Activity Bags for Family Fun
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Get out with the family with no fear of being caught unprepared. Pack these activity bags to ensure that fun is exactly what your outing holds.
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It seems that in our current culture, at least at my house, it’s all too easy to stay home. There are devices to look at and all kinds of distractions. And really, it’s such a lot of work to pack up the kids and get outside. Right?
Wrong. Now’s the season for getting out and about. Summer, of course, positively beckons you to load up the family and head out for adventure.
But, do you ever find yourself…
- at the beach or other fun locale, and the weather turns cold, and tshirts and shorts just won’t cut it?
- on a family field trip at a location where budget-friendly meals are a foreign concept?
- at the park for an impromptu outing and find that you have no balls or toys in the car?
- on a road trip without sufficient activities for the kids to amuse themselves with?
- on your way to a faraway special event only to find out that someone made it into the car without any shoes?
{FishMama waves one hand while shamefully covering her eyes with the other.}
This has happened to us more times than I can count. And I can count pretty high. Though I was once a Girl Scout, I often find myself woefully unprepared. That’s a bummer when you want to be out with the family having a good time.
The last thing you want to do is shiver in the cold, buy your kid new shoes when she has five pairs at home, or pay through the nose for a mediocre sandwich.
A few years ago, FishPapa and I came up with the Bag Idea.
The Bag Idea was that we would create lists of the things we might like to have on an outing and then create bags to hold all these items. Then, we’d try to keep the bags packed and ready to go at all times.
Over the years, the bags have changed shape, size, and contents, but they prove to be invaluable to make our family outings a little more fun and little less chaotic.
This tutorial is one I shared years ago as a way to make getting out with the kids easier for your family, too. We know from experience, now six years later, that if we have the bags, we will travel — a little more peacefully and enjoyably.
Here I present to you lists, bags, and even cute little tags to go with, so that when it’s time to repack the bag, everyone will know what should go into it. We’ll all be ready to hit the road — whether it be a road trip, the day at the beach, playtime at the park, or a simple picnic. And, Lord willing, we’ll be prepared!
Activity Bags for Family Fun
Consider packing these activity bags so you’re always ready for family fun:
A beach bag
A beach or pool bag, complete with towels, sunscreen, flipflops, goggles, beach toys, and whatever you need to make a day in the water fun and safe.
A picnic bag
Be ready for spontaneous picnics with all the serving ware, plus tablecloth or blanket. If you’ve got these tucked away in the car, you can easily pick up food at the store or your favorite take-out join and picnic without fuss or worry.
A bag of fun
Whether you’re on a road trip or just making an impromptu stop at the park, you can be prepared to have a good time with some balls, light sticks, sidewalk chalk, and bubbles.
Having supplies at the ready helps our family enjoy the great outdoors and other adventures a little bit more. I hope it does the same for you!
Do you worry that you’re squandering the precious days with your kids? Be more intentional this summer by planning simple yet intentional family fun activities. Grab your copy of the Summer Survival Guide.
Within its pages, you’ll find everything you need, and I do mean EVERYTHING, to be prepared for summer break, including printable activity bag tags and a tutorial for making your own activity bags.
Not only that, I’ve included 16 weeks of fun learning activities to do with your kids, a mom’s reading list, meal planning tips and tricks to make summer delicious and affordable.
Buy the Summer Survival Guide here: http://fishmama.com/product/summer-survival-guide/ and make the most of every summer minute.
What will you pack in your activity bags?
This is such a cool idea! Planning ahead definitely makes being spontaneous easier (the ultimate irony!). 🙂
Just came over from Metropolitan Mama…and I LOVE this idea. Can’t wait to get our bags together! I already have so many ideas about what types of bags and what I want in them. It never fails that we always get somewhere and don’t have what one or two things we would like to have or need!!
I love this idea! Is anyone else having trouble prinitng the tags? Help, lol. Maybe i am doing something wrong.
Did you click through to the PDF?
Love the idea of laminating the tags too! Fantastic! I make tote bags when there are discount deals on the printing company sites and just write what the bag is for right on it. For example: donations, magazines, dry cleaning etc… the last one I made was about $2 and it turned out beautifully.
“I make tote bags when there are discount deals on the printing company sites and just write what the bag is for right on it.” Great idea! I am going to start doing that. Thanks!
What a wonderful idea! I am about to become a mom to my first little one in June, and seeing strategies that different moms use to keep life more organized is always an inspiration. Thank you for sharing!
Love this! I had an emergency bag of sorts in the car some years ago but need a new one for sure. btw – where did you get the picnic ‘bag’? Almost looks like a basket. Very cute.
@Rebecca, A friend of mine got one of those picnic baskets at the Container Store. They look so cute!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this! I am off to make my own. Thanks so much for this idea!
I added our family name and telephone number to the flip side of the Bag tags in case we lose one at the pool or soccer game!
Tx for the great ideas!
Adding your name, phone, address and email to a label on the bags is SO SMART; I once found a woman’s expensive leather diaper bag with tons of books, toys, and personal things in it without any name or phone on it. I had to go through it piece by piece, and found a church service program so I knew which church she had attended. I then found a note where her kids had practiced drawing their first names, and since the church program had a list of all the members, I could figure out who the family was. And after all that, she was pretty much unconcerned when I called her; it took her three weeks to pick it up. I would be NUTS if I lost any of my stuff!
Love love love this idea. Thanks! I keep a “just in case” beach/pool bag ready to go (a girl can dream) BUT since I am um…shall we say “on a long road to organized”…my tags list what *else* to grab too (water, snacks, whatever else I’m likely to forget that are not things that can be packed away too early).
Super-super smart you–thank you for kindly sharing your lists–off to containerize!
I have an American Red Cross fully loaded 4 day emergency bag in my van, the drawer under one of the seats holds a change of clothes for each kid, and a fully stocked extra diaper bag also stays in the van. However, that’s the extent of it. If I forget to put together whatever we might need for an outing, then we’re out of luck.
This is such a great idea that I’m going to work on implementing it after our upcoming move!