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8 Beach Books, Crafts & Activities for Kids

Beach books, crafts and activities for kids to do this summer!

Don’t you just love a day at the beach?

There are so many things to do!

The smell of the air, the warm sand and the hunt for shells — yep, that’s what I call some summer fun!

We had some wonderful activities shared at last week’s Discover & Explore the Beach linky and so many of them reminded me of fun beach books we love to read. 

So this week, I thought I would feature fun things to do at the beach and link them to a great beach books for kids! 


 

8 Beach Books with Crafts & Activities

We all know that building sand castles and jumping in the waves is high on a child’s to-do list for a beach visit! 

But if you enjoy spending the day by the shore, there are also some other super creative things to do at the beach.  We’ve included links to each of the activities along with affiliate links for each of our book choices so you can find all the details you’ll need.

 

In One Tidepool: Crabs, Snails, and Salty Tails has beautiful pictures and tells about all the animals you can find living in a tidepool.  The fun rhyming text and story will delight kids who want to search for tidepools; it also includes some Field Notes in the back of the book for more details.

 

Fun things to do at the beach with kids

And if you can’t find your own tide pool, you can certainly make your own tide pool with this great tutorial from JDaniel4’s Mom!  They also include a fun book to go with the activity too.

 

This cute book for babies and young kids — Where Is Baby’s Beach Ball?: A Lift-the-Flap Book — shares the joy of a young child as she plays with a ball and towel. 

 

beach ball kids craft

It’s the perfect match for the Create Your Own Beach Ball craft from Gummy Lump Toys.  You can also take this fun Starfish Ball and an extra beach towel so you can play along with the book too!

 

A classic beach book as you comb the sand for friends with claws is A House for Hermit Crab .  A wonderful story from Eric Carle about a crab who needs to find a home and searches for all different types.

 

beach crafts and activities for kids

And I love this crab craft created from seashells that was shared by Look What Mom Found!  Such a creative craft to make after hunting for shells on your beach trip.

 

I was so pleasantly surprised with our next entry — talk about some fun at the beach!  I had to pair it with the book My Daddy Taught Me to Surf which shares some information about the sport along with surfing terminology.

 

Fun things to do at the beach with kids

This was an amazing & inspiring post from Wonder Baby that not only shared about learning to surf but also encourages parents to let kids try activities that feed their curiosity.

 

And who can visit the beach without building a sand castle?! 

They always reminded me of the story The Sand Castle Contest and all the sandcastle building contests they have at different beaches. 

 

crafts and activities to do at the beach

And Strong Start has an AWESOME post on creating beach art using seashells, seawood, driftwood and other materials you can find at the seashore!  They even included a book for their seashell mermaid in their review.

Kids love to create sand art, castles and other fun projects using only the natural materials they find on the sand.  You can bring along your own set of Sand Toys for some awesome creative fun!

 

beach crafts and activities

Green Owl Art also had some creative beach craft activities including painting seashells that they shared too!

 

I really LOVE this series of nature books!  They are kid-sized guides for investigating different parts of nature and the Seashells, Crabs & Sea Stars (Take Along Guides) is perfect for a day on the sand. 

The book will help you identify the shells you find and also highlights what animals live in the shells and at the beach.

 

beach seashell activities

What do We Do All Day? shared some fun ideas for exploring seashells — there are so many things you can learn when you have a variety of shells.

 

  

There’s so much to explore at the beach for young children as you can see in both of these books — At the Beach and Beach Day — be sure to read one with your toddler or preschooler before you visit the shore!

 

Fun things to do at the beach with kids

Then hop over to Nothing if Not Intentional and read some great Tips for Taking Baby to the Beach!

 

beach science activities for kids

For more beach & book fun, be sure to visit our Science at the Beach post too!

 

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Beach Books & Activities for Kids