Keeping toddler occupied beside the pool

[Lavender14]

Taking ds on holiday to a sun resort soon and aiming to spend most of our time by pool/ beach. Ds loves the water so I know I'll be in and out with him a lot but I'm thinking about ways to keep him occupied beside the pool so I can encourage him out and hold his attention in the shade to give him breaks from the sun. Its just the two of us going to limited in how much I can physically carry. Any ideas or recommendations would be great!

Ds is 2.5

Water/magic painting books are ideal because they can withstand being splashed a little and are designed to be wet! Likewise for Aquadoodle. You can get a handy travel-sized version of Aquadoodle.

Bumping for a few more ideas hopefully

@Forgottenmyphone thanks that's a great idea! I was half considering a little paint set but realistically might make a mess with it if we're at the pool instead of the beach.

Buy a small paddling pool or dinghy.

Blow up and use as a paddling pool, with bottles, spoons etc
Use empty as a small ‘play pen’, contains child and toys safely.

Make sure it is in the shade.

I second the small paddling pool options. We did it with our 2 year old and he loved it. They are selling them in home bargains for 3pounds I think atm. We bought some buckets/watering cans when we were there. Will keep him entertained for hours.

Thanks that's a good option. He's 2.5 but also very, very big for his age, lots of his clothes are age 4-5. He's not overweight and he's healthy but he's very tall and solid so he's already grown out of some things like travel cots etc. I will try the dingy and buckets!

we took some play Mobil figures/tractor/animals such as penguins etc that could get wet, had lots of fun loading the trailer etc. also sinkers to dive for, I did lots of colours work with them which helped, the only thing that really got mine to sit in the shade though was snacks, so I took lots of them too!!