Fun beach ideas for all the family

Browsing through snaps from a recent holiday in France I was struck by how much my children have changed. 

With Miss M in her sixth year and Miss E heading for ten, I’m finding they need a little bit more than a bucket and spade and an ice cream to keep them happy during a day by the sea.

Miss E can whip up your common or garden sand castle in a few minutes and Miss M has her pockets filled with shells before you can say ‘carbunckle’, so while a rocky shoreline puddled with tide pools fills them with joy, what can we do with your adventure hungry kids when all that stretches before them is sand?

Having searched the internet and quizzed friends and family, I have come up with a basic list of activities to entertain and inspire your six to nine-year-old on the beach this summer, all at very little cost.  

As you can see from the photo above we've already tried out a few.

• Build a dam and see how long you can hold the waves at bay. We’ve used sand, rocks, seaweed and driftwood.
• Create a sand sculpture. Build a dog, a boat, a car, a whole town, anything!  Use The Guardian's 'How to build  the perfect sandcastle' for top tips.  Search for interesting shells and pebbles to save as a holiday memento.
• Create pictures or messages.  You could make them big enough for passing planes to read from above  
• Set a scavenger hunt with a list of finds, ie a round pebble, some purple seaweed, a snail shell, some driftwood.  
• Play puzzle games in the sand with a stick or your finger. Noughts and Crosses is a great place to start and pictionary is also fun.  You can even build a draughts set with pebbles or shells.  
• Mark out a mini football pitch and have a kick about.

If you'd like more ideas the Activity Village website has a ton of brilliant beach activities for older kids.

I'd love to hear what your little ones get up to on the beach.  What ideas can you share for fun on the beach?

Useful information:

Sandcastles Made Simple by Lucinda Wierenga, published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang priced £6.99