The Best Sunscreens for Kids and Families, Tried and Tested for Summer 2026
Finding a sunscreen your children will actually let you apply is half the battle. From lightweight lotions and mess-free sticks to clever formulas designed for wet skin, we put this summer’s family SPFs to the test to find the ones worth making room for in your suitcase.
If there’s one thing a family holiday teaches you, it’s that the best sunscreen isn’t necessarily the one with the fanciest bottle or the longest list of claims – it’s the one you can actually get onto your children.
With four children to keep protected, we’ve spent this summer trying everything from traditional SPF50+ lotions to roll-ons, sticks and sprays, looking not just at protection but at the things that make a real difference when you’re applying sunscreen several times a day: texture, smell, white cast, how easily it rubs in and, crucially, how much resistance it gets from the children.
Some were brilliant for faces, others came into their own around the pool, while a few proved that good family sun protection doesn’t have to cost a fortune. These are the formulas we’d pack again.
THE EDIT: Best Overall · Best For Pool Days · Best For Faces · Best Value · Best For Babies · Best For Mum
The Best Sunscreens For Kids
Child’s Farm 50+SPF
£16 | 200ml | SPF50+
An easy, fuss-free all-rounder that works particularly well for families with sensitive skin.
With four children, we want one sunscreen we can reach for without having to think too much about whose skin it’s going on. Childs Farm’s fragrance-free SPF50+ is designed for sensitive skin and is suitable for those who may be prone to eczema, making it a particularly useful family all-rounder. It has a light, moisturising texture that rubs in easily, with no noticeable scent or white cast, and the generous 200ml bottle doesn’t feel too precious to use liberally. It may not be the most glamorous SPF in our edit, but that’s rather the point: it’s straightforward, reasonably priced and does exactly what we need a children’s sunscreen to do.
Ultrasun Wet Skin SPF50+ Spray
£32 | 200ml | SPF50+
The clever top-up for children who simply refuse to stay dry for long.
At £32 for 200ml, this is undeniably one of the pricier options in our edit, but it’s also one of the most useful if your children spend their holidays on a permanent loop between the pool and the sun lounger. While Ultrasun recommends applying your initial layer of sun protection to clean, dry skin before sun exposure, this transparent SPF50 spray can be used to top up on wet or dry skin after swimming – no wrestling everyone into a towel first. Despite being oil-free, we found it has an almost oil-like slip that helps it glide beautifully over damp skin, and our children were surprisingly happy to be sprayed with it. It’s fast-absorbing, water-resistant and suitable for the whole family from age three. Expensive, yes – but for committed little swimmers, its sheer convenience may justify the extra spend.
Altruist SPF50 Kids Sunscreen Roller
£7.95 | 100ml | SPF50+
All the novelty of a roll-on, with a surprisingly creamy formula that makes quick applications much less of a battle.
There’s something about a roll-on that our children find infinitely more appealing than another handful of sun cream, and this became one of the easiest ways to get them covered quickly on holiday. The formula itself is lovely and creamy, with quite a loose texture that dispenses generously as you roll, so you can cover a decent amount of skin surprisingly quickly before rubbing it in. It also feels much cleaner and less wasteful than dispensing lotion straight into your hands. We particularly liked it for targeting those easily missed areas – the nape of the neck, around the ears or close to T-shirt lines – without getting cream everywhere else. There’s barely any noticeable scent and, despite the relatively compact bottle, ours seemed to last remarkably well.
Soltan Kids Sunstick 50+
£5.25 | 25ml | SPF50+
The one our children actually wanted us to use – and a brilliant little holiday handbag essential.
This clever little stick was easily our kids’ favourite of everything we tried. The solid formula works almost like an oversized lip balm, gliding directly over the skin without the mess of squeezing cream into your hands first. It’s completely transparent and virtually odourless, so there are no tell-tale white faces to complain about, and while it feels balm-like as you apply it, we found it absorbed beautifully rather than leaving a heavy, waxy layer behind. The compact shape also makes it surprisingly easy to work around the contours of the face and target smaller areas without irritating reluctant children. Best of all, it’s tiny enough to slip into a pocket or handbag for top-ups on the go.
Soltan Kids 8hr Protect and 3hr Swim
£14 | 200ml | SPF50+
Affordable, long-lasting protection that really earns its place in the family holiday suitcase.
