Having a Ball on the Beach

There was no lack of things to do during our beach vacation, so I didn't really feel the need to fill up time with extra activities. I did, however, have Molly (4) and Ben (1) try to play a couple beach games when we were out in the sand. One game I came up with spur of the moment to distract Molly from wanting to go swim in the hotel pool when everyone else wanted to stay out on the beach one evening. We got into a fun game of Sand Pictionary. I know this wasn't very original, but it was quick and easy and Molly really dug it. hehe No pun intended. ;O)

The other game I had the kids play was one I read in a magazine a long time ago that just stuck with me. Since my parents' have a few time shares in Myrtle Beach, I knew we'd have a chance to play some beach games one day back when I read that magazine! Anyway, I just dug three deep holes in the beach, about 4 inches wide and spaced less than a foot apart from each other. The object of the game was to roll a ball into the hole. Ben (1) simply threw or placed the ball in and Molly (4) had to stand behind a line I drew to roll hers. I built a small lip behind each hole to help keep the balls from rolling into the ocean. For older kids, you can add point values to each hole, maybe making a smaller hole worth more points and they could practice adding their scores.


The next evening on the beach, Molly created her own game like mine so I know she liked it! A couple balls didn't take up much space in my luggage but they sure went a long way to entertain the kids in our hotel room as well as on the beach.