30 Things to Do With Kids At the Beach Other than Building a Sandcastle
Are you going to the beach this summer holiday? Or is it winter where you live? Don’t worry, these tips are even better for cold months. My family lives by the beach and spend all year round having fun by the sea, for hours on end.
30 Fun Family Beach Trip Activities other than building sandcastles
Make a monster truck or car track (draw out a road and make tunnels in the sand). My son has a couple older cars and monster trucks he brings to the beach. You can use sticks and stones to add jumps or roadblocks, build bridges, whatever you can imagine.
Make ‘fairy’ houses out of sand, coffee cup sized. Decorate with shells/rocks/leaves and draw little windows and doors, and pathways between the fairy villages. If you have Barbies or other little plastic toys, build something for them to play in. When you’ve finished your takeaway coffee, use the cup to build little sand houses, they work great.
Play beach Olympics (long jump, gymnastics, races).
Learn to skim rocks.
Beach sports: cricket, soccer or volleyball.
Hopscotch in the sand.
Blow and chase bubbles for little ones. Here’s a surprise - if bubbles land on wet sand they won’t pop straight away! My toddlers loved stomping on the bubbles. Obviously this is best if it’s not windy.
Treasure hunt (bury nonvaluable objects like shells in the sand, then mark with an X, and the kids have to find them). This is another great one for toddlers and preschoolers.
Play on the sand dunes (jumping, sliding, exploring).
Look around rock pools (wear water shoes if there are sharp rocks or oyster shells).
Drawing in the sand - you can use a stick, or take a rake and do some beach zen drawings. Sand art is fun for all ages. Write messages for passers-by. You can even draw ‘scenes’ that you lie in, and take photos of (look at some of these pics for ideas).
Build a cubby/shelter (if there is driftwood available).
Dig a ‘pool’ in the wet sand for little ones to play in. I’ve seen in other countries they take blow up pools or plastic sheets…no one in Australia does this! Just dig a nice pool in the wet sand and the water will stay in there for ages without soaking away. You can even build up a sand wall around the pool, with toddlers helping ‘pat’ the walls like sandcastles.
Use the open air space! Fly a kite, throw a ball, or a Vortex/plane/frisbee/other throwing thing.
Play nature bingo (the kids have to find objects or tick them off a list).
Take photos or paint/draw. This is a great activity for when you just want to relax. Give the kids a sketch pad or a camera and tell them to get creative.
Make mermaid tails on your legs.
Build a sand monument (my son always requests a car for him to sit in) or dig out a sand chair/seat.
Go fishing.
Water guns. We often bring water guns for a play, only cheap ones that we don’t mind getting sandy/salty. We also bring our reusable water balloons - just don’t take them in the ocean, or they’ll get washed away! We fill them up and play on the sand.
Have a bonfire (if legally permitted) or a picnic (not if it’s windy).
Collect seashells to use for craft or jewellery. We often use seashells to decorate around the garden. We’ve also made windchimes and jewellery out of shells which have holes in them.
Paint rocks or shells and leave for other people to find. We use nail polish to paint rocks and shells, because it’s more waterproof than normal paint.
Play Noughts and Crosses, and other drawing games in the sand.
Play tag. If the kids are up for it, play ‘stuck in the mud’ in the shallow water - everyone will have a blast.
See how big of a hole you can dig. A great challenge for everyone! Guaranteed every dad around will be secretly passionately obsessed with this challenge.
Find coastal creatures. My kids love hunting for soldier crabs and pippi shells and chasing seagulls. Please don’t take any living creature home, of course. Teach kids to be gentle and put the creatures back where you found them.
Ride bikes (at low tide is best, it’s easy to ride on hard sand). Remember to hose your bike off as soon as you get home.
Collect treasures after a storm or big swell. Windy and rainy weather always bring up interesting things at the coast. It’s fun to collect driftwood, then use them for crafts or build structures with them.
Go for a walk for some quality time together.
I always have a good chuckle when it’s holidays and all the tourists bring their bags of Beach Gear, the cheap plastic spades, rakes or buckets. There are so many other things to do and play at the beach!
If you take toys, count them before you begin, then you can check you haven’t left any behind. And for the toys which aren’t officially Beach Toys, like dolls, barbies or cars, you can get the kids to give them a bath or shower at home that evening. Double activity – that’s a win!
Your Turn
What do you love to do at the beach with your kids? Let me know in the comments below!
