This year, don't think of your family beach vacation as just a time
to swim. That sun-drenched stretch of sand is a giant playground where
your children can learn about nature, play games, and do craft projects
that will let them bring home mementos of your fun-filled days together.
No expensive equipment is needed to embark on these ten activities.
They're nice and simple. So put on your bathing suit, make sure you're
all wearing plenty of sunscreen, and get set to have a fun day in the
sun.
Rosemary Black, food editor at the New York Daily News
and mother of six children, lives in Pleasantville, NY.
1. Photograph Beach Treasures
Give
each child his own disposable camera for the day and let him take
pictures of whatever he wants. The caveat: only one camera per
youngster. Kids will learn patience by waiting for good photo moments.
Explain that it's important not to let sand get into the camera and that
it should be kept in a plastic bag in your tote when not in use. Later,
develop the pictures and encourage your photographers to arrange their
best shots in a special photo album or scrapbook. This is a great way to
preserve happy memories!
2. Construct A Sun Shade
This
is an easy way to teach about the sun's trajectory. You need four long,
pointed sticks or bamboo poles from a home-and-garden center, large
rubber bands, markers, and a sheet. Before heading out, let your kids
decorate the sheet with colorful designs. At the beach, measure off an
area a few inches shorter on all sides than the sheet. Drive the sticks
into the sand where you have marked off the corners. Knot a corner of
the sheet around each pole and secure the knots with rubber bands.
Once
your sun shade is in place, youngsters can learn about shadows during
the course of a day, says Tom Peters, director of a resource center for
science and mathematics teachers at Clemson University. "Follow the
sun's shadow during the day, and you'll see that it changes its angle,"
he says. "The shadow is longer in the morning and shortest at noontime."
Each child can pick one pole and mark off the change in shadows every
15 minutes with shells, making a graph of the path of the sun.
3. Explore A Tidal Pool
Just
after high tide, when the water recedes and pools up at the ocean's
edge, is the best time for this educational observation. Look for small
sea life like starfish, snails, and other mollusks. Think of tidal pools
as minicommunities filled with living creatures that should be treated
with respect. Ask your child what he sees, what different roles these
organisms might play in that little community, and how he thinks they
manage to stay put when the tide goes out. Starfish, for instance, have
rows of small, suckerlike projections and attach themselves to rocks.
You may want to find a library book on the subject and read it together.
4. Design A "Zen" Sandbox
Take
a sturdy box (even a shoebox works well) to the beach with you. Fill it
with clean sand, spread out evenly. Kids can collect shells and stones
and use them to make a garden. They can design different groupings by
maybe arranging pretty shells in one section of the box, colorful stones
in another, and so forth. It's relaxing to look at and doesn't need to
be watered!
5. Decorate A Kite
You'll need: wooden
dowels (one-quarter inch or less in diameter), found at hardware and
art-supply stores; a large brown paper shopping bag, cut open and
flattened, or colored paper; markers or stamps and an ink pad; a
stapler; crepe paper; and string. Make two lengths of dowel, one longer
than the other, by scoring them with a knife and then breaking them on
the cut line. The lengths depend on how big a kite you want: we suggest
dowels of 36 and 18 inches. To form a cross, cut a groove in one dowel
where the two overlap. Lay the other dowel in the groove; secure with a
metal twist-tie (the kind that come with some garbage bags). Lay the
cross on top of the paper. Mark off a diamond shape by drawing lines
connecting the ends of the dowels; then add about one inch all around.
Cut out the shape. Place the cross on the paper and fold the edges over
about one inch; staple the edges. Staple the paper to the dowels. Let
your child decorate the kite. Cut strips of crepe paper and staple to
the kite for a tail. Tie string securely where the dowels cross and have
a contest for the highest flying kite or the one that stays up the
longest.
6. Create A Shell Necklace
You'll need
smallish shells and colorful dental floss. Look for shells that have a
tiny hole at one end so that you won't have to drill holes in them. Let
kids string the shells onto a length of floss, tying a knot through the
hole on each one to secure it in place. Tie the ends together. Want to
get fancy? Kids can paint the shells before stringing them. Or if you
have colorful, mini-pom-poms or large beads on hand, encourage your
budding jewelry designer to alternate them with the shells.
7. Make A Tape Recording Of The Waves
The
best time for this is when the waves are noisy, so go before a storm or
during high tide. Have your child stand close to, but still a safe
distance from, the water's edge. Put the tape in the recorder, press
"record," and have her hold the mike directly in front of her. She might
want to sing along for part of the tape. Play her masterpiece at night
and don't be surprised when the relaxing, rhythmic sounds help her fall
right to sleep!
8. Play Tic-Tac-Toe In "Wave Time"
You
need two sticks and a level stretch of wet sand where, say, every tenth
wave washes over it. Step one: Draw a giant tic-tac-toe board in the
sand by making two vertical lines crossed by two horizontal lines. Step
two: One player draws "X's," the other "O's." Take turns making the
letters on the board -- the first person to get three X's or O's in a
line (vertically, horizontally, or diagonally) wins. Time is of the
essence. You must finish the game before it gets washed away by the next
wave!
9. Craft A Driftwood Boat
Find some of your
materials at the beach: driftwood, flat stones, reeds, and sticks.
Bring other supplies: string or wire and a plastic bag. First, sandwich a
stone (the keel) between two long pieces of wood (the hull). It should
be in the center and protrude downward. Sandwich a smaller stone (the
rudder) an inch from one end of the hull. Place a large stick (the mast)
between the two stones, sticking upward. Tie all of this together
tightly with string. To balance the boat, tie one end of another large
stick to the hull at the base of the mast at a 90 degree angle. At the
other end of this stick, tie a piece of wood parallel to the hull. Punch
holes in a plastic bag and weave a thin stick through the holes. Tie
the top and bottom of the sail to the mast and the top of the mast to
each end of the hull. Now your boat is ready to sail.
10. Have A Scavenger Hunt
Give
each child a bucket with a camera like the Polaroid I-Zone or the
OneStep Express and a list of things to find. Include items that can be
placed in the bucket, like sea glass, shells, and stones. But for a
twist, add some things the kids can't take with them -- a red beach
umbrella or two girls in blue bathing suits. The scavengers use the
camera to take pictures of these items to complete the list. The first
one to collect all the elements and arrive back at home base (your beach
blanket!) wins. Have the older kids "buddy up" with younger ones;
little players should have parents accompany them on their search.
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