Plan a day at the beach in your own backyard with these fun beach activities for kids. Enjoy simple fun with sand, shells, and water.
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These sand and beach-themed activities are tons of fun before or after a trip to the beach! Set them up in your backyard sandbox or with a small bag of store-bought sand and a small plastic tub of any size.
Looking for a few less messy activities? Download these beach and ocean life printables!
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Sandcastle
Build a small sandcastle in your backyard. Kids will love using a variety of containers to create different shapes for towers, doors, and more. Let them add a few action figures and other toys that can be washed off at the end of the day.
Seashell necklace
Make a seashell necklace to turn a vacation souvenir into a simple and one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry. Get tips for making a hole from Kids Activities Blog.
Beach water table
This beach water table by Sugar, Spice and Glitter is a clever way to bring the beach home. This makes a fun backyard play idea and it can be done smaller as a sensory bin.
Sandy handprints
This neat sandy handprint craft from There’s Just One Mommy makes a wonderful keepsake. Save a memento from a trip to the beach or as a gift for a parent or grandparent.
Treasure chest
Make a treasure chest from an empty baby wipes container that your toddler will love filling with buried treasure. This cute sensory and motor skills activity is from I Can Teach My Child.
Paper lantern jellyfish
Make a few paper lantern jellyfish, like 3 Little Greenwoods, and pretend play under the sea. These jellyfish can hang indoors or out.
Play hopscotch
Have your kids draw a hopscotch board in the sand using their fingers, a stick, or a sand toy. It should include 10 numbered squares and can be in any pattern they like. (Alternating between one and two is the most popular.) To play, toss a pebble onto the first square and hop over it onto each numbered square. Hop back, picking up the pebble. Repeat, tossing the pebble onto each next square on your next turn.
Colored sand
You can color sand on the beach or in your backyard to be any color. Diana Rambles has the instructions and important info on how to make it safe for the environment.
Discovery bottle
Make a beach discovery bottle like this one from Little Bins for Little Hands. It’s filled with small items for a game of I Spy and is a great fine motor activity for kids to make.
Beach ball bowling
Use a beach ball for this fun variation on bowling. Polkadot Chair has all the ideas and tips for setting up this game in your backyard for kids.
Mini sandbox
If you don’t have a sandbox in your backyard, try this mini sandbox idea from Stuff Parents Need. It’s inexpensive, won’t take up much space, and is easier to keep clean than a larger one.
Seashell boats
Craft tiny seashell boats from The Crafting Chicks. Your kids could use different sizes and shapes, and compare which ones float and sail better.
Beach art
Use found items like shells, leaves, and rocks collected from the beach to make art! Start by smoothing sand – on the ground or on a shallow tray. Have your kids use the found items to create patterns or make a picture.
Build a float
Fill a large container outside with water. Set out a collection of materials, including plenty of items from your recycling bin and craft supplies. Challenge your kids to build something that floats, via Fireflies and Mud Pies.
Simon Says beach edition
Take the classic game Simon Says and give it a beach-themed twist. One person is “Simon” and gives instructions to do beach-themed movements. Everyone else does them when the instructions are “Simon say jump like a dolphin.” But if the instruction doesn’t include “Simon says,” they should stay still. Some fun beach movements are: walk like a crab, sing like a mermaid, pretend you’re being chased by a shark, ride a surfboard, and wiggle like a seal.
Indoor beach ball games
If you can’t get outdoors for beach activities, try a few of these indoor beach ball games from Modern Parents Messy Kids.
Crab walking
To get your kids moving and thinking creatively, try crab walking. Have kids spread out in the backyard on their backs. Tell them to sand up on the hands and feet with their backs to the ground. You could have races, time how long they can crab walk, and other exercise activities.
Beach sensory bin
A Mom’s Impression has a fantastic idea for a beach-themed sensory bin. She includes tips on what to use and why sensory bins are beneficial to kids.
Musical towels
Use beach towels instead of chairs to play this classic group game. Have each child lay their towel out in a circle and remove one. Play music and have the kids walk, dance, and move around the circle. When you stop the music suddenly, the children should hurry to sit on a towel. The person who doesn’t have a place to sit it “out.” Keep going until there is one person left.
Balance beam surfing
Use a balance beam in your backyard or build an inexpensive one via Practical Mama. Have kids stand on the beam and pretend to surf. You could also do this with pool noodles for a softer surface.
Bucket relay
Use sand buckets the do a water relay outdoors. Set up each team to sit in a row with a bucket of water at the front. Give each person a cup and put an empty bucket at the back. Start a timer and have each person at the front of the row scoop up some water and pour it into the cup of the person behind them. The person at the end pours the water in the empty bucket. When the front bucket is empty, see which team go the most water into the end bucket!
Backyard fishing
Set up a mini faux fishing pond in your backyard. This idea from Mom Endeavors is a fun activity that will keep kids busy for a while. And it’s much less messy than real fishing!
Sand footprints
Find a spot on the beach or get your sandbox really good and wet to make footprints in the sand. This idea on Parents uses letters, but you could try any shape or just experiment with shoes of different textures.
Sand writing
Make a sensory bin to do sand writing. Use this fun idea from B-Inspired Mama to get your kids learning the alphabet and practicing writing letters.
You can have a day at the beach in your own backyard with some of these fun beach activities for kids.
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