The Terrabound Kids' Sun Hoodie is a lightweight UPF 50+ hooded long sleeve top for children, built for beach days, holidays abroad and long afternoons outside. Put it on once in the morning and the fabric covers their arms, body, neck and ears all day, so the only sunscreen you keep reapplying is on their face.
Cut from a lightweight knit rated UPF 50+, with an integral hood and thumbhole cuffs, it sits easily over swim shorts rather than clinging like a wet rash vest, so it stays comfortable in the heat and goes straight back on after a swim. The fit is closer at 120cm to 140cm and more relaxed at 150cm and 160cm, so for a looser fit choose the next size up.
From the beach and the pool to the campsite, the park and the coast path, it is sun cover a child will actually keep on, and it shrinks the twice-hourly sunscreen chase down to a face and a pair of feet.
Key Features:
Terrabound builds practical outdoor kit for people who would rather cover up than keep topping up, and now for their children too. Plain, unbranded and simple enough for a child to pull on themselves.
Pair it with our Men's or Women's UPF 50+ Sun Hoodie and the whole family is covered from hood to knuckle on the longest days out.
• Free delivery on orders £50+
• We have a 30 day return policy
Check out our shipping policy and our returns policy for more information.
A lightweight UPF 50+ hoodie that covers their arms, body, neck and ears all day, so the only sunscreen you keep reapplying is on their face.
That's what a heavy cotton hoodie or a tight wet rash vest earns. This is neither. It's a thin, airy knit that hangs loose over swim shorts: in direct sun it shades their skin and lets the air move, so a covered child stays more comfortable than a bare one. Out of the sun, it's simply a light, comfortable top. That's the difference between sun cover you buy and sun cover they keep on.
"I couldn't get them to take their UV tops off, even in door pools"
The fabric does the sun job for the arms, chest, back, shoulders, neck and ears from the moment it goes on. The twice-hourly sunscreen chase shrinks to a face and a pair of feet.
Ears, the back of the neck, the backs of the hands: the first places to burn once the hat comes off, which is always. The hood and the thumbhole cuffs cover them by design.
Sounds backwards, works forwards. Out in direct sun, a light airy layer makes its own shade and lets the breeze through, so covered feels cooler than bare. It's the reason it stays on.
Sunscreen disappears in the sea and sweats off in the sandpit. Fabric coverage doesn't. It goes straight back on after a swim and keeps doing its job.
No greasy cream to wrestle on, no zip, no pockets, nothing to fiddle with. A pullover a six-year-old can put on themselves, which is the whole trick with a child who hates suncream.
Six solid colours, including Lime and Orange, so you can find yours on a crowded beach. Sized by height from 120cm to 160cm, roughly ages six to fourteen, and plain enough to pass down.
based on customer reviews. What parents mention most: it stays on, and the sunscreen job shrinks to a face and a pair of feet.
of UV passes through light cloud. Grey days on the beach still count.
of people admit they often forget to reapply sunscreen. Coverage that's woven in can't be forgotten, and can't be wriggled out of.
Sources: WHO UV factsheets · American Academy of Dermatology
For the skin the hoodie doesn't cover, sunscreen is still your friend.
Every parent knows the routine: catch them, cream them, miss a bit, feel guilty at bedtime. The fix isn't a better bottle. It's less skin to cover in the first place.
"Trying to apply sunscreen to an excited toddler is like trying to wrestle a greased-up octopus."
"Many kids hate and whine at getting cream on, sticking a top on is usually much easier"
"It's saved a fortune in sun cream as I only need to put it on exposed bits"
Verbatim, from a UK parenting forum and a parenting blog, typos and all. Not Terrabound reviews.
UPF is sun protection for fabric, like SPF is for sunscreen. A UPF 50+ rated fabric is designed to let only a small fraction of UV through to the skin. Unlike sunscreen, it doesn't fade through the day: the coverage is woven in, so it works from the moment the hoodie goes on until the moment it comes off.
Where does the number come from? A fabric earns its rating from how it's made: synthetic fibres like polyester naturally block more UV than cotton, and a tighter knit blocks more still. UPF 50+ sits at the top of the scale, and the protection is part of the fabric itself, not a coating.
