What could be better than a day at the beach during summer? Swimming, refreshing in the water, walking, or making castles on the shore feed children’s happiness.

The sea and the sand are attractive for children of all ages. These elements are a natural invitation to play, favouring their motor, manual, and creative development. Remember that object manipulation is one of the most fun activities for a child. And the sand lends itself very well to all this because depending on whether it is dry, humid, more or less diluted, it allows you to carry out many different activities. 

It is always fun to play on the beach with your children or help them organize a playgroup, perhaps involving friends or umbrella neighbours, especially if the bath time is far away and they risk getting bored. 

If kids have the opportunity to spend the day with you or with a couple of friends, playing with sand and water on the shore, of course, the day will go great. 

The only thing to remind is security. If it is guaranteed, encourage your children to play on the shore, sitting on the sand, having lots of fun, and get self-confidence.  

Do not forget the sunscreen cream, which is part of the security we mentioned earlier. Putting a thick layer of cream on the entire body of children is the fundamental prerequisite for not getting them sunburned, thus preserving the fun at the beach. After this, the only thing children will care about is choosing the funniest way to play. 

If you are searching for some good ideas, this post is for you! Here there are five proposals for beach play. Let’s start! 

Hunting for shells 

Searching for shells is one of the most usual activities for children by the sea. It is undoubtedly the most spontaneous and simple play that you can look for. With a Bucket on hand, children can head for endless walks, heated by the sun and caressed by the cool sea breeze, walking along the shore searching for these tiny marine treasures. A bucket and a Shovel are what they need to become the most convinced shell hunters. 

In addition to being a fun activity, it is also really healthy, since it allows them to move a lot and dig for treasure.  

Some children surely will not want to get rid of the shells on the way home: do not oppose, let them choose for themselves, and maybe one day they will be the most famous shell collectors. So, are we all ready? Then, bucket in hand and let the search begins! 

Building sandcastles  

Building sandcastles is the ultimate play of every day on the beach that is suitable for all ages. It allows children to experience different types of constructions while developing the sense of touch. For building a castle, children have to learn how to mix the elements, finding the most suitable sand texture that prevents the structure from falling apart. Besides being fun, it also trains various motor skills. 

To make the play more intriguing, in addition to the classic castles, your children can also build the most famous towers or buildings in the world, such as the Tower of Pisa, Eiffel Tower, or the Colosseum. To get it done, they are testing the most suitable sand and water mixture. 

By letting your children play this way, they need to be close to the water, so do not stay too far from the shore, above all because younger children will surely ask you to help them overturning the buckets. Stay near and engage the Eiffel Tower challenge! 

What if there are lots of kids to entertain? 

Create a contest for the best sandcastle or the biggest one, stimulating their creativity and encouraging a pinch of friendly competition. 

Treasure hunt 

It is another amusing play that will give you lots of fun.  

Within a two squared-meter area, you hide various objects of different sizes (shells, balls, moulds, fish, or plastic moulds). Assign a score from 1 to 10 according to the size of the objects. Players are blindfolded and have a few minutes to find as many hidden objects as possible. Whoever scores the highest score wins.  

You can grant a little help. With a giant rake, like the Power Paw, children can find the treasures easier because they can move a good amount of sand at once! 

Mini Golf  

Here is another entertaining play! By bringing simple balls, boules, or marbles to the beach, you can all play a kind of mini-golf together. Dig three holes in the sand and score points for each hole (the smaller it is the hole, the higher it is the score). Get everyone in a row, roll the balls, trying to drop them into the holes. Whoever scores the most points wins. If you like the game and want to make it more interesting, you can also think of variations or add difficulties along the way. 

The race of wheelbarrows 

Children love running on the beach. Draw a starting line and a finish line. Ask children to be the « gardeners » that will have to use wheelbarrows to transport a large amount of sand over the finish line as fast as possible. Whoever crosses first wins. 

An equally fun alternative to the wheelbarrow is the load and tote truck or a simple bucket full of sand. The important thing is reaching the finish line, training balance, and motor skills.  

What do you think is the play that your little ones will like most? 

You just have to try them all and test which one is their favorite and yours. Happy summer everybody!