Posted on by mamameganallysa

Be Ready for Anything this Summer with a Playground Go Bag!

I started using a playground go bag about a year ago and it has been a wonderful thing to have on hand for our summer adventures.

a pin image that reads playground go bag with a image in the background of a 6 year old girl with long blonde hair holding the brown leather straps of a black rope tote bag. She is laughing while she attemps to hold the bag that is nearly as bag as she is

What is a playground go bag?!

Put simply a playground go bag is a bag that is already packed for you, ready for sudden adventures, that has everything you might need or want to have on hand to extend your time at the playground!

a pin image that reads playground go bag must haves centered over a green circle. Hidden behind the circle you can see bits of a number of items laid out on the concrete. A blue picnic blanket, a small pink kitty backpack, a couple of water bottles, a box of chalk and a tie-dye towel are all partially visible.

How we set up a playground go bag.

Our playground go bag is actually three individual bags/.

We have a play bag that has a small bucket and a couple of shovels for digging in sand or wood chips and a small box of chalk for drawing on sidewalks. 

I like having this smaller bag that the kids are free to grab and carry off, leaving the bigger bag on a bench at the edge of the playground. 

The larger main bag has our picnic blanket( something I picked up at Target years ago, I want to upgrade to a waterproof picnic blanket soon), a towel for wiping off wet slides in the morning or wrapping up wet kids if they get wet and cold, and a bottle of sunscreen, in case that we forgot to put some on before we left or we’ve been out long enough that we need another round.

Then we have a small bag that does not stay in the playground go bag full time. We use a small kids’ backpack for snacks and water bottles. This bag comes and goes and gets restocked every day before we leave a house, but then gets tossed into the playground go bag.

My personal items – headphones, phone, and coffee are the only other things that I always bring with me that aren’t kept in the playground go bag, and that’s because they rarely leave my side!

a pin image that reads playground go bag mom must haves for 1000 hours outside behind is an image of a black rope tote bag laying on the concrete with a number of items scattered around it. the top left item is a tie-dye towl rolled up movring clockwise around the bag is a bottle of sunscreen, a blue picnic blanket, a couple of shovels and small bucket, a small pick kitty backpack three kids water bottles a small bottle of bubbles and a small box of chalk

Car supplies vs. playground go bag supplies 

Not everything you might need when out and about needs to be in your playground go bag. 

There are a few things that we keep specifically in the car, not in our playground go bag. I keep diapers and wipes, kleenexes, plastic bags, hand sanitizer, a spare blanket, Clorox wipes, and a large first aid kit.

The things I keep in the car are more emergency supplies. It’s nice to have them, but I don’t need to haul them around with me all the time in the playground go bag.

Seasonal needs in the playground go bag

While the playground go bag definitely sees the most action in the summer, we are a 1000-hours outdoors family so we still spend quite a bit of time at playgrounds in the fall, winter, and spring. So long as there isn’t too much snow and the sun is out so are we!

In the “off” season I keep hand warmers, a spare pair of gloves for each person, and a couple of hats in the playground go bag. It also serves as a great place to stash jackets if you get too warm, just remember to take those back inside with you!

a pin image that reads 1000 hours outside and how to pack a playground bag with an image behind of a mom walking by with a big black rope tote bag slung over her shoulder.

Other things you might want to include in a playground go bag 

A small first aid kit – I keep a large kit in the car, but sometimes it is nice to have a few bandaids on hand vs back in the parking lot.

water wipes – the need for wet wipes sticks around long after you’ve finished your diapering era

personal fan – hand-held or neck fan or stroller fan , whatever works best for you!

sun hats – personally my crew has the hardest time keeping hats on, so we often forget to wear them but these are my favorite ones and I will prob toss them in the bag now that I’m thinking about it.

bug spray or bug bands or bug stickers – whatever your preferred no-bug solution is!

butterfly nets and or travel bug catcher/magnifying

ball – playground, soccer, football – whatever kind your kids are interested in

cars – monster trucks are a good size that is hard to lose at the playground and fun to roll down slides

bubbles – can you ever really go wrong with having bubbles on hand?

a pin image that reads be ready for anything this summer with a playground go bag in a white text box over an image of a big black rope tote bag sitting on a drown park bench with a large pine tree in the background.

Our playground go bag has been such a lifesaver on hectic mornings and has taken some off my mental load!

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