Please note: this is everyday sun-protective clothing for general outdoor use, not medical or specialist protective equipment, and we can't guarantee a specific level of UV protection for medical purposes. If your child has a condition that needs certified protective clothing, speak to your doctor and choose clothing certified for their needs. UV protection also varies by colour: paler, less saturated shades offer a little less than deeper ones. And the hoodie covers the skin under it only. Faces, hands, legs and feet still need their own sun protection.
Whole family covered: see the men's Sun Hoodie · the women's Sun Hoodie
"First holiday where I only did sunscreen on her face. Ears, neck and the backs of her hands never went pink, and I wasn't chasing her round the pool with a bottle every two hours. She wore it from breakfast to bath time and didn't once ask to take it off."
"Our son hates suncream, proper meltdown every morning of every holiday. This went on at breakfast and he forgot about it. Loose enough that he didn't get the "I'm hot" complaint, and it went straight back on after the sea without that cold clingy rash vest feeling."
"Bought the Lime one so I could spot him on a packed beach and it worked. Light fabric, hood actually stays up over his ears, and the thumbholes keep the sleeves down while he's digging. Only sunscreen I did all day was his face and feet."
That's the whole trick: this isn't a winter hoodie. It's a thin, airy knit that shades their skin and lets the breeze through, and it hangs loose rather than clinging. Direct sun on bare skin heats a child up; light cover with airflow keeps them more comfortable. It's why people who work in the sun all day wear sleeves.
Honest caveat: the cooling effect shows in open sun. In the shade it's simply a light, comfortable top.
Sizes go by your child's height: 120cm, 130cm, 140cm, 150cm and 160cm, which covers roughly ages six to fourteen. Pick the size that matches their height. The fit is closer at 120cm to 140cm and more relaxed at 150cm and 160cm, so for a looser fit, or a child at the top of a height band, choose the next size up. The size chart on this page has the chest, body and sleeve measurements.
Yes. The hoodie only protects the skin it covers, so keep using sunscreen on the exposed bits: their face, the fronts of their hands, legs and feet, anywhere the fabric doesn't reach. The point is that the job shrinks to those bits instead of the whole child.
One honest note: if your child's skin type, family history or a medical condition means they need to be extra careful in the sun, treat the hoodie as one layer of the plan, not the whole plan, and follow your doctor's advice.
Plenty do: paddling, the pool, the sea. It's light, so it won't drag like a heavy top, and it goes straight back on after a swim without the cold, clinging feel of a tight rash vest. Honest note: like most fabrics, UV protection can drop while it's soaked through, so on long stretches in strong sun let it dry rather than staying wet.
A cap shades the face and misses the ears, the neck and the sides of the head, and it's off within ten minutes anyway. Light also bounces up off water and sand, reaching the places a brim can't. The hood covers all of it, and it fits over a cap: brim shades the face, hood covers the rest.
That's what it's designed around. It's light and loose, not tight and wet like a rash vest, so there's no "I'm hot" fight, and there's no zip or drawcord to fiddle with. A pullover they can put on themselves, in whatever colour they chose, tends to stay on. For a child who hates suncream, it's the top they'd rather wear than be creamed.
UV doesn't care much about cloud, which is why the sneakiest burns happen on grey beach days and in spring. Whatever the sky is doing, the covered areas stay covered.
A little. Darker and more vibrant colours absorb more UV before it reaches the skin, so deeper shades typically protect a touch better than the pale ones. That said, pick the one your child will actually wear: the best sun protection is the layer they keep on. Lime and Orange have a bonus, you can see them from across the sand.
Both. It's a plain unisex pullover with no print, no logo and no colour rules, sized by height rather than by gender. The six colours run from Black and the greys to Sky Blue, Orange and Lime, so there's one for every child, and it passes down between siblings.
The protection is built into the fabric, not sprayed on, so it doesn't wash out. Like any garment, a heavily worn one protects less: if the fabric ever gets thin or stretched enough to let light through, it's time for the next size up anyway.
No. It's the same top for the campsite, the park, the coast path and the school trip, and it doubles as a light cover-up when the wind gets up. Sun cover in summer, a light layer the rest of the year, which is why it lives in the bag rather than only coming out on the hottest days.
Send it back. It's covered by the 30-day return policy. If the fit's the issue, the size chart above is the place to start — between sizes, or for a looser fit, the next size up — and the height bands are more reliable than age alone.
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