Every parent wants their kid to have a great birthday, but how do you do that during your summer vacation, when your child will not be in touch with classmates and friends?
Even if not as many friends and family are around to help celebrate during summer vacation, it’s still possible to make summer birthdays memorable.
All children love being on the beach, but that is not enough for a birthday. You will need to have some ideas for keeping your kid and his friends entertained above and beyond swimming and building sandcastles so that your child feels it is a really very special day. We have tried to provide some inspiration here.
- Collect pebbles, shells, seaweed and other “found” objects and make them into pictures on the beach or create beautiful crafts. Award a prize – real or honorary – for the person who can bring back the most interesting “find” or make the most beautiful picture.
- Make a tent with sticks, leaves and a towel. Kids always enjoy making tents. Finding items for the tent makes a fun treasure hunt activity for the kids.
- Make a pond. Dig and make a puddle of water in the sand. Have fun hopping in it until it dries.
- Building a sandcastle is buckets of fun. All you need are water, sand, household items and some helping hands
- Games you can play on the beach:
Keep Your Bottle
This game is particularly good at family parties or with mixed age groups, and is definitely a great game on the beach!
You will need: 2 plastic bottles Small plastic cups
Divide the players into two teams. Choose a good sport (perhaps a parent) to sit, cross-legged, with an empty plastic bottle on their head. Line up the rest of the team and give the first in line a small plastic cup. Fill up a few large buckets with water and place them between the team members and the good sport.
At the signal, the first team member runs to fill up their cup and then pour it, quickly but carefully, into the plastic bottle. Either continue until one bottle is filled up, or call time and see who has collected the most water.
Give the winning team a prize!
Beach Volleyball
Some beaches have a proper volleyball court but it is often monopolised by older children and young adults. If there is space on the beach you can always set up your own version, improvising with windbreaks, picnic baskets or a portable badminton net. Make up your own rules, too.
Frisbee
Get the Frisbee out and challenge the family to a game.
- Set up some targets in the sand and see who can throw the Frisbee nearest to them.
- Set up some “bottles” (plastic, please!) in the sand, and see who can knock them over.
- Just throwing a Frisbee back and forth between players can be enough to keep children entertained for a good long while
