Fun and Creative Beach Activities For Kids

For most grown-ups, a day at the beach is an excellent means to wind down and relax. Either simply enjoying the wind from the water, the sounds of birds and waves, our favorite book to read or listen to, or music to mellow us out. Our kids, however, depending on many factors, may not find the beach always as fascinating or relaxing as we do.

Many of us have kids that are constantly on the go from the moment they wake up until the moment they close their eyes, and if you find yourself at a loss as to how to entertain your kids at the beach? Worry not! We've got a great list of beach activities for the kids that they will surely love! And maybe you will, too!

Beach Scavenger Hunt

Beaches are full of hidden treasures. If you've got a pint-sized pirate not yet ready to plunder the waters, a land-based scavenger hunt might be a great way to spend an afternoon. Start by making a list of easy-to-find and spot native critters and items, and slowly work your way to more challenging things.

Nature Tic-Tac-Toe

There are always natural items to find on the beach, from sticks to rocks. You can even let your young ones use their favorite toy shovel to create a giant tic-tac-toe board in the sand and get creative with filling it with xs and os.

Sand Castle with Additions

Let your child build a sandcastle by hand or with their favorite bucket and shovel, but pack some added surprises! Toys like princesses or dragons, knights, or anything really allow them to decorate their castle as they please or build to suit their favorite beach toys.

Oceanside Scrap Book Collection

Let your child gleefully collect beautiful shells, bits of rock, a pinch of sand, sea glass (safely, of course), and driftwood. Once they've amassed their sea-side treasures, let them create a picture in the sand or bring a scrapbook for them to attach their treasures and create a memory of the day.

Musical Beach Towels

Just like musical chairs, except with beach towels! Pack a few extra beach towels and your favorite waterproof Bluetooth speaker to play some music. Stop the music suddenly and see who can get to their beach towel first!

Beach Bowling

For this fun game, all you need are six clean and empty plastic bottles and a beach ball or tennis ball. Set up your plastic bottle 'pins' by filling them partly with sand, set them up in a triangle, and let your kids have fun trying to bowl them over.

Beach Relay Races

For this easy beach relay race, all you need are some cups and your child's beach buckets! Have your kids run to the beach to fill their cups with water and run back to place them into bigger buckets several feet away. Whoever fills their bucket first wins!

For a bit more of a challenge, use objects like a beach towel, a hula hoop, a line as an obstacle, for example, to have them jump over or wiggle through or run around during their race.

A Teaching Moment

It's important to teach our children about the benefits of community service and the environment. Picking up trash along the beach could be a perfect teaching moment for both subjects. Take a walk along the shore with gloves and trash bags and gather garbage as a family. Aside from teaching a valuable life lesson, the benefit to this is that this beach activity can be performed in almost any weather.

Colorful Rocks and Shells

Whether you chose child-safe, washable paints or chalk, let your child's inner artist come out by painting or coloring the rocks and shells found on the beach. For older children, sharpies are often the best choice if you want to join the movement of hiding messages and art on rocks for other families to find or bring them home as a keepsake.

The Classic: A Game of I Spy

From finding enthusiastic puppies to beachgoers wearing blue to kayaks, boats, seagulls, and more—there's so much to see and take in when on the beach. Grab your sunglasses and challenge your kids to a game of I Spy. All you have to do is pick an object you can see and give out clues about what it is for your kids to find.

Bring a Kite

With the skies sunny and mostly open and breezes from the sea or from across the lake, these conditions are perfect for learning how to fly or flying a kite.

Beach Crafting

Did you know you can make a cast of prints in the sand? With plaster of Paris, you can preserve the family's hands or footprints or even small works of sand art. Watercolors are also an excellent addition to painting and coloring shells.

Let your kids create art in the sand itself, using sticks or feathers or reeds found on the beach, and let them decorate it with natural things found around them. They can write messages or love notes or their names, and even better, if you bring a camera with you, it's a moment to capture a memory!

We hope we've been able to spark creative ideas to help engage your kids' creativity, imagination, and love for the beach. With these fun beach activities for kids, you'll have your little ones entertained and happy for hours!