The Best Towel for Kids at the Pool and Beach

For babies and toddlers, the best pool and beach towel is usually a hooded towel of around 80 to 90 cm square. The hood keeps a wet head covered while you deal with everything else, and a square towel wraps a small body in a single move. Ponchos come into their own later, once a child can change by themselves.

Whether it is a first swim lesson, an afternoon at the condo pool or a morning by the sea, the towel is what makes the moment after the water go smoothly. Here is how to choose one, and how to keep it fresh.

Why a hooded towel works best for little swimmers

Getting a small child out of the water is a two-handed job. A hooded towel makes it a one-move job: open it, pop the hood on, fold the sides around, and you have a free hand for the swim bag.

A good hooded towel for swimming does three things:

• Covers the head. Wet hair is where a child feels the breeze first after a swim. A deep hood keeps it covered.
• Wraps the body. A generous square goes around a toddler with room to spare, so small shoulders and legs are covered too.
• Stays put. A hood that sits snugly keeps the towel from slipping while your child walks, climbs or is carried.

Hooded towel, poncho or beach towel?

For babies and toddlers, the hooded towel wins because it works in both places: at the pool on the weekend and in the bath every evening. A poncho is worth adding once your child wants to change on their own.

What size to pack

Size is where many pool towels fall short. A towel that suited a newborn is often too small for a three-year-old, and an adult beach towel is heavy and hard to wrap around a small child.

Around 80 to 90 cm square is the sweet spot. MiniBoo hooded towels are 81 × 81 cm (32 × 32 in), and The Bear is 90 × 90 cm (35 × 35 in), our largest. The 81 cm towels fit from newborn to around five years, and The Bear to around six. If you are choosing one towel mainly for swimming, the larger size gives the most coverage as your child grows.

A simple swim bag checklist

• A hooded towel that lives in the swim bag.
• A second towel for the ride home if your child swims twice or sits in a wet swimsuit.
• A couple of washcloths for salty faces, sandy hands and a quick wipe before changing.
• A dry change of clothes and a bag for the wet things.
• Water and a snack, because swimming makes little ones hungry.

After the pool: keeping towels fresh

Chlorine, salt and sand are all hard on fabric if they are left to sit. A little care straight after the swim keeps a towel soft for much longer.

1. Rinse it in fresh water as soon as you get home, especially after chlorine or the sea.
2. Shake out the sand before it goes into the machine.
3. Wash it following the label. MiniBoo towels are washed at 30°C on a gentle cycle, separately, without bleach.
4. Skip fabric softener, which coats the fibres and makes a towel less absorbent.
5. Dry it completely. Tumble dry on low or hang it somewhere airy. In humid weather this matters most, because a towel that stays damp starts to smell.

For more detail, see our guide on how to wash a baby hooded towel.

A note for warm, humid climates

In places like Singapore, swimming is a year-round routine, and towels take longer to dry in humid air. That is the best argument for keeping two towels in rotation: one that goes to the pool, and one that stays home for bath time. Our guide to how many hooded towels a baby needs covers the numbers.

The short version

• For babies and toddlers, choose a hooded towel of around 80 to 90 cm square.
• Add a poncho later, once your child changes by themselves.
• Rinse after chlorine or sea water and let the towel dry completely.
• Keep one towel for the swim bag and one for home.

The right towel turns the end of a swim into a cuddle rather than a scramble, and that is the part children remember.