5 beach activities for kids
It’s summertime which means fun, music, colors and children at the beach!
Full of energy and will to live, what better playground could they wish for than the beach?
The beneficial effects
Besides the funny side, do not underestimate the beneficial aspects that the beach can have on children.
The real contact with nature after months of school, entertainment centers, gyms makes them free, serene, joyful. Playing outside near the sea, breathing iodine helps to better oxygenate their body and to develop antibodies.
Walking or running barefoot on the sand develops in the child a sense of balance, helps to strengthen their postural muscles, increasing their body awareness and movement within an irregular space.
It’s time to play!
Here are 5 funny and useful beach activities your children will be happy to do:
1. Potshot: draw on the sand some shapes or numbers distant between them. Children will have to hit the required target with some balls of sand and reach them by running. This activity will help them to improve their coordination and their ability to quickly react to external stimuli.
2. Obstacle course with the sand: create a small route using whatever you have on your hand or even simply with sand. You can create different ways to not bore children. The route includes jumping (such as climbing a small sand dune), walking in balance following a line drawn on the sand, hopping on one foot, walking on toes or heels. The goal is to fill up a plastic glass with sand and run all the way to pour it in a bucket. The game is over when the bucket is full.
These activities develop body awareness and the ability to adapt to “unforeseen land” reprogramming kids’ motor patterns every time.
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3. The shape game: let your kids free to dance or run. A tone (a whistle) will assign a task to the group: create a form using their bodies (e.g., a house) arranging themselves on the sand in order to accomplish what he was asked. In this exercise children have the opportunity to play together, they begin to understand the meaning of cooperation, the importance of the partner, the spirit of adaptation, the programming and the realization of a common project.
4. The rotating circle: children arrange themselves in a circle with a ball. One of them throws the ball to another kid screaming his name and running to switch places each other, thus creating a continuous movement within the circle. The activity develops one of the basic motor patterns: each stimulus-action has a reaction, and also creating a fun and cheerful moments between screams, laughter and clashes.
5. The shells take shape: children must collect more shells can. After that will use them to represent an object of their choice (e.g., a dragon) that the other children have to guess. This exercise stimulates certainly their imagination and creativity.
Play with your children to make them happy and find yourself a carefree way to stay on the beach!