Top 10 Activities for Children on the Beach

When you have your children on the beach, what do they consider to be a perfect day? While your idea of the perfect day may be doing nothing at all (you might be happy lying there soaking up the sun and the salt air or reading a book and doing some people watching), your kids have very different ideas of what makes a fun day out. They need activities to keep them busy.

You may be lucky to have kids that are happy to spend all day just playing in the waves when they hit the shore. But if that is not the case, try these ideas to keep them happy and active.

1. Fly a Kite – Kite flying is one of the funnest things to do with children on the beach. Shoreline breezes make the beach an outstanding place for flying a kite. Bring a simple kite for each child and have a contest to see who can keep their kite flying the longest.

2. Have a Treasure Hunt – Slip away and bury some treasure. Use an old piece of paper to create the map and make sure to use an X to mark the spot. For added fun hide the map somewhere that your child will find it by themselves. Use a small bucket to hold the buried treasure and they can use that for playing in the sand.

3. Build Sandcastles – This is a classic for both adults and children on the beach. Have a competition for the tallest castle. Or the one that will last the longest when the tide comes in.

4. Make Sand Angels – This just takes a small patch of sand and leads towards a great excuse to go in the water and wash off all the sand.

5. Play Tag – The many different versions of tag make this a game that can keep them active for a long time. One great version for the beach is Shadow Tag. The person that is "it" tags the other players by stepping on their shadow. This particular game goes more smoothly with a watchful person as the referee.

6. Play Catch – Use whatever your children enjoy the most. A Frisbee, football or even a beach ball.

7. Blow Bubbles – Bubbles make a mess at home... but they can be great fun for your children on the beach! Breezes at the shore keep soap bubbles flying high. This may be an activity best suited for less populated beaches. Other beach goers may not want soapy bubbles landing on them as they lay in the sun. Bring an extra large wand and pan to make huge bubbles.

8. Go Beach-combing – The beach is a great place to look for shells, rocks, driftwood and more. Use what you find to create beach jewelry or just start a collection.

9. Go Fishing – Whether you bring a rod and reel or just use a net, the beach is a great place to see what you can catch.

10. Go Swimming – For me, nothing compares to swimming in the ocean. Whether you're at an ocean beach or at an inland body of water, swimming is a great activity.

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