I was standing in line at my local grocery store prepping for a beach picnic with my family, and I smiled. I heard a mama behind me with little ones anxious to get home and another getting restless in a cart. I remember those days well. It wasn't that long ago that I was loading groceries onto a conveyor belt with a kid screaming under my arm and another begging for candy in the check-out line. I smiled because those days are a distant memory and I can look back like a warrior that survived that phase and now I get to enjoy the sweet spot that our family is in. I picked up the PEOPLE magazine I was eyeing and decided to add it to my beach shopping. I used to look longingly at the moms in their beach chairs devouring a book or a magazine and wonder when it would be my turn to enjoy the giggles of the kids playing in the water as an observer, not as a necessary participant.
Don't get me wrong, the kids aren't at the age that they want to just sit and lounge in a chair and enjoy the sound of the waves. They still need activities that will keep them busy. So, I have a few activities that are kid-tested that will give you some time to sit back and enjoy flipping through a magazine.
Have a Contest
I have three kids, nearly anything can be made into a contest! My goal is to only leave my beach chair if it's necessary. So, after lunch, my son and I had a cherry seed spitting contest. It's very classy, but boys love this! You could also spit watermelon seeds.Spitting seeds not your thing? Not to worry...
Start a Collection
We call this a beach treasure hunt too. Can you tell why we call this sand dollar beach? There are rarely a shortage of sand dollars to collect, so we have a contest to find the smallest sand dollar {we've found some smaller than a fingertip}, the biggest sand dollar or the most sand dollars. You could do this with shells or rocks too. Make it more challenging by collecting rocks shaped like hearts.
Explore
Living on the Puget Sound, our beaches can change a lot with high and low tide. I love going to the beach on low tide days because there are lots of sea creatures to explore. Send the kids out to explore, but make sure they stay within the parameters that you set before they head out!Capture
Now that my kids are older, they are allowed to pick up my camera and capture what they see. I love looking at their pictures because they also get some great shots. And of course, it's always fun to see what they see through their eyes. This picture of our dog was taken by my daughter.
Use the Sand as a Canvas
The sand is a great canvas and kids can use it as a huge blank surface. Make a tic-tac-toe board and use shells as your markers, draw a picture, create a maze, the possibilities are endless!
Dig
It doesn't matter what the kids dig, just hand them a shovel. Several years ago, we picked up these shovels with a short handle. They are kid-sized but made to last. Forget those dinky plastic ones that break, pick up something you can use for years, especially if you have older kids. My kids love digging trenches, moats, pools, you name it, they dig it and it keeps them busy for hours.
Build a Beach Fort
Use your beach chairs and beach blankets and take advantage of sticks and logs around to create a beach fort. My kids love building forts in the house, why not take it outside!
All of these activities are fun for kids and should keep them busy so you get at least a few minutes to flip through your favorite magazine. So sit back and relax. You've got all kinds of fun activities up your sleeve!
You can enter to win a $50 Albertsons gift card. All you have to do is tell me in the comments which magazine you like to read while enjoying some "me time" and why. Is it PEOPLE, InStyle, StyleWatch®, Real Simple®, Sunset or Southern Living®?
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of PEOPLE®, InStyle®, and Sunset®. The opinions and text are all mine.
You can enter to win a $50 Albertsons gift card. All you have to do is tell me in the comments which magazine you like to read while enjoying some "me time" and why. Is it PEOPLE, InStyle, StyleWatch®, Real Simple®, Sunset or Southern Living®?
21 comments
My favorite relaxation magazine is Southern Living. Have you been published in one of the magazines listed? Thank you.
My favorite thing to do at the beach is go to a cafe or bar on the water. Sipping a cool beverage while watching the waves? Heaven! And, sitting in a place I don't get sand everywhere. LOL!
My teens favorite to do is capturing the beautiful nature and creature. Those photos are fantastic and this is such a briliant tips.
Great ideas! It can be so hard keep the kids entertained, but this sounds like fun. My son would love to have a cherry seed spitting contest. What a fun idea. There is so much to do at the beach to keep those little kiddos busy.
There's so much to do at the beach, or not do and just enjoy the view. My kids would love making sand castles, and playing in the water.
At the Beach I love to read HGTV magazine! ! I love daydreaming about things I want to do to my home while I'm relaxed in my beach chair sitting by the shore with my feet in the water. As part of
my daydreaming, I think about how much I woulld love my home to be sitting by a lake somewhere as I'm decorating it in my head!!!
We live in Florida so it is important to be active near the beach and not get bored! These are good tips.
We love the beach! Beaches near us in Maryland have shark teeth! So, we love hunting for those!
If I had my way, I would live in a little house near the beach. I was probably a mermaid in my past life. My kids are all grown ups now and they have their own beach activities with their friends. Whenever me and my husband have time, we drive to the lake (the beach is too far from our house) and have some relax time. He fishes, I read. :)
Being at the beach is such a relaxing activity. I could listen to the sound of the waves and it can lull me to sleep! I like the suggestions you listed to keep the kids busy so you can have some time for yourself.
The beach is one of my favorite places to make up fun activities for kids. Collecting is a personal favorite of mine - it always brought such joy to my daughters.
omg so many sand dollars!
These are such good ideas! I live in Miami, so I'm always looking for fun activities to do with nieces and nephews :)
My kids love to dig at the beach. They normally make themselves a gigantic hole, fill it with water, and then do challenges like biggest splash or who can clear the hole.
I love these ideas! I have just started giving my son a little disposable camera to take his own photos, and I love to see what he captures. This makes me want to get to the beach!
These are great ideas to keep kids busy. My children know that I need some "Me time" to maintain my sanity and they know very well when I need to slow down and relax. Trips to the beach are fun and since my kids are older, they do have fun collecting unique rocks, shells and other things they can find. They turn them into crafts when we get home or they just add it to their collection
Great suggestions! I will share this article with my cousin. She has the young daughters and every time they'd go to the beach, my cousin feels like she is a bag deposit clerk, a waitress, a cleaning lady, and a lifeguard all rolled into one. Keeping the kids busy within her line of sight will give her some quiet time.
Awesome suggestions. Truly kids are having fun and can learn a lot of thing as well when day do an activity that they're not usually doing.Like the going to a beach to have memorable and fun activities.
If we are with family, we can think and do a lot of things that we want. From fun games to an educational game. It is just a matter of enjoying every moment that we had. With this I think you had a great day with your family.
Great ideas for beach activities. It will be fun for the kids. After all it's not all about swimming in the beach.
Confession: We haven't had a family beach day since we lived in Hawaii. I really don't know why. This is such a great post with such cool ideas to keep the kiddies busy. We may need to find time for a beach trip soon.
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