Summer Items worth keeping an eye out for end of season

I am a huge fan of buying things off season/clearance and saving them for the next season. Here is my list of items we have loved and I suggest to watch for end of season to fill Easter baskets, have for spring breaks, and be ready for summer on a bit of a smaller dollar. Our easter baskets are almost always filled with: summer/swim activity, swim gear, rain gear, and summer footwear. I do my best to get most of it off season and store (since we have the space this works for us)

Swim Wear/Towels

It can be tricky to predict what size they will be next year but if you can manage it, shop beach towels and swim wear at the END of season.

These compact towels were great to travel with and I love I can fit 6 of them in my bogg bag easily. When we aren’t worried about compact, my kids have loved their pottery barn kids hooded towels ( we don’t need hands!)

Water Table/Mud Kitchen

We got this Water Table a couple years ago and we really love the rain feature, the toys it came with. The kids really enjoy it.

Pulaco pump was super powerful and worked great. We really liked it. The only downfall is there is no off switch so if you leave it plugged in and you run out of water it burns out the pump.

After our Pulaco pump burnt out, we moved to the blue water table pumps. This (also) does not have an off switch and you need to monitor if it has water (I do not know if it burns motor out without water, haven’t tested it)

Blue water table pumps worked really great and then hooked up with the Geeni outlet, the power button turned on the faucet and they had a functioning mud kitchen sink (drains into a bucket and cycles through)

Yard Water Play

We were gifted Soppycid water balloons and we have loved them. I have since heard people come out stating the magnets came out of their reusable water balloons. Soppycid Reusable Water Balloons is the only brand approved by CPSC-Accepted Testing Labs: SGS, UL, and TÜV Rheinland. Total safety: Enclosed magnets with 5mm silicone, capable of withstanding 70N tension for 10 seconds, and supporting 7kg. (Lab Testing Reel). So Please be sure to purchase the SoppyCid balloons for this safety measure. **These do sink so we found best to use in the yard and pool and NOT the lake/pond

Trampoline sprinkler has been a huge hit this summer. The kit came with the zip ties and the hose. We just had to be sure that the purple line pointed into the trampoline (not twisted) and the kids have been loving it!

Inflatables. Giant lamas, unicorns, arches, and more! We love the inflatable water fun! Watch for them to go on clearance in the fall to save money and be ready AS SOON as the warm weather hits!

Tiny baby Air Pump for traveling with, or this plug in one for home/car (we had this battery powered one and it works great but goes through batteries quickly). Both are great for blowing up inflatables quickly (and with out the headache- LITERALLY) also fun fact, switch the nozzle to the deflate side and you can get ALL the air out at the end of season making it as compact as possible.

Pool/Splash Pad

We have had many a blow up pools in our days. We have LOVED blow up pool and it looked so cute, but blow up has the potential to pop/lose air-especially if you are cleaning them out and moving them to mow, etc. You can get some really great deals on them at end of season though!

Because we kept popping blow up pools, we decided to try out a dog friendly pool. If it can stand up to dog paws, maybe it can stand up to our kids! Plus it can be put away unlike the other kinds of hard side pools

The splash pad has been a huge hit at our house. We use it to play learning games with the letters (hop to the __ , hop to the letter that says __ , hop to the letter that HORSE starts with, etc) as well as just a fun place to hop and play. It is not inflatable the tubing is actually the water so a great fit here.

We blew the side out of the splash pad after 5 years of use, so we purchased another one-this pet friendly splash pad so will hopefully give us many more years. There are no letters but it has been GREATLY loved this summer

Pool floats, sinking toys, water shooters, etc are also great finds to get at end of season and make great easter basket fillers in the spring. I am a big fan of buying things off season to save some money and storying them until needed.

sports & outdoor clearance

Outdoor deals

Bogg Bag & Pencil Cases

I have LOVED my Bogg Bag this summer. We took them to the beach, family trips, farmers market, baseball games, tailgating, and more!

The Back to school pencil cases (back to school seasonal you need to find these July through Fall) make organizing them all better!

Life Jackets

We have LOVED our BodyGlove Life jackets and will continue buying this brand (when they size up, they are hold ing up very well and do not need to be replaced) Stella’s is holding up amazing as well.

Sunscreen & Bugspray

SuperGoop Play sunscreen in the big pump bottle is where it is at! I love how smooth it rubs on, how well it protects my children, their sensitive skin handles it extremely well, and it is a “cleaner chemical” sunscreen.

Brush on Block has been amazing for touch ups on shine and from sunburn! I love that it is not a liquid for traveling and spilling reasons and it is a make up/shine reducer and sunscreen in one!

Cliganic mosquito repellant was a product sent to us for testing. While the stickers were loved by the kids and we truly felt they worked, we did keep losing them/losing their stick. The keychain attachment seemed to work really well. We felt both helped with the little gnats as well!

Patio

It took a few tries to get an umbrella that didn’t tip, lit up, and was solar powered but we love it! The one I got at Target is a little bigger but this one is extremely similar from Amazon for a smaller price point.

We just switched to a gas firepit and we really love it! We did have to replace the cover it came with because with our son drumming (sensory stimming) on the cover (it should withstand normal wear and tear) ripped it. Replacement

This patio furniture has been so nice, and we love it! If you can find it on sale, grab it! River Oaks (chairs), and Brookbury (love seat)

While I got my 7 piece patio dining set for my first Mother’s day and it is no longer available, there are some similar sets.

For sitting by the fire, bringing camping, or watching the kids in the yard, I wanted a chair that folded up like a traditional “bag chair” but also rocked. Found the perfect one! GCI Kickback rocker

Wonderfold Wagon

Our Wonderfold Wagon has been the most amazing blessing to our family. This is a mobile saft spot for our son and it has allowed us to do lots of “scary things” we never would have been able to do prior. While they do not go on clearance, there are sales periodically and I have a discount code that I cannot recommend enough!

SHOP code: Siraya

First Aid

We have used our Keep>Going First aid kit so many times this summer! It goes where we go and has met our needs on more than one occasion! We have flown, drove, camped, farmers market, Disney, tailgate, and Packer gamed with it!

SHOP code: zookeeper10

Phone charger

Rorry chargers are great for charging on the go and if you are out on all the summer adventures, you don’t want to miss the photos, maps, or tickets with a dead phone.

Plan

While I understand that buying now and storing to use later is not possible for some, I have found that when I know I am going to want/need the items I try to save the money on it by shopping the sales.

Our Easter Bunny surprises the kids (like Santa of Easter) so they cannot see these items come in (so I have a solid colored bin that lives on a storage shelf that holds presents (for all they know this is home decor).

I size up one size in clothing, I know that is the rate my kids typically grow.