It’s no coincidence that Soltan appears more than once in our edit: across the range, we were seriously impressed by the combination of good formulas and genuinely accessible prices. This SPF50+ lotion is a particularly good-value option for long days by the pool, offering up to eight hours of sun protection and an impressive three hours of water resistance from a single application when used as directed. You still need to apply it generously – and reapply after towelling or once that water-resistance window is up – but for children who seem to spend half their holiday submerged, potentially cutting down on the number of full reapplications feels like a real win. It’s also suitable for sensitive skin, offers 5-star UVA protection and contains antioxidant vitamins C and E.
Ultrasun Baby Mineral 50SPF
£28 | 50 ml | SPF50+
The reassuringly substantial mineral SPF we’d choose for delicate baby skin.
At £28 for a small 50ml tube, this is one of the more expensive sunscreens in our edit, but when it comes to delicate baby skin, it’s the one we’d be particularly happy to spend a little more on. Specially developed for babies, the fragrance-free formula uses only mineral UV filters and offers SPF50 broad-spectrum protection, as well as protection from infrared-A and blue light. It does feel thicker than many of the other formulas we tried and, on us, left a more noticeable white cast – but this is one instance where we actually quite liked being able to see exactly where the sunscreen had (and hadn’t) been applied. It’s also water-resistant and contains antioxidant-rich Lipex PreAct™, which helps support the skin barrier. The little 50ml tube slips easily into a nappy bag or handbag too, making it an easy one to keep close for reapplication throughout the day.
altruist SPF 50
£11 |2 x 100ml | SPF50+
The chic, handbag-friendly SPF that looks and feels far more expensive than it is.
This was the sunscreen that lived in my handbag all summer. The neat 100ml tube is carry-on friendly and, with its minimalist packaging, feels considerably more premium than its surprisingly accessible price would suggest. The SPF50 formula is rich and creamy but absorbs beautifully, leaving skin moisturised without feeling overly greasy or leaving a noticeable white cast once rubbed in. I happily used it on my face as well as my body, and found it sat particularly well underneath make-up. It’s also fragrance-free, water-resistant and offers 5-star UVA protection, with glycerin and panthenol helping to hydrate the skin. If you prefer something specifically formulated for the face, Altruist also makes an excellent lightweight SPF50 Face Fluid – but for an affordable all-rounder to keep permanently in your handbag, this is hard to beat.
EXPERT ADVICE
How To Apply Sunscreen To Kids
New research from Boots found that 52% of parents say getting their child to wear sunscreen is a challenge, while half admit their child has been sunburnt before. Clare O’Connor, Suncare Scientific Advisor at Boots, shares her advice for making sun protection easier – and ensuring those often-forgotten spots don’t get missed.
Choose SPF50 With Good UVA Protection
For children, O’Connor recommends choosing SPF50 with a four or five-star UVA rating to provide a high level of protection against both UVA and UVB rays. A water-resistant formula is particularly useful for active children who spend much of the day swimming, sweating or running around.
Apply It Before They Get Dressed
Rather than waiting until you’re already at the beach or pool, make sunscreen part of the morning routine. O’Connor suggests applying it before children get dressed and giving it a few minutes to dry before putting clothes on, helping to achieve better coverage and reduce the amount that rubs off.
Pick A Format They’ll Actually Use
Sometimes the format can make all the difference. Sticks are particularly handy for faces, noses and ears, while mists offer a quick way to top up arms and legs without leaving children feeling overly sticky.
Don’t Forget The Easy-To-Miss Areas
The back of the neck, ears, nose, tops of the feet and backs of the hands are among the areas most commonly forgotten. It’s worth doing a quick check of these spots before heading out – particularly if children have applied some of their sunscreen themselves.
Apply Enough – And Reapply
Using too little sunscreen means you may not achieve the level of protection stated on the bottle. As a guide, O’Connor recommends around two finger lengths for the face and neck and applying generously to the rest of the body, with sunscreen reapplied every two hours and after swimming, sweating or towelling off – even when using a water-resistant formula.
Remember Sunscreen Isn’t Everything
Finally, sunscreen is only one part of protecting children in the sun. Hats, UV-protective sunglasses and lightweight clothing all help, alongside seeking shade where possible between 11am and 3pm.
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