Easy Beach Activities for Kids

Water has the power to wear down rocks and soil -- even beaches. Your kids can do this beach in a pan activity to recreate how erosion happens in nature. There goes the beach!

What You'll Need:

How to Make a Beach in a Pan:Step 1: Set one end of your pan on a brick so the end of the pan is raised a few inches. Step 2: Use sand and gravel to make a "beach" at the high end of the pan. You may need to dampen the sand to make it stay in place. Step 3: Pour water into the low end of the pan until the water reaches the beach.Step 4: Now put a thick sponge in the water at the low end of the pan. Push down on the sponge to make waves in your ocean. Step 5: Watch what the waves do to the beach. That's erosion!Keep reading for a relaxing beach activity that engages your children's listening skills.For more fun kids activities and beach crafts, check out:

How to Make a Beach in a Pan:Step 1: Set one end of your pan on a brick so the end of the pan is raised a few inches. Step 2: Use sand and gravel to make a "beach" at the high end of the pan. You may need to dampen the sand to make it stay in place. Step 3: Pour water into the low end of the pan until the water reaches the beach.Step 4: Now put a thick sponge in the water at the low end of the pan. Push down on the sponge to make waves in your ocean. Step 5: Watch what the waves do to the beach. That's erosion!Keep reading for a relaxing beach activity that engages your children's listening skills.For more fun kids activities and beach crafts, check out:

Sounds of nature is the perfect beach activity for kids to enjoy on a lazy summer day. They'll learn to recognize the components of nature and understand how different parts of nature work together.

What You'll Need:

How to Hear the Sounds of Nature:Step 1: Go outside, find a comfortable place to sit down, and close your eyes. (Try not to fall asleep.) Step 2: Pay close attention to the sounds you hear. Do you hear birds? The wind? Crackling leaves? Step 3: After about five minutes, write down all the sounds you've heard. Then compare lists. See if you or your child heard something the other one missed.Keep reading to learn how to spot a spouting whale on your next family trip to the coast.For more fun kids activities and beach crafts, check out:

How to Hear the Sounds of Nature:Step 1: Go outside, find a comfortable place to sit down, and close your eyes. (Try not to fall asleep.) Step 2: Pay close attention to the sounds you hear. Do you hear birds? The wind? Crackling leaves? Step 3: After about five minutes, write down all the sounds you've heard. Then compare lists. See if you or your child heard something the other one missed.Keep reading to learn how to spot a spouting whale on your next family trip to the coast.For more fun kids activities and beach crafts, check out:

If your family is visiting a rocky coastline on the Atlantic or Pacific oceans, you may be able to go whale watching. Ask local residents about whales in the area.

Rugged, rocky areas of the Pacific coast are good places to watch for rare Gray whales in late winter and early spring. With luck, this easy beach activity will help you spot some of the world's largest animals!

What You'll Need:

How to Do Whale Watching:

Step 1: Set out early in the morning on a windless, overcast day to a rocky headland that juts out into deep water. Bring binoculars, extra clothing, and snacks or a picnic lunch.

Step 2: Watch for the blows of spouting whales. A whale blow looks like a puff of smoke at the water's surface. See if you can identify the whale from its blow. You should also be able to see the whale's dark back.

Step 3: Use your binoculars to look for tail flukes coming out of the water as the whale dives. This behavior is called "sounding." The whales will surface hundreds of yards or more from where you saw them dive.

Step 4: If you're near a lagoon where whales gather, see if you can spot interesting whale behavior. Gray whales will "spyhop," lifting their snouts out of the water to the level of their eyes.

If you're lucky, you may see a whale breech -- that is, to leap nearly clear of the water and come down with a splash!

No one really knows why whales do this. It may be a courtship ritual, a stress-reliever, a way to shake off parasites, or just plain fun!

For more fun kids activities and beach crafts, check out:

ABOUT THE CRAFT DESIGNERS

Whale Watching by contributing writers Maria Birmingham, Karen E. Bledsoe, and Kelly Milner Halls.