Because of my [undiagnosed] ADHD I am constantly forgetting items when we leave the house… unless it lives in a grab-and-go bag.
The items that I keep in my purse (read: diaper bag) are always the same so I never forget anything vital. However, whenever we go to a specific type of environment or activity (pool, playground, dance class, etc.) I keep a designated bag ready to go with everything we need so that nothing is forgotten!
With warm weather starting to emerge here in the Pacific Northwest, I figured I’d share what lives in each of our bags to make getting out the door that much easier!
“DIAPER” BAG
I’ve written before about what I keep in my baby diaper bag and as the girls have grown we need to pack fewer and slightly different things. The one thing that stayed the same? My tote organizer. It makes finding whatever you need so much easier — I can’t recommend it more! I’ll continue to use one for my things long after my little girls have grown up.
The reason why I am sharing this item, since it’s not seasonal / activity specific, is because I move it between bags so that we always have our “essentials”. It removes a lot of the thought and effort from the ordeal of leaving the house and, as a neurodivergent person, that’s invaluable to me.
—
PLAYGROUND BAG
You can find the shopping shortcut for everything in our park bag here!
Washable, sandproof and waterproof tote bag to store everything. I liked this one because it was a little reminiscent of this luxury bag (not identical, of course). I also love that it has both short & long handles, an exterior pocket, and zipper closure!
A Turkish towel comes in so handy for wiping off playground equipment when they’re still covered in dew / last night’s rain, or sprinkler water. These towels are thin so they’re ultra packable, but still super absorbent. They can also double as a blanket to sit on the grass!
A wet bag in case of spills or otherwise soiled items.
Sunscreen is a non-negotiable item; we can’t play outside if we don’t have it. I love this sunscreen stick for applying to wiggly toddler and kiddo faces, and this sunscreen mist for everywhere else; they’re also excellent for reapplications!
I find it to be helpful to keep a first aid kit handy, along with antiseptic foam to clean boo-boo’s on the go.
As far as insect pests go, we never regret carrying mosquito repellent and sting kill products in our bag.
We try to allow our girls the fun of being creative and using their imaginations while at the playground, but sometimes having play items such as sidewalk chalk or bubbles is a fun way to enhance the play experience (and to share with other park friends)!
—
POOL BAG
This is another “go bag” I have shared the contents of in a previous blog post, but that was specifically related to being ready to go to Sophie’s swim lessons. Today, I’m sharing what we pack for our whole family to go to the pool.
You can find the shopping shortcut for everything in our family pool bag here!
Our beloved large mesh tote is HUGE and fits four of our [rolled] beach towels inside with a little more room for other necessary items. It also has MULTIPLE exterior pockets so it holds a surprising amount of items.
We like these beach towels that aren’t too thin or too thick (read: bulky), they’re absorbent and I love the resort style stripes!
To contain drippy, soaked swimsuits I like to throw them into a wet bag which both contains the moisture and makes it easy to get all of the swimsuits into the washing machine when we return home.
As I mentioned above in our Playground Bag list, sunscreen is a non-negotiable. The solid stick makes application on the face sooo much easier, especially with wiggly toddlers and kiddos. We like Supergoop!’s Unseen Sunscreen best because the formula isn’t sticky and it does a good job of protecting our skin from harmful UV rays. You really can’t go wrong with brand / formula — just as long as you are using sunscreen!
We started out using these little kid goggles for our toddler, but as she grew we needed another design that would fit her face better. We discovered these goggles and they’ve been a HUGE hit! We love that they have the strap clip in the back for easy on / off and the tinted / polarized lenses provide great eye protection.
We use these hair ties to keep our preschooler’s hair contained and out of the way while she swims! For our baby / toddler whose hair is still quite short we use these little polybands to pull just the front pieces back into a small ponytail and then gently cut them out with this tool after we’re done swimming.
At Sophie’s most recent hair trim, her stylist complimented her on how healthy her hair was even though we go to swim lessons each week and I fully attribute that to using this leave-in conditioner / detangling spray before (soak hair in conditioner + fresh water) and after each swim session.
I also suggest having a mini wet brush on hand to help minimize damaging strands while distributing the leave-in conditioner and detangling.
ALWAYS. PACK. SNACKS. This snack pouch keeps everything contained and easy to locate inside the tote bag.
—
DANCE BAG
You can find the shopping shortcut for everything in our preschooler’s dance bag here (I also included the tools and products we use for her recital buns)!
At Sophie’s studio, her class of 4-6 year olds wear pink tutus. We’ve tried a variety of styles over the past three years of dance and her favorites are this spaghetti strap design and this long-sleeved one. We will be graduating to black leotards soon and I’m not ready!
We currently use classic pink tights, but I think that Sophie may be interested in trying out the “convertible” style next year.
We found that tap shoes run ESPECIALLY narrow — and that was challenging to shop for chubby toddler feet! For Sophie’s first year of dance, we chose these tap shoes and sized up one size (and chose the wide option!) which ended up working out. As Sophie has grown and her feet have lengthened, we have used these shoes (in her normal sneaker size) for the past two years and they’ve been great!
We have used these pink split sole ballet shoes all three years and they’ve been great!
I always keep a full water bottle in Sophie’s dance bag — dancing is a workout!! Gotta keep my girl hydrated.
Lastly, recital buns are NO JOKE. I pride myself in having a decent knowledge of how to create and execute basic hairstyles (ponytail, bun, French braid, etc.), but the performance bun was totally out of my scope. Thankfully, our studio offered us a little bun-making tutorial (this tutorial is very similar, but we also include a hair net before inserting the hair pins) and I discovered this amazing dance bun kit that has all the tools you need! Highly recommend. We also like this gel and this slick back stick to make sure there are no flyaways and everything is set in place!
—
STADIUM BAG
You can find the shopping shortcut for everything in our stadium bag here!
Events always have a bag policy, typically related to the size of the personal bag and the dimensions are [understandably] quite small, but when you are bringing small children with you, there is always gear to schlep. In these circumstances we have never had trouble gaining access with this see-through tote bag. My ToteSavvy inserts fit perfectly and provide a little privacy.
One thing I think some people forget is how loud it can be at these events with large speakers, especially for indoor games / concerts, so I highly encourage packing hearing protection — both for your toddler and little kid. *Additionally, if these headphones aren’t something that you use often, I recommend getting your child/ren familiar with wearing them ahead of time so it’s not a battle once you arrive at the event.
Most arenas and event venues won’t allow you to bring in a metal cup (I suppose because if it was filled with fluid and you threw it at someone it could be dangerous?) so arrive prepared with a plastic sippy cup for your baby / toddler to avoid any issues.
Same thing goes for any little kid cups; Sophie can fully drink from an open cup with no problem, but I feel like kids her age are often prone to accidentally knocking cups (and everything else 🫠) over that we just decided to bring our own plastic cup with a locking lid, solely to prevent spills.
If you have any favorite products to share that I may have missed, please feel free to share them in the Comments below.
I hope this post helps create smoother departures for your planned excursions as well as making it easier to say yes to spontaneous plans!
Sending hugs —
xx, Natalie
Leave a comment...