our children. Â We’ve found a few simple ways to bring our faith in Jesus in to our children’s lives that I’m sharing with y’all today. Â We are far from having it all figured out and are still learning so much about every aspect of parenting. For our children to know Jesus at a young age and grow up with a strong faith is our constant prayer and highest goal. Â If you are of a similar mindset, here are a few simple ways to bring Jesus in to your child’s daily routine.