These 11 Mineral Sunscreens Will Keep Your Kids Burn-Free All Summer Long

Ask any parent: spray-on sunscreen is a great hack for younger kids who can’t stand having lotion rubbed into their skin. The catch is, spray-on sunscreens are usually both chemical and aerosol, and can leave you standing in a thick fog of invisible chemicals, unsure of how much actually got on your kid’s skin. “I liked this better than most spray-on sunscreens,” said editor Nicole Bonaccorso. “I often feel like they're spraying everywhere and I'm not sure if they're covering the skin. This one sprays out a white liquid sunscreen, so you know it's really getting onto your skin,” she explained. However, she described the visibility of the sunscreen as “kind of a double-edged sword. While I like that I can tell where the sunscreen is going, it also gets on things nearby — clothing, my rug, my car door — and it leaves behind a sticky speckled residue. You can eventually get it off, but it's not the easiest to scrub away,” Bonaccorso said. Still, these issues are common with any mineral spray-on sunscreen, and a worthy trade-off for the lack of chemicals.

ThinkSun advertises this sunscreen as “sheer” - and Bonaccorso found that while it was white during application, the white cast did eventually fade away, which, for a mineral sunscreen, is still saying something. The formula contains vitamin E, aloe vera, and banana fruit extract, which nourish and hydrate skin. It also has titanium dioxide as an active ingredient to improve protection against UVB rays, which affect the top layers of skin, where sunburn typically takes place. 

Holding up against ocean waves or waterslides is the ultimate test for a kid’s sunscreen, and with a mineral sunscreen, a thicker-feeling formula is often going to have better staying power. A “sport” formulated sunscreen is typically designed to withstand water, sand, and sweat, and we loved the Thinksport Kids Sunscreen Stick. Writer Katrina Cossey found “it only takes a few swipes on the arm to rub it in nicely, which is surprising because it's a thicker texture. On the plus side, I actually feel like the thick texture helps it stay in place until it's time to reapply.” She mentioned that it did leave small chunks of sunscreen when rolled on, but it was still “a breeze to use.” She used it on her son, “and his arms didn't burn at all. He also burns easily on his face (cheeks, specifically), and he wasn't as red as usual,” she added.

We liked the oval-shaped stick, which has a slightly larger coverage area, making it easier to use for whole-body coverage as well as the face. The ingredients list is short, and completely naturally derived — aloe, shea butter, and cocoa butter help keep skin hydrated, while beeswax is used to firm up the formula into stick form. 

If you’re looking for a go-to kids’ sunscreen, this might be it. Writer Julia Childs Heyl found it “absolutely perfect,” and described it as “the best kids’ sunscreen I have ever used.” She loved that it wasn’t as thick as many mineral sunscreens, and “had the texture of a normal lotion,” which made it very easy to apply and rub in. It didn’t leave her child sticky and in need of a bath afterwards, yet still kept him well-protected and burn-free after spending hours at the park, despite his fair skin and minimal reapplication.

The formula has a powerful 19.6 percent concentration of zinc oxide, combined with shea and cacao butter to help hydrate skin and give it a smooth, lotion-like feel. Tubby Todd Sunscreen also comes in a stick and spray version, which Heyl also liked, but the lotion version was her stand-out favorite. 

This is hands down the lightest feeling mineral sunstick I’ve ever used. After application, it feels like I have almost nothing on my face. It doesn’t surprise me to see that it only contains 5.5 percent zinc oxide (although it’s still SPF 45). CoTZ also has a special formula for their non-nano zinc oxide: it’s ground to nano-size, which prevents it from leaving a white cast, but is then coated in inert ingredients that increase the size of the molecule to non-nano.

It goes on completely clear even before rubbing it in, and my daughter actually tolerated it well enough to cover her entire face by herself, which is really saying something. That said, by the time I got out of the water after a two-hour surf, I felt as though it had rubbed off and I had taken in some sun. So while I wouldn’t recommend this for water sports, it’s a fantastic choice for calmer activities in the sun.

A lot of sunsticks can feel like cake foundation — if your child hates that typical sticky feel, this product is going to make applying and wearing sunscreen a whole lot less irritating for both of you. I also appreciate that this stick is a full 1 oz., since many kids' sunsticks are only .5 oz. 

Heyl found Tubby Todd’s sunscreens to be “gentle, moisturizing, and last a long time.” She liked this sunstick in particular for covering her toddler’s face. “Getting him to sit still to apply sunscreen on his face and not get it in his eye feels like an Olympic sport at this point,” she said, echoing toddler parents everywhere. She found this stick was “super easy to apply. It’s designed to be easily applied on a kid's face, and is easy to smooth onto his little cheeks and rubs in quickly,” she explained. The only issue she had with this stick is that it is only available in SPF 30. “I would love to see SPF 50,” she added.

This stick contains the same botanicals as Tubby Todd’s lotion formula, with aloe, coconut, cacao, and shea butter to help moisturize skin. Beeswax has been added here to firm it into a stick. 

This mineral sunscreen stick from Blue Lizard combines a lot of great factors: it goes on easily, feels light on the skin, and offers powerful sun protection. “I was really shocked by how well it rubbed in and didn't sit on the skin or leave a residue. This helped me feel confident that it wasn't rubbing off,” said writer and editor Olivia Campbell. She noticed “it definitely has a white cast that needs to be rubbed in,” but overall, she preferred it to other mineral sunscreen sticks she tried.

The formula contains aloe vera extract and several other botanicals that protect and soothe skin. One online user even found this stick had a positive effect on her rosacea. The ingredients also include squalene, an ultra-hydrating plant-derived oil that mimics your skin’s natural oil to keep you from drying out in the sun. The pocket-size packaging makes this stick easy to keep on-hand for reapplication throughout the day, without adding much extra weight to your bag.

I was first introduced to gel sunscreen by a friend who said it was the only kind of sunscreen that didn’t make her break out. After one use, I was sold. Gel sunscreen is typically clear, with low-shine and zero white cast. This kids’ version is “iridescent and has maybe the faintest shade of purple tint when you first pour it into your hand, which my boys found super fun,” said Bonaccorso. “I also like that this goes on absolutely clear, which isn't typical for a mineral sunscreen. It goes on just like lotion.” Despite how easily it absorbed, she found this sunscreen “stays in place for hours.”

If cost and chemicals weren't an issue, I would use gel sunscreen every day. It’s so much easier to apply, and feels much lighter on the skin, but it does tend to be much more expensive than regular sunscreen, and Sonrei’s formula is no exception. Also, I’m not sure what kind of chemical sorcery is needed to overpower the natural state of zinc oxide sunscreen, which is notoriously thick and white, but this formula does contain two microplastics, one of which is the third non-active ingredient (polymethylsilsesquioxane). It also contains shea butter and aloe vera, which help protect skin from drying out in the sun. The price is several times that of a basic sunscreen, but if getting sunscreen on your child is a major battle you want to stop fighting, a gel formula like this one may be a worthy investment. 

With a completely naturally derived ingredient list, Boogie’s formula is both safe for a baby’s delicate skin and packed with botanicals to help nourish and protect it. The 20 percent zinc oxide sun protection is combined with aloe, shea butter, squalene, and jojoba and coconut oils to keep your child’s skin burn-free and healthy.

It’s also a great feeling product: “It literally disappears into skin, no scent, no residue or feel. Even after rubbing it in, my hands feel completely clean,” said writer Grace Gallager. “It dries completely matte and leaves no white cast. This is my favorite kids' sunscreen and sunscreen stick.” The only complaint Gallager had was the size of the stick, which contains a meager .49 oz. of sunscreen. “I wish it was a little bigger. It takes a long time to cover my three-year-old in this, and he gets antsy. It's a little easier with the baby because she's smaller, but she is wiggly too,” Gallager explained. While it fits nicely in a small bag, a major outing is probably going to require a larger tube of sunscreen to complement this one. 

Most kids’ sunscreen is unscented, since fragrances can be irritating. Badger takes a different approach, using actual vanilla extract combined with orange and tangerine oil extracts to create a kid-friendly “orange creamsicle” scent. The ingredients list on this sunscreen is incredibly sparse — aside from the zinc oxide and the scented extracts, there’s beeswax, sunflower oil, jojoba oil, vitamin E, and seabuckthorn extract, which is chock full of vitamins beneficial to your skin. That’s literally it. And bonus: 98 percent of the ingredients are organically sourced, and the product is certified non-GMO.

“I love that it's made with more natural ingredients, " said health writer SaVanna Shoemaker. “One of my children can't have artificial fragrances on her skin, but she still loves things that smell nice. This sunscreen has a nice scent (a little on the strong side for me, but the kids love it) that comes from oils and fruit extracts.” Shoemaker did find this sunscreen “has a bit of a greasy/tacky feel after application when compared to some other sunscreens we've tried, but I think that's a fair trade-off and to be expected since the major ingredients include beeswax and oils,” she explained. 

For kids with eczema or extremely sensitive skin, this sunscreen is perfect. Its completely natural formula is loaded with medicinal plants to help soothe skin. In addition to the usual suspects of aloe, shea, and coconut, there’s colloidal oatmeal — a godsend for eczema-prone skin — as well as calendula, red raspberry, jojoba, and olive, which all help to soothe and protect delicate skin.

Heyl found it did leave a white cast, but for a natural mineral sunscreen, that is a sign it’s still doing its job. “It protected my son's skin after a long day of playing in the sun,” she said. It’s also a great choice for both your body and the environment — Environmental Working Group (EWG) chose it as one of their “Best Recreational Sunscreens,” and it has the National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance. It’s also certified cruelty-free and plastic neutral, and is NSF certified to contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients. 

My 10-year-old, who will usually spend about zero to thirty seconds applying sunscreen if left to her own devices, happily spent ten minutes painting her entire body with this stuff. I had imagined a colored sunscreen would come in bright, garish colors like fingerpaint, but Sqween’s tints were subtle and shimmery, more like a fancy bronzer.

I loved the built-in applicators on Squeen’s tubes — this larger one comes with a sponge, and the smaller bottle with a paintbrush tip, both of which spread the lotion with a silky smooth feel against your skin. The sunscreen comes in blue, light green, gold, rose gold, and dark pink options, and rubs in sheer with a slight sparkly shimmer. We found it felt great on, and wasn’t too thick or greasy. The formula contains botanicals like aloe, jojoba, and coconut, as well as hyaluronic acid, to keep skin moisturized and healthy in the sun.